Words and Your Heart by Kate Jane Neal
| Words and Your Heart by Kate Jane Neal | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: John Lloyd
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| Summary: An inventively-conveyed message, that is only gaining importance in the world. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: November 2017 |
| Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Books | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9781471168536 | |
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Trolling, bullying, cyber-shaming, whatever-it's-called-this-week-ing – all act as proof that the adage about sticks and stones is actually a lot of piffle. In a world where we all have hearts, we should have a heart that what we say to other people is positive. We can examine our world and the sound it makes through communication, we can make each other smile, laugh, sing and be happy together, and bit by bit the world can be a better place. And hang the 'no, after you' attitude some people would have in response. There, I've given the entire plot of this book away in my summary, but that's not really an issue.
The issue is that the message needs to be told, and in as many ways as possible it would appear, for it seems to refuse to get through where it matters. The way it comes across here is with a very cartoonish pair of characters. He appears to be Elmer Fudd's great-great-grandson, and she a cute young thing in a cat costume (unless it is a cat, that bit's unclear). The images are actually quite wonderful, showing great skill with the paintbrush to get the characters, that just pop out of the clear white background. All the colour comes from – what else – the red of our hearts, with just a touch of orange and yellow where needed.
Large typewriter-styled font drums the message home, and there's very little to fault the script with. Something tells me this is a book to buy for other people, though, as it is something I can’t imagine myself buying to keep, whatever its qualities. I'm sure it will find a very important place on many a school library shelf, however, and its self-help qualities are there just as much as is the 'help others' moral. So yes, I do only have kind words for this book.
I must thank the publishers for my review copy.
See You When I See You by Rose Lagercrantz and Eva Eriksson touches on bullying for an audience just a touch older – it's part of a wider series that features many issues, all in fabulous ways.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Words and Your Heart by Kate Jane Neal 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 reviews or buy Words and Your Heart by Kate Jane Neal from Amazon.com
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