Totto-chan

The Little Girl at the Window by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi shaped my ideas on children’s behaviour…Sometimes our expectations as educators are not parallel to the ideas of children. This is not ‘naughtiness’.

Totto Chan shows how creativity and free-spiritdness are beautiful qualities.

As educators, we should be embracing the way children see the world and gently guiding them, as her extraordinary headmaster and founder of the school, Sosaku Kobayashi, does. Based on a true story

The Singing Hat

Some books are written with quirkiness to help convey complex ideas. The Singing Hat by Tohby Riddle is a delightful story which addresses the way we treat those who fall outside our idea of ‘normal’. He uses descriptive language and sophisticated illustrations incorporating collage. The story is a sensitive but gently humorous exploration of social isolation, inclusion, problem solving and compassion.

Voices in the park

Good quality Children’s Literature has many layers. Voices in The Park by Anthony Browne, is the same outing to the park viewed from four different characters in the story. Four different perspectives and social commentaries in the sub-text. Details in the illustrations and font styles add to this thought-provoking book.