Children's emotions Archives - Modern Teaching Blog

13/02/2022

Super Stories For Starting School

A happy new year to you all, and welcome back to the MTA Book Blog!

It doesn’t feel like very long ago at all that we were shining a light on our picture books for brighter times — I do hope you were able to enjoy that fantastic Brighter Times discount! And now here we are at the start of a brand-new year, hopefully full of brighter times ahead but definitely full of fabulous books just waiting to be discovered!

In the spirit of things that are brand new, for this first post of 2022, we’re going to be taking a closer look at some perfect picture books to support children who are starting school for the very first time this year.

Starting school is undoubtedly one of the most enormous and most emotional milestones in a young child’s life, and never more so than right now. With many of the children moving up into primary school this year having spent the last two years with decidedly disrupted routines, the transition to primary school is likely to be one that is approached with understandably increased anxiety and trepidation. As always, books to the rescue.

We have selected some utterly wonderful picture books to help young children prepare for the move mentally, physically and emotionally in our Starting School Book Pack. So grab your lunchbox, say one last goodbye to the cat and check you’ve got your lucky scrunchie, because we’re off to school!

‘First Day’ by Andrew Daddo and Johnathan Bentley

We start the day with the sweet and touching ‘First Day’ by Aussie author/illustrator duo Andrew Daddo and Johnathan Bentley. In ‘First Day’, we join a little girl and her mum as they prepare for the first day of school. But who is reassuring who?

In this cleverly written story, it’s not until the final page that the narrator becomes clear, and we realise that it’s the little girl who has been speaking the comforting words to her mother throughout, coaching her through the day, anticipating the challenges and conceding that she too has some first-day nerves.

‘I might have to be a bit brave, too.

But it’s not for long.

Let’s meet here when the bell goes.’

The transposition of traditional adult/child roles in books is always a source of delight for children, and ‘First Day’ is a great example of this. In demonstrating that those feelings of anxiety and uncertainty are not only natural but also shared by a big-brave-all-knowing adult, the book brilliantly models emotional vulnerability and allows children to find comfort in knowing they’re not alone in their first-day feelings.

‘Starting School’ by Jane Godwin and Anna Walker

For our next lesson, we’ll be looking at the gorgeously illustrated ‘Starting School’ by another Aussie author/illustrator team, Jane Godwin and Anna Walker. In this story, we are introduced to five children on their first day of school. Each child has different expectations coming into the classroom, and each one has a very different first-day experience.

‘Polly is trying to be brave.

Sunita doesn’t know anyone, but she feels ready for school.

Hannah feels excited, but Tim doesn’t want to leave his mum.

Joe has found an interesting book about dinosaurs.’

For me, it’s this diversity in the experiences that are presented that is the most valuable element of ‘Starting School’. As children approach school age, this also coincides with the development of their ‘theory of mind’; the understanding that other people have motivations, emotions and experiences of events that may differ from their own. This is crucial for a child’s social-emotional development, particularly within the context of establishing new friendships and relationships in a school community.

A follow-up discussion with your new starters about which one of the children in the story — if any — had the same feelings they did on their first day will encourage children to share their own experiences, promote empathy and further develop their theory of mind as they acknowledge the diversity of experiences within their new classroom.

‘The Wild Guide to Starting School’ by Laura and Philip Bunting

For our final lesson of the day, we’re in for a real treat with an adorably hilarious picture book from powerhouse Aussie husband-and-wife team Laura and Philip Bunting. If laughter is the best medicine, then allow me to prescribe a big gulp of ‘The Wild Guide to Starting School’ to soothe those first-day jitters. ‘The Wild Guide to Starting School’ reads as a how-to guide that will have your little ones giggling on every page as they learn what to do and — importantly — what not to do when they get to school. Helpful tips include:

Scissors are for chopping paper, not haircuts.
When making new friends, try to avoid licking.
It is not okay to eat the teacher.
Do not poop in the sandpit.
Do not poop on your teacher.
You don’t win friends with poop.

At this point I should probably point out that the characters in ‘The Wild Guide to Starting School’ are all Australian animals (although would it be that much of a stretch?), which adds fantastic comic value and allows for some truly brilliant illustrations. However, amongst the silliness there is genuinely helpful advice, as well as some big-hearted truths about how devoted and caring teachers are and how everyone is feeling lots of Big Feelings, all of which are valid and all of which are perfectly normal.

There goes the bell! That means it’s time to wrap up this week’s post, tidy our tables, gather our things (how did I lose my sock?) and head on home, ready to do it all again next time!

So, if you’re looking for the perfect picture books to ease your new starters into your classroom — or if you’re an early childhood educator looking to help prepare your intrepid little learners and ensure their transition to primary school is as smooth as possible — then look no further than the titles in the Starting School Book Pack. These sweet, relatable and fiendishly funny books will fill your little ones with knowledge, confidence and empathy as they embark upon this most exciting of new adventures.

See you on the playground!*

*kidding, I’ll be in the library.

About the Author

Emily Bruce is the Managing Editor at Modern Teaching Aids (although she prefers the term Grammar-Wrangler-in-Chief). She has worked in children’s publishing in the UK and Australia for eight years and is passionate about finding the spark that ignites a lifelong love of literacy in the next generation of storytellers.

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22/10/202113/02/2022

Books For Brighter Times

Brighter Times Books inside spread preview

Rise and shine, it’s book blog time!

Welcome back to the MTA Book Blog, this month coming to you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed from a very different-looking Sydney.

We were thrilled that so many of you enjoyed and responded to the last post, Picture Books For Unsettling Times, in which we looked at some beautiful books to help open up a dialogue and support students during various challenging times in their lives. Now, as many of us begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel after a very challenging 18 months, what better time to look forward and celebrate the brighter days ahead!

For many students, the lifting of lockdown restrictions heralds a return to the classroom, a reduction in screen-based interaction and a rediscovery of many fun social activities they have likely missed out on throughout the pandemic. In this post, I’ll be shining a spotlight on four dazzlingly delightful books that celebrate some of the aspects of post-lockdown life that students can look forward to, steering them towards a positive frame of mind as they refamiliarise themselves with face-to-face learning and social experiences.

So, draw back the curtains and settle down with me as we bathe in the glow of these glorious books for brighter times.

‘Your Birthday Was The Best!’ by Maggie Hutchings and Felicita Sala

We begin with a shiny new picture book (shortlisted for this year’s CBCA Book of the Year Awards) that will have your students giggling, squirming and then giggling some more! In ‘Your Birthday Was The Best’, we meet a cockroach who reminisces fondly about all the fun he had at a children’s birthday party, seemingly unaware that he wasn’t invited…

‘I was happy to see you. And you were so excited to see me you screamed!’

The hilarious juxtaposition between the narrative led by the endearingly earnest cockroach and the reality of the human characters’ experience – captured so magnificently by the horrified expressions of the guests in Sala’s gorgeous illustrations – will not only have your students falling about with laughter but is also a fabulous opportunity to promote and develop visual literacy skills.

Your students will likely have experienced very different birthdays during lockdown; whether that means a smaller celebration within the household, a Zoom party or a procession of drive-by well-wishers, there’s a good chance that many of them will have missed out on the shenanigans associated with a birthday party with all the trimmings. This hilarious and cheeky tale will evoke memories of lively birthday parties gone by and will certainly spark an excitable discussion of future party plans. ‘Your Birthday Was the Best’ also provides an excellent springboard for a fun creative writing prompt, perhaps directing students to recount their own birthday hijinks or to rewrite the account of the cockroach-crashed party from the perspective of one of the human guests.

‘Dinosaur Day Out’ by Sara Acton

In the delightfully charming ‘Dinosaur Day Out’, we join Sally and Max as they head to the museum with Dad to visit the dinosaur exhibit, only to discover that they are not the only ones enjoying a day out. The children embark on a tremendous hands-on dino experience, while the totally oblivious Dad narrates from his book. Similarly to ‘Your Birthday Was The Best’, the comical contrast between the different experiences of the characters in ‘Dinosaur Day Out’ is conveyed entirely through the illustrations, again supporting those important visual literacy skills. The irony that the adult character remains completely unaware of the extraordinary events taking place right under (or above) his nose is sure to delight your students.

Excursions have been largely off the cards for the past 18 months and this sweet, imaginative tale of an extra-special interactive day out captures the thrill of exploration and discovery that only an excursion brings. It will reignite students’ excitement for hands-on, real-life learning experiences as opposed to digital ones.

‘Lots of Frogs’ by Howard Calvert and Claudia Boldt

Next, we come to one of my favourite rhyming picture books, ‘Lots of Frogs’, where we join Tommy Fox on his doomed quest to keep a lid on his box of trouble-making frogs. This brilliant rhyming story is positively leaping with laugh-out-loud imagery and is propelled forwards by a rhythm that’s as lively and bouncy as Tommy’s frogs.

‘Net’s quite full, halfway there. Look! There’s five on teacher’s chair!’

The book takes us all around the school as we follow Tommy on his mission to get those naughty frogs back in their box, and even the staffroom isn’t off limits! Students will delight in the hilarious images of frogs wreaking havoc around the school and I guarantee that the whole classroom will erupt in a fit of giggles when you reach the line about a frog jumping in the headteacher’s hair! This fast-paced rhyming story is bursting with positive imagery and language associated with the school environment and is sure to help strengthen and reinforce students’ associations with the classroom as a place of enjoyment and enrichment.

‘Unplugged’ by Steve Antony

Yes, I know I say this a lot, but this is one of my favourite ever picture books! In ‘Unplugged’, by author/illustrator Steve Antony, we meet Blip, an adorable robot who spends her days completely absorbed by her computer, which is just fine by her. However, when a power cut leads to Blip becoming unplugged, she suddenly finds herself blinking in the bright lights of ‘outside’…

Anthony’s clever narrative device of repeating the exact same activities that Blip enjoys on her computer as she does outside (learning new things, playing fun games, dancing to music and visiting faraway places) allows him to sidestep a preachy or judgemental tone when comparing the two different environments for these experiences. Equally, the artistic technique of having the screen-based illustrations in black and white and the outside illustrations in full colour subtly conveys the idea of the richness and depth of analogue experiences compared to two-dimensional digital ones without being overtly critical of screen-based activities.

For the past 18 months, our entire lives have been lived mostly online, our learning, teaching and even our socialising have all been confined to the digital space. ‘Unplugged’ is a celebration of what happens when we switch off our digital lives and enjoy an analogue adventure! This is the perfect tale to help students reflect on the positive aspects of the transition away from screens and appreciate the opportunity to enjoy some hands-on learning and experiences. A follow-up discussion that encourages students to think about the things that you can’t do online, or that aren’t as good online, will help students focus on the benefits of moving out from behind the screen.

The titles in this collection are all wonderful celebrations of a post-lockdown world, perfect for reinforcing positive emotions and associations and supporting students as they transition back into face-to-face learning and social situations. Come rain or shine, picture books provide uniquely accessible springboards to broach wider conversation topics, and all of the books in this collection are rich sources of writing and discussion prompts to encourage students to make connections with each other and their own lives and experiences.

Join me again next time, when we’ll decking the shelves with boughs of books, getting excited for the festive season and looking ahead to a brand-new year.

The future’s looking bright.

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27/08/202122/10/2021

Picture Books For Unsettling Times

Welcome back to the MTA Book Blog, this month coming to you from my lockdown book cave here in Sydney.

If you haven’t had chance yet, do check out the previous book blog post, Telling the Story of Lockdown, posted back in June. At the time, I could never have guessed that we were only days away from a new and challenging chapter of Australia and New Zealand’s own pandemic story.

The events of the past 18 months have certainly highlighted the importance of being able to cope with unexpected change and challenges, so, for this post, I have selected five gorgeous picture books that feature characters who are experiencing disruption in all shapes and sizes. From the inconvenient and frustrating to the utterly life-changing, these stories span the spectrum of sources of disruption and challenge in a child’s life and, crucially, offer hope through their various outcomes.

So, relax your shoulders, unclench your jaw, put the kettle on and settle down with me to discover these perfect picture books for unsettling times.

‘We’re Stuck’ by Sue DeGennaro

Let’s start by getting stuck into the adorable ‘We’re Stuck’ by Australian author/illustrator, Sue deGennaro. When the residents of Building 24 shuffle into their lift one morning, they are all far too preoccupied with their own busyness to even notice one another. But, when the lift suddenly breaks down, with a dismayed birthday boy trapped inside, the lift’s occupants soon shift their focus from their own needs to each other’s.

A sweet and heart-warming tale of resilience, adaptability and community, students will certainly be able to relate to the themes addressed in ‘We’re Stuck’. A follow-up discussion that invites students to share their own experiences of being stuck in place and having to put their plans on hold will create a meaningful text-to-real-world connection and encourage them to reflect on the importance of recognising that some of life’s unsettling challenges are merely a moment in time.

‘Norton and the Bear’ by Gabriel Evans

Is imitation the sincerest form of flattery? Or is it just annoying? This is the question at the heart of the delightfully charming ‘Norton and the Bear’ by Aussie author/illustrator Gabriel Evans. Norton prides himself on his unique dress sense, so when the relentlessly complimentary Bear insists on copying Norton’s outfit at every turn it is simply unbearable! However, after Norton loses his temper with the Bear and insists that he stop copying him, the Bear turns up with a new accessory that Norton really, REALLY likes…

Between the ages of 3 and 5 is when children begin to form a sense of self, developing their identity and individuality. ‘Norton and the Bear’ perfectly illustrates how challenges to our identity can loom large, especially for young children for whom the sense of self is still relatively fragile. Whether you identify more with the frustrated Norton or the endearingly earnest Bear, I guarantee that you and your students will instantly fall in love with this story and find comfort in the knowledge that, unsettling though it may be, imitation is almost always a form of flattery!

‘Florette’ by Anna Walker

Yet another stunning picture book from an Australian author/illustrator extraordinaire, ‘Florette’ by Anna Walker introduces us to Mae, whose life has been uprooted by her family’s decision to move to the city. Mae misses her friends, she misses her old life and, most of all, she misses her garden. However, when she ventures further into her new environment, Mae finds something that plants the seed for a different type of garden, and some new friends along with it.

Moving house is an immensely unsettling and disruptive event that many of your students will likely be able to relate to. Through Walker’s skilful visual storytelling, ‘Florette’ quietly celebrates children’s emotional resilience in adapting to environmental change and shows us that, ultimately, home is not a place, but a feeling, and one which we can carry with us and recreate wherever we go.

‘The Rabbit Listened’ by Cori Doerrfeld

Next up, we have ‘The Rabbit Listened’, and I should put in my disclaimer up front and say, I absolutely love this book. In this gentle, insightful story we meet Taylor, who is struck by a sudden loss that brings his day (literally) crashing down. Everyone around Taylor tries to coach him in how he should cope with his sadness, but it is only when they all leave and a little rabbit comes to sit and listen that Taylor finds the space to adequately process his emotions.

When someone we care about is upset, it can be a very natural response to try and impose our own coping strategies on them, and to even lose patience when they aren’t responsive to our efforts to ‘fix’ the situation. This is something that can be especially difficult for young children to understand, and ‘The Rabbit Listened’ provides the perfect framework to begin that discussion around different approaches to processing trauma, both for the one who is suffering and, importantly, for those around them.

‘Finn’s Feather’ by Rachel Noble and Zoey Abbott

Tissues at the ready for this one. In the heart-wrenchingly touching ‘Finn’s Feather’ we join Finn, who, on the first day of spring, opens his front door to find a feather on his doorstep. Confident in the knowledge that the feather is a gift from his recently deceased brother, Hamish, Finn excitedly shows the feather first to his mother and then to his teacher, neither of whom seem to want to encourage Finn’s belief that the feather was sent by his brother. However, when Finn shows the feather to his best friend Lucas, he immediately matches Finn’s excitement and the two boys set about finding ways to make the feather the centrepiece of their games.

Similarly to ‘The Rabbit Listened’, the beauty of ‘Finn’s Feather’ is the way it illustrates the highly unique and personal ways in which trauma manifests, particularly in children, and demonstrates the ineffectiveness of trying to impose our own coping mechanisms or perceived acceptable patterns of behaviour on the one who is suffering. The hero of this story is certainly Finn’s best friend Lucas who, far from dismissing Finn’s belief in the provenance of the feather, simply meets him where he is and allows him to exist in the reality of his grief.

Although the collective disruption that we are all currently experiencing will not last forever, unexpected change and challenge will rear their heads regularly throughout a child’s life. Books like these are fantastic tools to help build emotional resilience and provide a safe and accessible springboard for discussion during all manner of unsettling times.

And now, as I retreat into my book fort, I leave you with these wise words from beloved children’s author, E.B White.

‘A library is a good place to go when you feel unhappy, for there, in a book, you may find encouragement and comfort. A library is a good place to go when you feel bewildered or undecided, for there, in a book, you may have your question answered. Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people – people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book.’

Stay safe out there.

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