#365PictureBooks 35. Worries go away! by Kes Gray, illustrations by Lee Wildish

Gray, K., & Wildish, L. (2014). Worries go away! London, UK: Hodder Children's Books.

ISBN: 9781444900163
Pages: 32
Age Level: Early Childhood 0-6
Genre: Picture Storybook
Rating: 3 stars

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When a young girl is worried, she has a world of her own where she can escape to.  A place where nothing and no one can reach her.  At first it is full of all the nice things like cakes & cola, flowers and trees.  But soon her worries follow her and she can't escape them.  Only her family and friends can help her, but can she get back to them?

Told in rhyme this book gets a powerful message across in a gentle and sensitive way.  The language is appropriate for the age group it is intended for - pre-school and early primary school students.

Wildish's illustrations add to the gentle and sensitive message.  The illustrations are very bright and colourful.  The little girls imagination is depicted with pink unicorns, delicious giant ice-creams & cakes and cute little animals.  Even when the 'worries' start to intrude in the little girls special place they are done in hues of gold and pink - depicting the 'monster' but not in a way that is terrifying to the reader.

The final pages get the message across of family, friends, love and kindness being the place to go when your worries start to get to you.  

I only wish that the character had been 'changed out' every few pages to a young boy, and maybe characters of different ethnicity.  The illustrations would work with both boys & girls.  I'm just thinking slightly older children are starting to get a bit "oooh I'm not reading a book about girls" when the message is so important to all children, regardless of sex or ethnicity.      

This is such a beautiful book about a serious topic relevant to so many children (and adults).  It would work really well as part of the new-year-at-school introduction when schools, our school especially, do a 'You, Me, We' topic starter.  Another book it would work well with is A Huge Bag of Worries by Virginia Ironside.

I'm loving the very last page:

I feel so much better,

Not lonely or down.

And as for my worries?

They've upped and left town!

The next time I'm troubled,

There's a place I will go.

Not a world of my own.

But to someone I know.

I got my copy of Worries go away! from the Taradale Primary School library where I work. 

You can find a copy at Napier Libraries.

#365PictureBooks 28. How to Babysit a Grandma by Jean Reagan, illustrated by Lee Wildish

Reagan, J., & Wildish, L. (2014). How to Babysit a Grandma. London, UK: Hodder Children's Books.

ISBN: 9781444918120
Pages: 32
Age Level: Early Childhood 0-6
Genre: Picture Storybook
Rating: 5 stars

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Oops, sorry ... this is going to be a speedy review, as I have a 19th wedding anniversary dinner to attend - mine!  Like ... NOW!

"When you babysit a grandma, if you're lucky it's a sleepover at her house!  With the help of this funny and heartwarming book, you're guaranteed to become an expert grandma-sitter in no time.  Be sure to check:

How to play with a grandma

Things to do at the park

What to do at bedtime.

Grab your pillow and get ready for some special grandma time!"

This is a follow up to How to Babysit a Grandad.  These books are a twist on the traditional babysitting routine where the kids are babysitting the Grandies.  They are bright.  They are funny.  And they take a topic that many young children don't like, are scared of, or just think is plain dumb to a new level.  This may make kids more keen to be babysat by their grandparents.  It gives kids an impression that they have ownership of the babysitting.  Full of lists on how to help babysit your Grandma, kids will be able to relate to many of these situations.

Wildish's illustrations are lovely.  They are bright and almost three-dimensional.  If you look closely at the faces they look like one of those raised stickers you can get.  With a mix of full page illustrations and illustrations fitting around the text, this is an interesting book to read.  There are so many things to see (and learn!).  The end-papers are great too.  They are a photo montage of the young girl and her Grandmother and some of the activities they get up to.

There are so many cool things to read and see in this book that I could go on for ages.  However I really truly have to dash or my hubby will tell me off :-)

This is a great book to have in you collection for when you have 'Grandparents day' at school.  The Grandies will enjoy reading it just as much as the young kids.  I know our junior students get a whole lot of enjoyment out of How to Babysit a Grandad.

A great book to celebrate grandparents.

I got my copy of How to Babysit a Grandma from the Taradale Primary School library where I work. 

You can find a copy at Napier Libraries.