#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 22. Nightbear by Rebecca Patterson

Patterson, R. (2014). Nightbear. London, UK: Jonathan Cape.

ISBN: 9781780080086
Pages: 32
Age Level: Early Childhood 0-6
Genre: Picture Storybook
Rating: 4 stars

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Nightbear is an old bear.  He has been around for a very long time.  His first owners didn't love him so they gave him away and then he sat for years on the shelf in a charity shop.  One day a little girl bought him and took him home to meet all her other bears.  They all had important jobs but there was nothing for Nightbear to do.  How knows he can be special ... but how? 

This is a gorgeous story, told in the first person by Nightbear himself, about his life as a bear.  It's kind of like a diary.  It is quite a humorous story and leaves you with a warm fuzzy feeling at the end.  Beware though ... there are sad bits - like when he gets put in a bag and given away! :-(  With themes of individuality, rejection, Love and acceptance, readers will be able to emphasise with the bears feelings.

The illustrations are colourful and messy.  The backgrounds are all in white or muted shades, which makes the main illustrations show up really clearly.  The images all have an ink outline, but the colouring is painted 'over the lines' - just like kids would do.  They really work with the story ... it's as if Nightbear has illustrated his own book.  Oooh, and it's got a sparkly cover!

Rebecca Patterson was the 2012 winner of the Roald Dahl Funny Prize.

A lovely book for a bedtime read or to read to younger children when they are feeling left out with no friends to play with.

I got my copy of Nightbear from the Taradale Primary School library where I work. 

You can find a copy at Napier Libraries.