Did you write a diary as a child?
I wrote one for years and years, starting as a young child recording what I did each day slowly becoming a teenage journal. I used to record everything, thoughts, feelings, boys I liked, music, social goings on. I would love to see those diaries now. I can imagine how trivial things would seem now that were HUGELY dramatic at the time.
I loved writing my diary. A place for me to record my secrets and it was the grounding for my poetry writing and for me writing my blog as an adult. I have always loved writing and have found it cathartic through all the ups and downs of my adult life.
It was one of the reasons why this year I bought each of my older children a journal for their birthdays and we are going to have journal time at the end of each day, to help them make writing about and reflecting on their days a part of their daily routine.
I feel that is especially important for Esther this year as she is changing before my eyes in so many ways. She does not talk as much as the other children about what she is doing, how she is feeling and so for her, having a space and time where she can write things down, I think is going to be really important.
I look at Esther and I am starting to see glimpses of pre teen and teenage me. I know that journal writing and reading books that show her all that she is going through is normal, all her thoughts and feelings are usual for girls her age, is going to be enormously helpful for her.
Today I am kicking off the book tour for The Feeling Good Club written by Kelly McKain and illustrated by Jenny Latham.
The Feeling Good Club: Smash Your Worries Bella! is the first book in a new series all about mindfulness, mental health and making friends. Perfect for children in Years 5 and 6 at school, this is perfectly packaged emotional literacy for tweens.
BLURB
“Bella isn’t looking forward to Feeling Good Week at school. Her best friend Rosh has just moved away and on top of that she has a Big Worry – it’s her turn to do the class talk and she’s dreading it.
But when she befriends classmates Shazmin and Archie things start to look up. Can they help Bella to smash her worries for good?”
This is such a wonderful story. Filled with all the drama of being a pre teen. Written as diary entries by 10 year old Bella, this does feel a bit like sneaking a look into someone’s diary. Everything is laid bare all her worries and anxieties, her sadness and her frustrations all alongside her day to day goings on including what she ate for tea. This book will be so helpful for so many young children who are experiencing similar scenarios and emotions as they navigate the tricky tween years, but it also offers a hearty dose of nostalgia for any adult who ever wrote a diary of their own.
Through Bella’s journal young readers find a story about family and friendship. A story that will help children learn how to identify and deal with different feelings, that will teach children how to creatively, positively and purposefully channel big emotions. This is a story that will help children navigate the choppy seas of friendship and deal with changes in their life’s direction. This is a delightful book filled with gentle humour and punctuated with quirky illustrations and a sprinkle of emojis. This is a book that children will relate to and will find immensely helpful as they move from child to teen and find that the road is not always straight and smooth. This is a book that will help children learn about themselves and become the best version of themselves that they can be. This is a book filled with practical advice on building resilience and finding the courage to face your fears.
When Bella is struggling her new friends Archie and Shazmin help her to form The Feeling Good Club. The aim of the club is to help each other to feel good and face their fears head on. The project is inspired by a brilliant lesson from a visiting teacher who leads a magical mindfulness discussion about feelings. The teacher helps the children to open up about their emotions and to talk together about how they can turn negative feelings to positive outcomes. The class talk about how complex feelings, such as jealousy, can make them feel lots of different emotions. The class make sensory jars. Decorated jars that are filled with glitter. The shaken jars cause a glitter storm that the children can watch to help them focus on their feelings and breathing and calming down. This is something that we have done at home, wwe call them Calm Down Jars.
There are instructions for this wonderful activity in the back of the book.
The main themes in Bella’s story are learning to face fears, to be brave and face big worries head on. Bella learns that it is better to find the courage to overcome fears so that they do not stop you doing the things that you want to do. This is a huge lesson for little people and one that lots of big people need to learn too.
There are so many parts of this book that beg readers to stop and think, or even better talk, about what they are reading.
I love the ripples caused by one creative adult leading an inspiring workshop with a group of children. It is what teachers everywhere do everyday and it made me smile to see that recognised in print.
The ripples from the mindfulness lesson carry on through the story having positive impacts on the class, the school, friendship groups and families.
Throughout the story children are given lots of practical ideas for dealing with their feelings such as when Bella imagines zapping her worries away with a magic wand.
The Feeling Good Club’s first mission is to help Bella feel good about giving her talk. Her friends vow to help her “Beat those butterflies, conquer those nerves and smash it!”
I love Bella and her new friends. They are all quite different from one another but find the things that bond them together. They bring out the best in one another, they make each other laugh and smile and feel confident, and they support one another. All the makings of a brilliant friendship and watching their bonds blossom and grow is a real highlight of the book for me. I love their gentle teasing of one another and their playful relationship. Bella does too and it makes her realise that not all friends and friendships are the same but they are all special.
One of my favourite scenes in the book is when Bella and the gang of three spend a Saturday afternoon baking and decorating cookies then eating them mindfully, using all their senses. The scene shows that all families and homes are different, it shows that people all do things differently, it shows that there are lots of ways to think about things and do things and that it is all okay! It is brilliantly written and a real window into the world of tweens. Especially as the sugar filled high comes crashing down around them when they try to do something new. The highs and lows of real life and learning to steer your ship through the struggles is a real theme of this book and it shows young readers that they are not alone in their worries, problems and upsets.
As the book progresses and friendships change and grow, Bella learns a lot about herself and the world around her but will her Big Worry go away? Will she find the confidence to stand up in class and deliver her talk? Will that mean she can find the courage to sign up for The Show In A Week? Well, you will have to read the book to find out. I promise that you will not regret it and you will want to thrust this book into the hands of every tween you know. It certainly deserves a space in every upper KS2 classroom. Perfectly packaged emotional literacy for tweens.
I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and dedicate my review to my childhood best friend, my fellow diary writer and the other half of The PJ Posse!
Thank you for the memories Little Tiger Books