Monday, June 1, 2015

Don't Think About Purple Elephants - a bookwrap






     I could totally relate to Sophie in today's featured book.  As a child I worried about everything - day and night.  My mom had to soothe me and assure me that all was well and together we would work through my anxieties.  She had the patience of a Saint and with the love of a true mother's heart she kept her word to her frightened baby girl.  Today's book may help you understand your child's fears and give you some insight as to how to comfort your  emotionally charged child if you too have inherited a wee worrywart into your family.  




Unwrapping...







     This is a debut picture book by both the author and the illustrator.  The author is Sarah Whelan and the illustrator is Gwynneth Jones. I hope this book is the first of many to come. 


      The illustrations in the book are phenomenal. The colours are vibrant and and pictures are detailed and large, (which I particularly liked), and the things Gwynneth has going on with the hair is spectacular. Be sure to watch for the family cat as you flip from page to page and watch his antics as the story moves forward.  Let's take a look at some of them shall we?
































How cool are these? I loved the black and white pictures inserted  in with the colour ones...brilliant idea and executed so fine.





Unwrapping the storyline...


Sophie has no worries in the daytime when she is busy at school or with her family and friends but come nighttime....that's when worry comes to try to befriend her.  Her mind gets overloaded with thoughts of:

"What if they run out of milk and she couldn't have cereal for breakfast?"

"What if her favourite shirt was still in the wash and she couldn't wear it on the weekend?"

And my most favourite...

"What if Mum cooked Brussels sprouts for dinner? (Sophie didn't like Brussels sprouts.)"

Her concerned family realizes she is losing sleep and tries to help out but to no avail, in fact, things seem to get even worse.  Then mum comes up with a brilliant idea...a reverse psychology idea...she tells Sophie,

"Go to bed, close your eyes and DON'T think about purple elephants.  No cute little purple elephants, no big purple elephants at the circus. No purple elephants at all."

Will mum's idea work for Sophie?  Will her mind be distracted and focused on cute purple elephants crazily running around in her head  doing all sorts of fun things before bedtime?  

The story is full of humour and wit and just might be the key to have your little one calm down and enjoy a worry-free sleep tonight.  



About the creators of the book...







Susan Whelan (on the right) is a writer, editor, mother, and passionate advocate for children's literacy.  She's also the Managing Editor of the highly respected children's literature website Kids' Book Review. 

Gwynneth Jones (on left) drew all through her math book at school, so left to study are at TAFE and later studied Plant and Wildlife Illustration at the University of Newcastle.  Since then, Gwynneth has been imagining, drawing, exhibiting her work.  She is currently studying to be an art therapist.  







Read on and read always!

It's a wrap.




Contact me at storywrapsblog@gmail.com

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