Today I am sharing something old and something new
Two books that celebrate friendship
Two books that acknowledge that navigating friendships
Can be tricky
Two books that show little readers that it is normal
To feel anxious and jealous and to not what to do
These two beautiful and brilliant books
Show children the power of strong friendships
And the strength in being yourself
These two books also celebrate childhood and play
On Sudden Hill is also
An ode to creativity and imagination
We are introduced to Birt and Etho
They’re Big friends
Who love having cardboard box adventures together
The boys love their two-by-two rhythm
Until two becomes three
The poetic language in this book
And lyrical descriptions
Take me back to my own childhood
Complicated connections
Feeling unsure and alone
Worried about losing a friend
Before delighting in gaining someone new
Finding and keeping friends can be tricky
And this wonderful story shows how
Three boys learn to love one another
And move from two best friends
To a three-by-three rhythm
Their Etho-Shu-Birt-iness is beautiful
And shows little readers that
Trying to make new friends can be difficult
Accepting new people is important
Friendships grow and change all the time
This is a book of love and courage
Acceptance and the joy found in
Creative and imaginative play
Milo’s Monster is the latest book from Tom Percival
A new member of the Big Bright Feelings series
I love how Tom starts each book
With a letter to little readers
In this book the letter reassures little ones
That we all feel jealous from time to time
And gives a few simple tips
To help children deal with jealous feelings
As with all Tom’s stories
This is pitch perfect
For helping children and their grown ups
Talk about finding friends
Understand changing friendships
Navigate tricky feelings
And think about how to be a good friend
Part of a strong friendship
Milo and Jay have always been best friends
Then one day a new family moves in across the road
Jay starts to play with the little girl who lives there
He goes to call without telling Milo
And Milo gets a funny feeling
When he hears Jay and the girl laughing together
Milo does not know what to do
He feels awkward and upset
He cannot find a way to be with both Jay and Suzi
Milo is feeling jealous
Though he cannot name the feeling
We see his thoughts and feelings
In the form of
A green-eyed monster
The monster becomes the voice in Milo’s head
Putting words and thoughts and feelings there
Making Milo sad and anxious and angry
Jay and Suzi try to include Milo
But he cannot see beyond the fog
Of the green-eyed monster
Poor Milo is alone
This story really pulled on my heartstrings
Because it is filled with raw emotions I recognise
From my own childhood and grown up life
And because I know that this situation
Is one that my own children will experience
And it will hurt
I am so very grateful to Tom Percival
And to Linda sarah and Benji Davies
For creating brilliant and beautiful picture books
To help them through the tough times
And complicated emotions
That we all face
Suzi finally manages to get through to Milo
Her and Jay never give up on their friend
Milo with the love and support of his friends
Finds the strength to get rid of the green-eyed monster
He realises that his bad feelings were ruining
His treasured friendship with Jay
And an exciting new friendship with Suzi
Milo found the courage to say sorry
And just like Etho, Shu and Birt
Milo, Jay and Suzi find their
Three-by-three rhythm
Two perfect picture book hugs
For your little ones when they need them
One old, one brand new
Both brilliant and beautiful