As a teacher I taught The Great Fire of London to my Year 2 class After having already terrified them by teaching about The Plague I always thought it would be a topic better taught to older children Now as … Continue reading
The Boy In The Suit Is an incredible book An almost but not quite unbelievable tale Tenderly told This is a moving story Packed with power Hard hitting contemporary reality Which I found, at times, very hard to read A … Continue reading
As a mother of three dyslexic daughters All avid readers and lovers of stories Graphic Novels have become a passion Our growing collection covers a wide range of topics Features fact and fiction A wonderful array of art styles Classic … Continue reading
As a family we love going to the theatre My children are all keen watchers and performers With Bea making her professional stage debut this year My children have grown up with trips to The Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury We … Continue reading
I wanted to show off some of Bea’s monologues on my blog Bea is 9 years old and is an aspiring actress She has recently made her professional stage debut At The Royal Opera House In the opera Andrea Chenier … Continue reading
AD PR Press Trip The Boy At The Back Of The Class A book Esther, William and I adored Back in 2020 (I cannot believe it has been 4 years!) A book I plan to read again Next month For … Continue reading
Four children on an island
Surrounded by roads
Rather than water
Hidden in plain sight
Escaped to a slither
Of wilderness
Beside a busy motorway
Four children unwanted
Bullied
Betrayed
Broken
Four children
Utterly alone
Completely let down
Stealing to survive
Living off the land
Learning together
Leaning on one another
Four children and a dog
Sharing food and resources
Sharing knowledge and skills
Sharing stories
Equals
A story of self discovery
Of friendship
Of belonging
Of recovering
Regrowing
A story of found families
Four children searching for safety
Seeking a better way of life
Gil
An orphan
Passed from one foster family
To another
Promised always
That this time it would be different
But it never was
Riley and Grayson
Beaten brothers
Bullied boys
Abused by their father
Always feeling one
Must be the bad one
Pez
Wonderful and wild
A way with animals
Abandoned by all
Let down by those
She loved the most
Rejected and left alone
By those who never ever should
Outcast for being
A curious child
Four children on an island
Full of secrets
Hearts full of courage
Heads full of dreams
Each full of hurt
Memories filled with
Confusion and horror and pain
Four children and a dog
And a condor
Four friends
A found family
Bonded
Belonging together
Loyal to the last
Loyal when it matters most
Four children threatened
Four children afraid
Four children run
Together
To start over
Again
Only this time
No longer alone
Nowhere Island is written by Tania Unsworth
It is published by Zephyr Books
If like me you were a teen in the 90s
And Take That were your guilty pleasure
Then Greatest Days is
The juke box musical for you
It is not the story of THE band
But the story of five friends
Bonded by their love of a boy band
Five fans who shared the ups and downs
Of their teenage years
Together with their favourite band
Providing the soundtrack
This story starts in 1993
When the girls are 16
Rather like the Spice Girls
Of the same era
Each girl has their own distinct
Look and personality
Their own hopes and dreams
But together they are a team
Until on the night their dreams
Should have come true
Tragedy strikes
And the terrible event
Leads to the girls
All going their own separate ways
We meet them again
25 years later
When one of the friends
Wins tickets to a reunion gig
For the band they all adored
The girls meet up
And through a mix of
Comedy and dramatic storytelling
Slick dance routines and
Take That tunes
We find out what has happened
To each of the girls
Through the past quarter of a century
As together
Reunited
They reform
And help one another find themselves again
For women of a certain age
This is an incredibly moving musical
It reminded me of Mamma Mia
With a dose of Ab Fab
I laughed a lot
I loved explaining the 90s references
To my 13 year old daughter
I was 13 when I first watched Take That
On Cool Cube!
I was 18 when I was Lulu
For five male friends being
Take That
In a sixth form show
I was 30 when my sister and I went
To see Robbie Williams at Roundhay Park
I was 35 when all the songs meanings
Changed for me
When Baby Tilda died
(All the stars are coming out tonight)
There were some magical moments in this show
My favourite being when
The middle aged women
Were conforted and supported
By their younger selves
When by looking back
They were able to move forward
Greatest Days cemented for me
The power of the music we love
To help us keep our memories alive
To take us back to specific moments
In our lives
To help us tell our story
To the ones we love
To the next generation
This was a brilliant night out
For Esther and I
For anyone who has ever loved a boy band
For anyone who finds themselves
Looking back through the lens of music
For any fans of The Boys
For readers of Smash Hits
Greatest Days is the musical you never knew you needed
But you do
It will put a spring in your step and a song in your heart
As you remember your own Greatest Days
The ones you will Never Forget
The ones of which we all
Hope for more x
Greatest Days is on at The Marlowe until Saturday 5th August
On Tuesday Bea and I went to The Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury To see 42nd Street A musical about a musical Set on Broadway It is filled with familiar show songs And awe inspiring tap dancing All decked out in … Continue reading
“You’re the daughter of first generation immigrants. Do you know what that means?
It means your blood is made of iron will and determination. Your backbone is built from the sacrifices and impossible decisions of all those who walked before you. You have a duty to them to protect your heart.”
Finally Seen is a brilliant and beautiful book
A middle grade novel that packs a punch
And shines a spotlight on so so many
Issues relevant to young readers today
Post pandemic life
Racism
Bullying
Immigration
Moving somewhere new
Navigating friendships
Repairing relationships
Language barriers
Financial insecurity
The importance of good teachers
The vital role books
Libraries and librarians
Can play in the lives of our young people
This book shines a light on
Book banning and
FReadom
The freedom to read
Finally Seen is the story of Lina
Who finally flies to America
To join her parents and sister
They have been apart for 5 years
Lina has to leave behind
Lao Lao
Her beloved Grandmother
She feels so guilty but
But she is determined
To join her family
In America
Lina finds that life in America
Is not all that she
Had hoped it might be
School is hard
Children are unkind to her
And tease her when
She tries to speak English
Her parents are working so hard
For very little money
And they owe rent money
For their house
Lina does not feel like she belongs
She is homesick for Beijing
But also longs to be seen
In America
By her family and the children in school
Lina makes friends with Finn
They bond over feeling that
They are different
They bond through talking
About their families and
Home life
They bond over their love of books
Of graphic novels in particular
Finn helps Lina adjust to
Life in America and she is also
Helped by her one to one
English language teacher
Who is one of my favourite characters
And who is based upon the teacher
Who helped author, Kelly Yang
When her family first moves to
The States
Finally Seen takes young readers
On a journey through the day to day
Life of Lina as she experiences America
As a newly arrived Asian immigrant
We see the prejudice that her family faces
The cruelty and hardship they endure
We see how language and cultural barriers
Stop people living their lives
This book shows us all how
Kindness and acceptance help
How we should all be
Considerate and welcoming
To new people in our lives
This book shows the importance
Of helping people feel like they belong
Of showing people that they matter
Through Lina and her sister Millie
We feel the pain and anxiety caused
By worrying that you are not enough
You will never belong or do well
In the new country
That you now call home
This brilliant and beautiful book
Tackles difficult issues
In Kelly Yang’s story
We see children noticing when things are not right
We see children finding their voices and speaking out
To peers and classmates
To their family and friends
To school staff and community members
We see children and the grown ups who
Champion them and believe in them
Being empowered to make change
To stand up and speak out and make a difference
This is a story of love and courage
A story of resilience
There are so many characters
Each with their own layered story
All interwoven seamlessly
To paint a picture of real life
For a Chinese immigrant
Settling into a new life in America
I love the focus on graphic novels
In this story
I have ordered the books mentioned
In Finally Seen
For my children and I to read
I love that Lina feels seen
In the words and illustrations of
Flea Shop
And I am glad that she is able to
Communicate and express herself
Through her artwork and
Through her own explorations of
Creating graphic stories
One of the best parts of this book for me
Was the chapter when characters
Schooled and home educated
Old and young
Male and female
From all walks of life and
From many countries of the world
Stood up and spoke out passionately
About the banning of books
About why books and stories matter
And why we should all be free to read
The books we want and need to read
Why all children should have access
To the books that act as
Sliding doors and mirrors for them
Books are doors, windows and mirrors
Books are bridges
They connect us
They help us to see and feel and understand
They help us to be
Finally Seen
“My greatest hope in writing this book is to show just how essential books are as sliding doors and mirrors.
Because children need and deserve to see themselves represented in books …
… Because our future depends on it.”
Kelly Yang
