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You are here: Home / Archives for difference

The Perfect Fit by Naomi Jones ill. James Jones

March 5, 2021 By achuka Leave a Comment

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Both an imaginative exploration of shapes and a tale of individuality and inclusion. The first collaboration between a husband-and-wife team.

No matter how hard she tries, Triangle doesn’t roll like the circles, or stack like the squares…so she sets off to find friends that look exactly like her. But when she finds the other triangles, playtime isn’t as fun. She misses the shapes that roll and stack; she misses being different. So she starts a new quest, one that gets all of the different shapes playing and having fun together!

Follow James Jones on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamespauljones/
And follow husband-and-wife’s joint IG: https://www.instagram.com/naomiandjamesjones/

James Jones is an Art Director and designer working freelance to design book covers for publishers worldwide.

Filed Under: Illustrated Tagged With: difference, inclusion, inclusive, maths, PSHE, shapes

I Talk Like a River by Jordan Scott ill. Sydney Smith

January 21, 2021 By achuka Leave a Comment

ACHUKA Book of the Day 22 Jan 2021

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Amazon
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“This poetic and deeply memorable picturebook has a quality that stops you in your tracks and pulls you in… …a lyrical and intensely visual exploration of how it feels to struggle to speak out.” BfK 5 STAR review

After a day of being unable to speak when asked, and of being stared at, a boy and his father go to the river for some quiet time. “It’s just a bad speech day,” says Dad. But the boy can’t stop thinking about all the eyes watching his lips twisting and twirling. When his father points to the river bubbling, churning, whirling and crashing, the boy finds a way to think about how he speaks. Even the river stutters. Like him. “I talk like a river,” he says.

Lyrical, painfully acute language and absorbing, atmospheric illustrations capture, with startling clarity, this school-age child’s daily struggle with speech. Free verse emulates the pauses of interrupted speech while slowing down the reading, allowing the words to settle. When coupled with powerful metaphors, the effect is gut-wrenching: “The P / in pine tree / grows roots / inside my mouth / and tangles / my tongue.” Dappled paintings inspire empathy as well, with amorphous scenes infused with the uncertainty that defines both the boy’s unpredictable speech and his melancholy. KIRKUS

An incredibly moving picture book that offers understanding rather than a solution, and which will resonate with all readers, young and old. Masterfully illustrated by Sydney Smith, winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal.

Follow the illustrator on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sydneydraws/

Filed Under: BookOfTheDay, Illustrated Tagged With: difference, disfluency, speech, stammer

Out Of Nowhere by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros

January 15, 2021 By achuka Leave a Comment

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A feel-good picture book about friendship and change, from the bestselling author of The Suitcase (2019), translated into over 20 languages.

Beetle and Caterpillar are best friends. Every day, they sit together on a big rock, sharing a picnic and looking out over the forest. But one day, Caterpillar goes missing and, try as he might, Beetle cannot find her. Just as he is about to give up hope, a very friendly (and rather familiar) butterfly appears out of nowhere. Can it be his friend? She might look different but she is still just the same and they are together again, at last.

Every Nosy Crow paperback picture book comes with a free “Stories Aloud” audio recording. Just scan the QR code and listen along!


 

Filed Under: Illustrated Tagged With: difference, friendship

Rosie Loves Jack by Mel Darbon

September 8, 2018 By achuka Leave a Comment


Shortlisted for Branford Boase Award 2019

A YA novel told from the perspective of someone with Down’s syndrome. A love story inspired by the author’s experiences alongside her severely autistic brother.

Waterstones

Filed Under: YA Tagged With: autism, difference, disability, Down's, inclusion, love, romance

25 Children’s Books That Celebrate Differences

September 7, 2018 By achuka Leave a Comment

 

Taylor Pittman has rounded up 25 titles that “celebrate various differences in ways children can both understand and enjoy.”

A big image of the book jacket and a short blur accompanies each entry…

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/kids-books-diversity-differences_us_5b912bd8e4b0cf7b003d3508

Filed Under: Blog, Books Tagged With: difference, list

CLPE Conference

March 2, 2017 By achuka Leave a Comment

I hadn’t previously been to the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education aka CLPE, which is surprising given my background in both education and books. How heartening that such an organisation has managed to buck the trend of closed services and inservice training centres – not only to survive but to flourish.

If the quality of the day conference I attended yesterday is typical of events and training days CLPE organises, I am not a bit surprised that schools are, at least for now, willing to spare cash from their strapped budgets to allow teachers out for the day and benefit from such programmes.

The cost of peak rail fares probably limits attendance to those working in schools in the London area, which is a shame, because, especially with the diminished role of local authorities in organising training courses and the closure of all but a small number of teacher centres, an event such as the one organised today would have so much to offer teachers further afield.

Shifting the start and end times of the day forward by one hour might help attract those who are able to reach London for 10:30/11:00 on off-peak fares.

Yesterday’s event was billed as Reflecting Realities: British Values in Children’s Literature

CLPE’s own Learning Programme Leader, Farrah Sarroukh, argued in her opening address that, in the context of both Brexit and the Trump presidency, the emphasis in teaching literacy needs to be somewhat more positive than merely encouraging ‘tolerance’ – much more important is empathy, and an understanding acceptance of difference (throughout the day there was a commendable effort to refrain from jargon and the use of too-frequently-tripped-out terminology – as in the avoidance, where possible, of the overused word ‘diversity’).

Cue the first keynote speaker, Miranda McKearney OBE, founder of both the Reading Agency and the Summer Reading Challenge. McKearney retired from the Agency when she turned 60 but, after a brief spell trekking in foreign parts, found herself compulsively researching recent studies into the effect of reading on the brain. This led to her setting up EmpathyLab, the subject of her talk.

The second keynote speaker was author Elizabeth Laird who used personal anecdote, family snaps and photographs from her travels to give the audience an insight into the way authors collect bits from their past and use brief encounters on overseas research trips to put the elements of a novel together. She did this with particular reference to her latest book Welcome To Nowhere.

Floella Benjamin spoke (and sang) with powerful passion about her experience of moving to England from the Caribbean. Her father, a jazz musician, was the first to make the trip, later joined by their mother. Losing the loving presence of her mother had a shattering effect on Floella, who had to spend fifteen months separated from her siblings and living with a cruel and authoritarian ‘aunt’ and ‘uncle’. Finally arriving in England, the reunited family lived in a single room in Chiswick. Floella sufffered frequent racist abuse, but gave as good as she got, often responding physically. Indeed, the way the 67 year old squared up to her audience in boxing mode, fists ready to fly, gave a pretty clear indication of how intimidating her angry responses to those who dared slur her must have been. She is still getting her own back. When the family moved out of their single room and were able to buy a house in Beckenham the racist abuse continued. Her mother stayed on in that house for 40 years undaunted by the antipathy of some. Now Floella is proud of her full title, Baroness Benjamin of Beckenham, the sweet irony of which she is pleased to enjoy on her mother’s behalf.

She called the assembled teachers ‘chosen ones’ who must not let a single one of the children in their care feel unloved.

After a really excellent buffet lunch (five-star conference fare) the delegates split into four workshops, each of which allowing for greater activity and participation than in the morning sessions.

  • Candy Gourlay, in a session titled ‘Rosy Cheeks and White Picket Fences” (because that’s how the world was depicted in the British and American children’s books that she read when growing up) talked about her childhood and young adulthood in the Philippines and working as a journalist and illustrator before moving to England and becoming an author
  • Catherine Johnson used some of her recent historical fiction to help provoke discussion in her session titled ‘Black History is All Our History, Finding Ourselves in Stories from the Past’
  • Artinuke in ‘Drawing on our own Stories to Create New Narratives’ retold a traditional tale in a manner that generated lots of contributions from those attending the workshop, commenting on their experiences of how children respond to ‘told’ as opposed to ‘read’ stories
  • Poet Anthony Anaxagorou (artistic director at London’s coolest spoken word and music event Out-Spoken) led a session called ‘Helping Children Find Their Voice’ in which teachers became pupils for a while, encouraged to find poetic pairings of adjectives and nouns

The day ended with a question and answer session featuring two directors of Letterbox Library (booksellers for the conference) and Verna Wilkins (original founder and publisher at Tamarind Press, and now of Firetree Books).

The whole day was wrapped up by CLPE’s Chief Executive Louise Johns-Shepherd.

Keep an eye on future courses and conferences organised by CLPE – https://www.clpe.org.uk/professionaldevelopment/conferences

 

Filed Under: Blog, Books Tagged With: conference, difference, diversity, empathy, racism, values

CBeebies’ Presenter Cerrie Burnell On Becoming A Children’s Author

September 24, 2015 By achuka Leave a Comment

Cerrie Burnell might be best known for being a presenter on CBeebies, but having recently launched her third book she’s becoming a well-established author who champions diversity.

The 36-year-old, who originally studied acting before becoming a CBeebies presenter and kids’ author, is dyslexic and was born without her right arm.

She was named in the Observer’s top ten children’s presenters and featured in the Guardian’s 2011 list of 100 most inspirational women where she received praise for tackling disability head on.

via CBeebies’ Cerrie Burnell On Becoming A Children’s Author And The Importance Of Celebrating Difference.

Filed Under: Blog, Books Tagged With: difference, disability, TV presenter

Terry Perkins and his upside down smile by Felix Massie – ACHUKAreview

September 3, 2015 By achuka Leave a Comment

Screen Shot 2015-09-03 at 14.30.02

I sat down this morning with my 11 o’clock espresso and spent some time browsing through the Autumn Catalogue of the Quarto Publishing Group. When I came to the section for Frances Lincoln Books I stopped on p80 and thought to myself, “Ooh, this looks interesting – hope I’ve been sent a review copy.” So up I get and look at my pile of recently received picture books. Yes! It was there. And what a wonderful debut it is.
Felix Massie is a London-based award-winning animator and illustrator. He designed the short, animated trailer for the book:

Massie’s illustration style is disarmingly simple, but perfectly suited to this rhyimng tale about a young boy who is fine, until he starts to speak, when all his words come out garbled, as if they have been written upside-down. The doctor recommends a straightforward remedy to Terry’s mother. Turn the boy himself upside-down and then the words should come out the right way. Which they do. But all is not well. Now he can talk. But can’t walk. He has to be pushed around in a trolley. He is teased mercillessly at playschool. Then a girl called Jenny befriends him at a playground. She is hanging upside down on the monkey bars, and when she means to say “Boo!” it comes out as “Poo!”and Terry finds himself laughing for the first time since being turned upside down.

It’s an amusing story about being different and will be especially helpful to parents of young children who have speech difficulties.

Massie is already signed up to create a second picture book for FL which will be called George Pearce and his Huge Massive Ears.

http://www.achuka.co.uk/reviews/?p=597

Filed Under: Blog, Books Tagged With: difference, picture book, review, reviews, rhyming, speech, words

Guardian Review: Jessica’s Ghost by Andrew Norris

May 30, 2015 By achuka Leave a Comment

Josh Lacey reviews Jessica’s Ghost by Andrew Norris:

guardiansmall

Norris has a friendly, avuncular narrative voice, jumping from one character’s perspective to another, and inserting occasional snippets of his own commentary. His teenage characters are charming, articulate, witty and wise. Jessica’s Ghost is both a hymn to the joys of “being different” and an earnest exploration of the serious traumas suffered by teenagers who are lucky enough, and unlucky enough, to be unconventional.

full review via Jessica’s Ghost by Andrew Norris review – an unconventional tale of difference | Books | The Guardian.

Filed Under: Blog, Books Tagged With: alienation, difference, outsider, review, reviews

What’s the difference between a children’s book and a book with young characters that also appeals to adults?

March 13, 2015 By achuka Leave a Comment

Kate DiCamillo is the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature in the US. The job takes her around the country to advocate for the importance of reading.
This is from a Q&A piece in the Baltimore Sun

baltimoresun

What’s the difference between a children’s book and a book with young characters that also appeals to adults?

I would posit that some books for children, like "Charlotte’s Web," deal with the central issues of what it means to be human that we keep turning over all of our lives.

But when I’m writing for children, I have it in my mind that I’m "duty-bound to end the story with hope." That’s a quote from [author] Katherine Paterson.

In addition, when I’m writing for kids I’m always aware of possibility and of magic. Impossible things can happen in stories for kids.

It makes me more hopeful myself, and more aware of possibilities. That’s why I love writing for kids.

via Newbery Award-winning author Kate DiCamillo comes to Park School – Baltimore Sun.

Filed Under: Blog, Books Tagged With: adults, children, difference

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