A Pocketful of Kisses by Angela McAllister and Sue Hellard
| A Pocketful of Kisses by Angela McAllister and Sue Hellard | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Magda Healey
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| Summary: A rather saccharine but very reassuring book for and about worried children starting Big School, with pretty picture and a decent text. | |
| Buy? Maybe | Borrow? Maybe |
| Pages: 32 | Date: June 2007 |
| Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC | |
| ISBN: 978-0747573043 | |
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Digby is rather worried on his second day at school: he doesn't want to be a schoolboy, he wants to be a homeboy again. It's all rather overwhelming, he can't remember where things are, and what to do when and he is afraid nobody will play with him. To make things better, his Mum blows a dozen kisses into his pocket telling him that when he feels worried he should take one out and imagine her with him. But the day turns out better than Digby thought.
A Pocketful of Kisses is positive, optimistic and deals with worries little children might have in their first days at school - especially now with reception classes more common, many a 4 year old (or even a 3.5 year old) will end up at "the big school". Hopefully most of them will have some pre-school experience before to ease the transition, but even for those a change from a nursery environment can be daunting.
The text in the A Pocketful of Kisses flows well, and the story shows nicely that the best way to deal with social anxieties is by forgetting your own worries and helping somebody else: and that others also often feel lost and confused.
While nothing particularly exceptional, I rather liked the text in the A Pocketful of Kisses: a simple, reassuring story that many little ones - even those who took to the Big School as fish to water - can relate to via their own or their peers' experience.
The story is, for some reason, told using animal characters (Digby is a mole). I don't like an indiscriminate use of animal characters in children's books and in this case I don't think there was any reason to have the story told using anthropomorphic animals at all, unless for the purpose of tugging at the strings of mawkish sentimentality or easy cuteness. And the next time I'll see an owl teacher I'll probably scream!
The illustrations are very pretty and overdo the "charming animal babies with round faces and big eyes" thing, but if you like this style you'll love them, as they are executed beautifully. The autumn forest environment is depicted really well, with rich variety of muted colours, and the animals are an endearing mixture of realistic likeness and human expressions.
If you like this style and have a child going through the nursery-school transition or even a later-starter (3 years old onwards) at a nursery or kindergarten, this book is a possible buy, or just borrow it for the couple of readings it will need.
Thanks to the publisher for sending this title to the BookBag.
Another sweet picture book about first friendships is The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams.
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You can read more book reviews or buy A Pocketful of Kisses by Angela McAllister and Sue Hellard at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy A Pocketful of Kisses by Angela McAllister and Sue Hellard at Amazon.com.
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