Swings + Roundabouts Spring 2021

What if … ? By Lynn Jenkins Illustrated by Kirrili Lonergan EK Books; RRP: $24.99 Hardback What if … ? is a great story to explore with young children who are prone to worry and anxious thoughts by encouraging children to consider other ways to think about the question, 'what if' and how we have the power within ourselves to choose what to think. ‘What if a tree branch breaks my window and a vampire bat comes in?’ ‘What if my floor turns iinto quicksand and swallows my bed? With me in it!’ Mama listened to Issy. She held her hand, smiled, and said, ‘What if – two powerful little words.’ She lay down beside Issy. ‘Let me have a turn.’ ‘What if clouds in the sky were purple and orange and green?’ ‘What if clouds smelled like fairy floss and popcorn?’ The book then allows for Issy to choose her own 'What if …' scenarios, which is the perfect opportunity for children listening to share their own ideas, creativity, and sense of fun. Written by an experienced author/clinical psychologist and illustrator/art therapist duo, What if...? is an exploration of how little worriers think, and how they can choose to turn those worries into wonder by managing anxiety through open conversations about worry in this playful and accessible tale. For children 3+. Enough: A Story About Community. By Sarah Johnson Illustrated by Deborah Hinde PictureBook Publishing; RRP: $19.99 Paperback The premise of Enough: A Story About Community is to recognise and celebrate the strength within communities and to provide a starting point for conversations with children about ways to stay strong, help one another during challenging times, and how everyone in a community has something to offer. The storyline follows a young girl, Hana, as she notices that as well as her own family, others in her street are also struggling. Struggling to provide enough food, clothing, wamth and company after hard times hit her community. The book was written after the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, as part of a grant that wanted to fund projects that had responded to the changed environment within the publishing sector. The author was inspired by the work done in her own community in Whaingaroa – Raglan through a volunteer group, Feed the Kids, who supported families in need during the lockdown and who usually feed local school children morning tea and lunch (one dollar from every sale goes to Feed the Kids Raglan). But even though Hana … mixed and mended, gathered and fetched, stacked and baked, covered, matched, ran and dug, lent, borrowed, stretched, made do, made good … then stopped, knocked and ran some more, she couldn’t make anywhere near enough. This story reminds children they have the agency to make change, but also that pulling together with others is another solution to create change and support for communities to ensure there can be ‘enough’. The illustrations depict, what the illustrator, described as “a typical New Zealand community – not a flash community, just the type of community that you might find in any small or large town around the country”, and which allows many tamariki to recognise themselves within the illustrations. For children 4+. September 2021 { 39 }