Tuesday, 31 May 2016

Introducing Teddy by Jessica Walton and Dougal MacPherson (Children's, Picture book, 10E/10E, short 'n' sweet review)


 2nd May 2016, Bloomsbury, 32 pages, Paperback, Review copy 

Summary from Bloomsbury
Errol and his teddy, Thomas, are best friends who do everything together. Whether it's riding a bike, playing in the tree house, having a tea party or all of the above, every day holds something fun to do together.

One sunny day, Errol finds that Thomas the Teddy is sad, and Errol can't figure out why. Then Thomas the Teddy finally tells Errol what Teddy has been afraid to say: 'In my heart, I've always known that I'm a girl teddy, not a boy teddy. I wish my name was Tilly.' And Errol says, 'I don't care if you're a girl teddy or a boy teddy! What matters is that you are my friend.' - See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/introducing-teddy-9781408877623/#sthash.n2TDsWVg.dpuf
Errol and his teddy, Thomas, are best friends who do everything together. Whether it's riding a bike, playing in the tree house, having a tea party or all of the above, every day holds something fun to do together.

One sunny day, Errol finds that Thomas the Teddy is sad, and Errol can't figure out why. Then Thomas the Teddy finally tells Errol what Teddy has been afraid to say: 'In my heart, I've always known that I'm a girl teddy, not a boy teddy. I wish my name was Tilly.' And Errol says, 'I don't care if you're a girl teddy or a boy teddy! What matters is that you are my friend.'

Nayu's thoughts 
Thomas makes a big decision about his life which he worries about how Errol will react. It turns out Thomas was worrying over nothing. Errol is perfectly happy with Thomas being Tilly, so too is Ava. It's who Tilly is that is important, not whether she was Thomas and became Tilly. It's a sweet book explaining how some people change who they are seen as by the world, but now who they are inside. Hopefully that makes sense. 

I've never been bothered by people changing externally/internally be true to their selves. I smiled at reading this because I have a teddy that my grandmother knitted for. When I was tiny there were days when Maxie (name origin long forgotten) was a girl, wearing frilly dresses, cute skirts and shoes. Equally  there were some days Maxie was a boy, running around in shorts and t-shirt, or trousers. For some reason I genuinely never thought Maxie could be a tomboy, it made sense that Maxie was a girl and a boy. 

Obviously Tilly doesn't switch back to Thomas, but it goes to show that children can handle what can be seen as issues by adults when really it doesn't matter who a person is, what they are called or what they wear. They are themselves, which everyone should be free to be. The book came with a bow, so here's a picture of Maxie wearing it! 

Find out more on Jessica's website and Dougal's website.



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