As many of our pre-schoolers may start physical school later this year, we parents face unique challenges. Of them, teaching them to be safe is the biggest one. How do we do that when they have remained relatively isolated the last one year in the safety of their house? Through books of course!
As a toddler parent, I’ve struggled with explaining the Covid-19 pandemic to my 4 year old. Why does he have to be locked up inside the house? Why does he have to wear a mask? Why does he have to keep washing his hands? You obviously cannot tell a toddler that there is a mysterious virus out there, and that all the doctors in the world are struggling to contain its impacts. The book ‘The Germ Academy’ has cleverly explained the phenomenon from the perspective of a child.
Frisky turned out to be nothing like the other dogs we had. On his fourth day home, the tiny dog decided to go out and conquer the world. And so he barged into our neighbor’s house, scaring their poor 3 year old Labrador with his aggressive barking. However, once the two dogs had amicably decided that Frisky was the stronger one (!) they became inseparable, and soon there was a gang of a Labrador, Dachshund and Doberman in our neighborhood (and if you are familiar with dog breeds and their sizes, you would know why this made everyone chuckle!). So, clearly Frisky was not scared of anybody. But, what did this mean for his relationship with dad? Was he going to be as aggressive with him?
The story revolves around how a little girl, Zara, inspired by her old craft teacher from school, Miss Gappi, takes steps to revive a garden that has over the years been turned into a dump yard. Along the way, the reader is taken on an amazing journey of discovering recycling as well as looking after the environment, all of it woven together with an incredibly tender, heart touching story.
An excellent book to help deal with anxiety in toddlers that also helps you see the bright side in situations.
The text in the book manages to strike the perfect balance between being informative, yet staying humorous and appealing to the child. Of course, the most attractive part of the book is the fact that it can be personalised with your child’s name, which means that while reading the child gets to hear his/her name woven into the story! It doesn’t get cooler than that!
