Abigail the whale

by Davide Cali

illustrations by Sonja Bougaeva

age range: 4 to 8 years old

Owlkids Publishing

Abigail hates to swim. She always tries to be the last in the line, because she knows what is coming. When she dives in her body, which she sees large, big, and heavy, makes a huge wave, and everybody starts saying "Abigail is a whale!". Oh, how she hates to swim!

Things changes the day her swimming teacher tells her that "we are what we think", and that if she wants to swim light, she has to think light. Abigail decides to give it a try, and actually when she thinks water she feels liquid, and she is not scared anymore when she thinks giant. Next Wednesday is time to try it in the pool. Can Abigail do it?

The story has an interesting approach to the topic of bullying. We don't have to accept what others say about us as the truth. It is much more important the way we feel about ourselves. Abigail is adorable, and she looks beautiful in these amazing illustrations. My 3 years old son wanted to look a thousand times to the picture of Abigail swimming underwater, and I can perfectly see why. It just makes you feel like swimming! Abigail learns what a great swimmer she can be when she just think that this is possible, and this is a wonderful message. She can also be a whale if she feels like splashing some naughty kids. :)

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Lila and the crow

by Gabrielle Grimard

age range: 3 to 7 years old

Annick Press

Lila has recently moved to a new city and she is really looking forward to start school to meet new friends. But things don't go as she expected. The very first day the bully of her class teases her saying her hair and eyes are black as a crow. Lila starts using a hat, dark glasses, and even a high neck sweater to cover her body as much as possible. This don't stop the bullying, and Lila is terribly sad. One afternoon running home from school Lila trips and falls. A crow comes near her. She can then observe how beautiful its black feather are, so black they seems to have kind of a purple gloss. Lila also sees how soft and bright its eyes are. She follows the crow to where hundreds of crows are. The sight is magnificent. When they fly away thousands of black feathers "rain" from the trees. Lila stuffs her backpack with them. At home she uses them to make a crow costume for the Great Autumn Festival at school. When she enters her classroom in her beautiful, black dress, all the kids run to her, to admire her costume and touch the soft feathers. Lila feels happy to be a crow.

Gorgeous illustrations accompany this sweet story. Lila, like any other kid, is avid to fit, to be accepted by her peers. She had never thought there was something wrong with the color of her hair or eyes. What others say makes her feel ashamed of it, but hiding who she is doesn't make things better. She makes the journey of finding back her own beauty, and this makes her feel strong and confident again. Lila is beautiful, and she knows it.

Gabrielle Grimard has illustrated many other picture books, but as far as I know this is the first time she authors the text too. Very promising. I'm interested in take a look to her future works. And another great read from Annick Press.

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

You are my best friend

by Tatsuya Miyanishi

age range: 4 to 8 years old

Tyrannosaurus is a bully. He is cruel and selfish. Everybody runs away from him because they are terrified. But it happens one day that Tyrannosaurus falls from the cliff, and Elasmosaurus helps him out of the water just when Tyrannosaurus is about to drown. Elasmosaurus lives in the water, so he doesn't know how mean Tyrannosaurus usually is. He not only saves him, but he also heals his wounds and brings him food. They become friends, and deeply enjoy spending time together. Tyrannosaurus feels like a new dinosaur. He smiles, eats berries, and looks happy and relaxed.

One day Elasmosaurus is attacked by a nasty dinosaur from the sea. Tyrannosaurus finds him with his body all covered by bite marks. "What a terrible thing to do!" he thinks. He feels terrible. Only now he confesses to his friend that he is the cruel dinosaur everybody hates. But Elasmosaurus knows that the true Tyrannosaurus is kind, and a great friend too.

Once again, as in You look yummy! Tatsuya Miyanishi proposes a different way too see a situation. In this case he puts forward the idea of how caring about the bully is also a way to stop bullying. Because of his barbarous behavior, all Tyrannosaurus obviously gets from other dinosaurs is fear and apprehension. And although he seems totally fine with it, he only is truly happy when he finds a friend who loves him. I can perfectly envision this book as a trigger to wonderful conversations with my kids. 

The writing is different from what we are used to, but this probably has a lot to do with the translation from Japanese. The illustrations are also distinctive, but I like them very much. I'm already looking forward to future titles in this series.

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Tanner wants to be cool

Cool Kind Kid Series - Book 1

by Barbara Gilmour

illustrated by James J Dunn

age range: 3 years old and up

Tanner wants to be cool, but what is cool? Bullying and being mean and rude surely is not cool. Being nice, helpful, kind and polite is cool. Manners show us how to be cool, because respect for himself and others makes Tanner a really cool kind kid.

The premise of this series is that the best way of fighting bullying is preventing it. Training healthy social skills we break the incivility-bullying-violence circle. In other words, it's natural to keep watching that our kids are not being bullied, but it's also our responsibility to be sure we are not raising bullies.

This material was especially thought for schools, summer camps, etc, and includes music and suggested activities. However, it's not exclusive for groups, and it would do a great read for any kid at home.

I received this book from the author via Bostick Communications in exchange for an honest review.