Archive | February 2022

The Phone Box At The Edge Of The World by Laura Imai Messina

Feb5

Stunningly Beautiful

The Phone Box At The Edge Of The World by Laura Imai Messina is a stunningly beautiful book about grief and love and life. Whilst it is a novel, it has its roots in reality as it is based on the actual phone box at Bell Gardia in Japan.

There is nothing magical about the phone box but it does have healing properties for those who go there. Those who are grief stricken, pick up the phone, talk into it, and the wind carries their messages of hope.

In Bell Gardia faith and hope are alive. People believe there must be more to life than what we can see, feel and hear. In Bell Gardia guilt and fears are put aside as love and hope arise. “When we go up that hill to Suzuki san’s garden, we’re trying to get our shadows back.” People are trying to grab hold of their pasts and bring back hope to their shattered lives.

Many people make the journey to Bell Gardia – those who have lost parents, children, loved ones. “We’re still parents even when our children are no longer here.” As they release their voices to the wind, they are believing they will be heard.

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The Caterpillar And The Butterfly by Michael Rosenblum

Feb3

Step Out In Faith

The Caterpillar And The Butterfly by Michael Rosenblum is a beautiful story for early readers. It has a powerful message about not letting fear rule our lives but to step out in faith and try new things.

The book is perfect to read to young children or for early readers to read themselves.

The message will also help children to know they are not alone with their feelings; we all feel that way. With love and encouragement, they too can bloom.

The style of writing has a friendly feel to it as the caterpillar is encouraged to live life to the full.

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So How Will You Sleep? by Annabel Gardiner

Feb3

Beautiful

So How Will You Sleep?  by Annabel Gardiner is an absolutely beautiful book and just perfect for young children.

Each page explores how different animals’ sleep. With simple rhyme and repetition, it is a book that will encourage children to join in with the words. As older children follow along, the repetition will help them learn to read. Even as I read the book in my head, the words bounced along.

The whole book Is beautifully illustrated by Samantha Thorley. We see each animal asleep but so much more than that is contained within each page – whilst viewing a fox asleep, we see a mole is digging. The illustrations are all starting points for wider discussions with our children about animals and their habitats, and which animals sleep at night and which are nocturnal.

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The German Wife by Debbie Rix

Feb3

Powerful And Horrifying

The German Wife by Debbie Rix is a powerful historical novel that consumed me from the start.

As the title suggests, the reader follows the German wife from the 1930’s, through the war years and just beyond before leaping forwards to 1984. It is a powerful read as we witness a character whose goodness of heart never wavered. “It was a tiny act of kindness in a sea of inhumanity.” It was a time of mass cruelty and unspeakable horrors.

Married to a doctor who worked in Dachau meant freedom of speech was curtailed. Inner most thoughts of the horror of it all ate away at what had started as a loving relationship. We witness that many had their secrets.

We see a character torn between what he does and his conscience – to speak out? Or remain safe and keep quiet? Living in Munich under Nazi control was a dangerous place.

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