Swings + Roundabouts Autumn 2021

BE KIND By Monique le Roux Illustrated by Kwok Yi Lee Monique le Roux; RRP: $20.00 Hardback Be Kind has become a way of thinking and doing for many adults over the last year, but within teaching in the early childhood sector it is a common saying for many in our services. Be Kind is about Molly Mouse who along with having fun meets new people in the neighbourhood, but most importantly she practices being kind, empathetic and compassionate to others. If someone’s afraid whilst trying to be brave, terrified things will go wrong. Will you understand and hold tight their hand, so they feel invincibly strong? Will you act kindly today? This book will support children’s understanding and teachers’ explanations in how to be kind, as with each turn of the page there are many solutions to often challenging everyday situations where the importance of being kind becomes more apparent. The bright and vivid illustrations are playful and also represents an eclectic diverse set of characters repressing Aotearoa New Zealand’s diverse population. This book will be enjoyed for tamariki 2+. You can find and buy this book online at the Chooice store https://chooice.co.nz/store/ be-kind/ and at Whitcoulls. COUNTING CREATURES By Julia Donaldson Illustrated by Sharon King-Chai Pan Macmillan; RRP: $29.99, Hardback Counting Creatures is a captivating and beautiful interactive counting picture book, written by bestselling author Julia Donaldson of the beloved picture book ‘The Gruffalo’ , and illustrated by award-winning Sharon King-Chai. Counting books are not a format that we haven’t seen done countless times before, with each page introducing the number succeeding the last along with a new subject to count, but picture books as visually stunning in combination with verses as fun to read as those in Counting Creatures are few and far between. Creators of this book, and previously ‘Animalphabet’ have reimagined stale formulas of picture books to bring back magic into reading and learning, this book is a joy to read, both for its illustrations and it’s fun lyrical writing, it’s a book that readers will return to time and time again. In addition to its illustrations and counting game and story, each page of Counting Creatures has a cool new setting and as the reader turns the page they are transported from a forest to rolling green hills, then from a jungle to the savannah where they’ll find a Wild Dog, and it’s four pups; each page fresh and as beautiful as the last. Each page of the book also has an interactive element, with peep through pages and fold-out flaps. The design of pages is intricate and unique with breath-taking imagery, alongside colours and rhymes that will hold the attention of even the most easily distracted. The story itself is signature to author Julia Donaldson’s style, filled with her charming rhyming verses that make this book a delight to read aloud, as each page flows on its own to the next. This is the kind of book I would have loved growing up, and I can imagine it becoming a favourite of many young learners now. Counting Creatures makes learning fun with learning to count now an exciting and beautiful task, along with learning new animals and their babies, learning new words, and learning new language features such as rhyming, adjectives and verbs. This book would be an excellent addition for any learning centre or home. Great for both groups and one-on-one reading. Reviewed by Fern Marie March 2021 { 39 }