WTBA is a collection of and conversation about powerful books that strengthen, elevate, inspire and help to grow powerful, resilient kids. We're a book oriented guide for parents, grandparents, educators, aunts, uncles and anyone involved in nurturing children and caring for friends.
ages 2 to 8 years
Alison Lester has a gift for writing words that bounce – there’s a rhythm to her words that's easy for the reader to catch and hold onto. The Journey Home isn't a rhyming book, but it does read in a lyrical sort of way. There’s a repeated refrain of ‘come inside and stay’ making this a good early reader.
Age guide: 2 to 8 years ish
This is a simple story about different points of view, forgiveness, mistakes, work and overcoming. Also, it’s funny!
Tom is a little fellow who finds some red paint – then, in the space of just three hours, paints his entire living room red. Including the TV and the cat! He’s quite pleased with the result.
Mum is not, but after a few wild exclamations she gets it together and they undertake a complete revamp of the living room – and finally everyone is happy with the result. Years pass, then one day Tom finds the blue paint.
Read MoreWhen my children were little, we did Joy School and No Peas For Nellie was recommended by them. I think it was for the joy of decision making. But in the end I think we’ve liked this book for so long because it’s funny.
ages 0 to about 4 years
Read MoreAge guide: 4 to 8
I bought a copy of this for my family and one for my nephew David – who was not at all dreadful, making it an especially funny book for our family.
Dreadful David is one busy little kid – he wreaks havoc at Granny’s house. She is stalwart in the face of all the trouble but slowly her smile begins to fade. The last straw comes when David hoses Granny – he’s already hosed the letter box, the kitten and more.
Granny, being of the old school variety, changes David, smacks his bottom and puts him to bed. David yells for a while but finally goes to sleep and Granny comes in and kissed him on the cheek.
Read MoreI don’t normally like books that overtly teach. I prefer the teaching part to settle gently in the recesses of small minds ready for them to catch and adapt as life throws circumstances to them that don’t quite match the books they’ve read. Mile-High Apple Pie is an exception - there's the obvious, plus much more.
ages 4 to 12 years
Read MoreSam and Charlie are twins; one is 'naughty' and the other is 'nice'. Which is cause for some considerable consternation in the family. It turns out to be a problem for Santa too!
ages 2 to 12 years - a really fun book for Christmas!
Age guide: 2 to 6. The Alfie books by Shirley Hughes are a bit like an antidote to perfect-minimalist Mommy blogs. Not that I don’t love reading a good Mommy blog! But in the Alfie books there’s a very real family – they’re not especially rich. The house is not styled, it’s functional and beautiful as a result – there’s plenty of clutter (of both the physical and social kinds) and plenty of pushing aside clutter to make room for the next activity.
In this one, there’s a Harvest Fair coming to a local school and Alfie determines to enter one of the competitions.
Read MoreA conversation about books + kids. A website resource and book reviews for educators, parents, grandparents. The main focus is emotional resilience.
