Book Reviews

Beautiful little book explaining a child’s experience with having a different cultural background to her carers.

Her and her sister sadly did not have foster carers, the first time around , that showed any interest in learning about them and their background. But little Lola had a mission and was determined to help her new foster carers to understand and learn about her culture. So when she met her next set of foster carers, she set about educating them.

It explains beautifully Lola's cultural beliefs, why certain practices are in place and about her roots. I learnt a lot.

I particularly found this interesting as one of our first children we had was from a different cultural background. 

I can remember not knowing how to look after her hair and skin. Her hair was in a poor state so I asked my friend who is Ghanaian if she could help. 

She lives in New York, but happened to be in the country so spent an evening with us explaining how often to wash her hair, how to apply the creams, all of this was invaluable but needed. She spent so much time teasing out the matted hair and explaining how her mum and aunties would all be involved with this process.

What I also loved about the book was how the foster carers felt it was important that they share their backgrounds and culture. They all learnt about dishes, traditions, festivals from their own cultures and why these things are celebrated.

Demonstrates beautifully how important it is to learn about our children. Sometimes that can only happen if we start having those conversations, as not every child is as competent or brave as Lola was to teach her carers.

We love the book Words of Love by Jake Biggin. The main characters are Alice and her new best friend who is a little Dachshund called Sunny.

Sunny encourages Alice to face her fears and believe in herself.

I just finished reading The Boy with Wings by Lenny Henry, and it was really good! 🌟

The story is about a boy named Tunde who suddenly grows wings on his 12th birthday. 🦸‍♂️ He has to figure out how to use his new powers and save the world from some really bad people. Tunde is super relatable because he deals with bullies at school, just like some of us do. But then he finds out he’s special and has a big mission to complete.

I loved how funny the book was. There were so many jokes that made me laugh. 😂 Plus, Tunde’s friends always have his back. The illustrations by Keenon Ferrell were also really cool.

The best part was the comic book adventure at the end. It was like getting two stories in one! 📚

If you like action, adventure, and a lot of laughs, you should definitely read The Boy with Wings. It’s perfect for kids around my age (12 years old).