During Children’s Mental Health Week, here are 5 books which may support children’s health and wellbeing.
Y Llew Tu Fewn / The Lion Inside – Rachel Bright, Welsh adaptation Eurig Salisbury
This is a feel-good rhyming bilingual story book about a little mouse, who is trying his best to make himself heard amongst all the large animals! At the end of his journey he finds his voice and discovers that all animals, large or small, have an important role to play in life.
Molly and the Whale – Malachy Doyle
Molly and Dylan wake up one morning to find a whale washed up on the beach. Molly’s dad shows them how to care for her as they wait for the tide to come in. Molly sings to calm her, while the children and their friends work together to keep her cool and wet. But will they manage to help the whale back into the sea in time?
The Builders – Huw Aaron
Petra lives in a city full of towers, and everybody keeps building taller and taller towers. But Petra questions and challenges this as she longs for something more, something different. One of the story’s main messages is that there are wonders all around us – we just need to open our eyes and minds.
Those People Next Door – Manon Steffan Ros
A purple family (who happen to be aliens) move next door to a green family (who also happen to be aliens). The purple family are quite different to the green family; as well as the colour of their skin their houses are different, they eat different foods and they speak different languages. Despite these differences, the two boys both enjoy football and this helps them develop a strong friendship. This story celebrates differences by reminding us that everybody has things in common with each other.
Scrambled – Huw Davies
Fourteen-year-old ‘model pupil’ Davidde lives with his father after his mother died. But when a new headteacher starts at his school, Davidde is unfairly labelled a troublemaker. To the horror of his teachers, Davidde finds a new passion for motorcycle scrambling. He takes on the school bullies and solves the mystery of the Black Rider and earns his father’s respect, but soon events threaten to overwhelm him.
The Iechyd Da scheme will be launched on Wednesday 3 February 2021.
Working with the Books Council of Wales, the Welsh Government’s Education Department is funding a package of 41 books to help children understand and discuss issues around health and wellbeing.
The aim is to support schools in dealing with health and wellbeing topics as part of the new curriculum, and to help teachers discuss these subjects during extremely challenging times.
The books are also available from your local bookshop.
Find your local bookshop HERE.