Today we have been thinking about kindness
We have been thinking about how we can show kindness in different situations
We have also been talking about how we can welcome new people
Into our home, our community
We talked about what we might put into a Welcome Box
For newly arrived refugee children
To help us with our thinking and talking
We have turned to an old favourite, ever valuable book
Hello! A Counting Book Of Kindnesses
And the accompanying discussion guide
From Hollis Kurman and Otter Barry Books
We have also been exploring Teacup
By Rebecca Young and Matt Ottley
Which I think may be
One of the most tender and beautiful picture books I have ever read
Teacup begins with a boy who had to leave his home … and find another
All he takes with him are a book, a bottle, a blanket and a teacup
Filled with earth from his homeland
The boy sets out to sea in a little wooden boat
Clinging tightly to his teacup when the sea is rough
Longing for stars when the nights were dark and cloudy
Searching the horizon for land
As he travels further from home
Little things remind him of what he has left behind
The floating clouds remind him how things can change with a whisper
One day the little boy notices a shoot from the earth in his teacup
Something new
New life
Time past
A tree grew
A tree that gave him food, shelter, shade, exercise and a resting place
Time passed
And the boy reached land
There he began to build
Until the day when the girl with the broken egg cup arrive
The final wordless page of this breathtakingly beautiful book
Shows three sets of footprints
Showing that a new home led to a new family being born
A new life being made
We are never told who the boy is or why he leaves his home
This led to some wonderful discussion with the children
About why people have to leave their homes
We touched on wars, climate change, extreme weather and more
We talked a lot about the boy took with him a teacup of soil
We talked about what we would take with us if we had to leave our home
At this point we used the teaching notes for
Hello! A Counting Book of Kindnesses to guide our discussion
Throughout this story
Reflections are used in the illustrations
We talked about what the artwork might be symbolising
The reflections of objects on wet sand and the ocean
We talked about how the boy reflected on his life while he travelled
As he remembered his life at home
And dreamed of what new life might lie ahead
We talked a lot about symbolism and metaphor
And how both are used in this enchanting, poetic, allegorical story
Filled with hope
A must read for anyone talking to children about displacement and migration
A gentle story to explore with children making their own journeys or life transitions
A beautiful illustration of hope