As a military child I moved home a lot
I moved school a lot
Things were always changing
Moving somewhere new
A new town
A new country
A new school
I rarely had the same friends for more than a few years
It was a lot of starting over
All good experience I was told
Would make me a confident sociable adult
Able to speak to anyone
Good at making friends
Actually none of those things are true
I am not confident
I am not very sociable
I find making and keeping friends really hard
I am insecure
And never really feel like I belong anywhere
I wish as a child I had been able to read
Books about moving home
Moving to a new place
Settling into a new community
Making new friends
I wish I had access to books
That showed people like me
Going through what I was going through
Picture books in the 70s and 80s
Were just not what they are in 2022
The chapter books i read and loved
Provided nostalgia for yesteryear
Or hopes and dreams for romance
Today I am joining Clare Helen Welsh
In her Books That Help Campaign
To share books about moving home
Moving somewhere news
And settling into a new school or community
My own children aged 5 – 12
Have helped me to choose these stories to share
Each of them features a child or children moving to a new home
They are from a mix of genres but they all have this central theme
We have chosen to share a mix of picture books
And chapter books
That feature moving home
Exploring a new place
Worries about settling and fitting in
Family feelings
Making friends
And dealing with change
Many of these books we have shared before
And others we will be reviewing
Over the coming weeks
I am so grateful to Clare for the inspiration
To collate and share our favourite
Books That Help
Our picture books that help with moving home
And dealing with change are
And all the BIG feelings that come with it are
(Click through to Instagram to read our reviews)
The Longest Strongest Thread by Inbal Leitner
Love Grows Everywhere by Barry Timms and Tisha Lee *
Say Goodbye Say Hello by Cori Doerrfeld *
Agnes’s Place by Marit Larsen and Jenny Lovlie *
A New Kind of Wild by Zara Gonzalez Hoang *
A New Friend by Lucy Menzies and Maddy Vian
Willow Wildthing by Gill Lewis and Rebecca Bagley
Our chapter books that help with moving home
With friendship, healing and hope
Through a range of supernatural stories
Historical fiction adventures
Eco stories
Folklore, fairy tales
And contemporary middle grade literature are
Song of the River by Gill Lewis *
A Flash of Fireflies by Aisha Busby *
October, October by Katya Balen
The Bird Singers by Eve Wersocki Morris *
My Friend The Octopus by Lindsay Galvin
* Review coming soon
Which books would you add to this list?