Suzy Davies's Blog: Book News, page 5
May 14, 2021
Thank You!
I'd like to thank Bob The Romance Bloke for hosting me as Guest Author on his excellent Book Blog.
You can check out my article:
https://tinyurl.com/SuzyDblogs
You can check out my article:
https://tinyurl.com/SuzyDblogs
April 23, 2021
“World Book Day. Why Read Books to Children? Does it matter? Does it make a difference? Yes, it Does!” By Suzy Davies
Bringing up kids and doing it right is difficult. Parents and significant others are just humans, wonderful carers doing their best.
We often talk about the best way to prepare children for their lives, and what will help them best.
When reading and books are part of children’s lives, part of their routines, and the love they are shown on a daily basis, children begin to associate reading with pleasure and happy emotions. It doesn't really matter what they read, as long as it does no harm and your child enjoys it. They will gain from reading. Let me count the ways!
Reading creates building blocks for Literacy. Literacy is a key, essential skill that unlocks many pathways to learning, whether academic or practical. I once taught a child of 17 who was illiterate when she came to me. She had difficulty finding things in the supermarket because she did not understand social sight words - common words that most people take for granted. She had never attended formal school, and her sole experience in life was caring for her widower father. I taught her step by step by creating age-appropriate learning materials from scratch. She was with me for over a year. I saw her transformation from an anxious little girl to a woman who had confidence that she could navigate the world! After she left my class, she came back to see me and proudly showed me an engagement ring. She has also landed a job! Literacy is a life skill that is not an option. You owe it to your child to read to them, and when they are able to read for themselves, to encourage a love of reading and books.
So what else does reading do? Well, it creates empathy. Children learn social skills, and the ability to put themselves into another person’s shoes. Empathy is something that is underestimated in this world of analysis. But a good listener is a good conversationalist because they can read the messages behind what someone is saying and respond with compassion and understanding. Children’s books with rich characterization and a colorful, natural conversational style are memorable to young children, and help them cultivate their communication skills.
Moreover, reading expands the mind, and in particular, the imagination. As Einstein suggested, the imagination is far greater than a knowledge bank since it is all about the ability to think laterally, to create, and invent. In life, we often have to adapt our approach and improvise, even in our everyday routines. For instance, what if an item in a recipe is missing from our cupboards or fridges. What do we do? We improvise! Invention and improvisation help us navigate difficulties and challenges with a Can-Do attitude.
Children’s books, of course, should do something more than simply entertain and should have educational value.
What else do children’s books do? They promote curiosity. Again, drawing on Einstein, we all know that cleverness is more often than not developed by a passion for inquiry, and we can stimulate this passion by showing children a world that is bigger than the world with which they are familiar.
Reading books that “go beyond” allow children’s minds to expand, they develop new vocabulary, and we know that our capacity to think, to perceive, and to express our thoughts depends directly on our stock of words.
In this “get by” culture why do we short-change our kids, and why are some people content to leave education to teachers and schools alone? This is like putting your child’s destiny in the hands of a stranger or at best, trusting that destiny to someone other than yourself.
Children's lives are precious! In these troubled times, we can encourage friendship with others by encouraging children to read with us at home. Sharing stories with siblings and peers will help create bonds between children, and they will learn that friends often have similar interests and tastes.
In addition, diverse books, which celebrate differences, for instance diverse cultures, will teach children mutual respect and understanding, so essential to build a better world. Happy World Book Day!
We often talk about the best way to prepare children for their lives, and what will help them best.
When reading and books are part of children’s lives, part of their routines, and the love they are shown on a daily basis, children begin to associate reading with pleasure and happy emotions. It doesn't really matter what they read, as long as it does no harm and your child enjoys it. They will gain from reading. Let me count the ways!
Reading creates building blocks for Literacy. Literacy is a key, essential skill that unlocks many pathways to learning, whether academic or practical. I once taught a child of 17 who was illiterate when she came to me. She had difficulty finding things in the supermarket because she did not understand social sight words - common words that most people take for granted. She had never attended formal school, and her sole experience in life was caring for her widower father. I taught her step by step by creating age-appropriate learning materials from scratch. She was with me for over a year. I saw her transformation from an anxious little girl to a woman who had confidence that she could navigate the world! After she left my class, she came back to see me and proudly showed me an engagement ring. She has also landed a job! Literacy is a life skill that is not an option. You owe it to your child to read to them, and when they are able to read for themselves, to encourage a love of reading and books.
So what else does reading do? Well, it creates empathy. Children learn social skills, and the ability to put themselves into another person’s shoes. Empathy is something that is underestimated in this world of analysis. But a good listener is a good conversationalist because they can read the messages behind what someone is saying and respond with compassion and understanding. Children’s books with rich characterization and a colorful, natural conversational style are memorable to young children, and help them cultivate their communication skills.
Moreover, reading expands the mind, and in particular, the imagination. As Einstein suggested, the imagination is far greater than a knowledge bank since it is all about the ability to think laterally, to create, and invent. In life, we often have to adapt our approach and improvise, even in our everyday routines. For instance, what if an item in a recipe is missing from our cupboards or fridges. What do we do? We improvise! Invention and improvisation help us navigate difficulties and challenges with a Can-Do attitude.
Children’s books, of course, should do something more than simply entertain and should have educational value.
What else do children’s books do? They promote curiosity. Again, drawing on Einstein, we all know that cleverness is more often than not developed by a passion for inquiry, and we can stimulate this passion by showing children a world that is bigger than the world with which they are familiar.
Reading books that “go beyond” allow children’s minds to expand, they develop new vocabulary, and we know that our capacity to think, to perceive, and to express our thoughts depends directly on our stock of words.
In this “get by” culture why do we short-change our kids, and why are some people content to leave education to teachers and schools alone? This is like putting your child’s destiny in the hands of a stranger or at best, trusting that destiny to someone other than yourself.
Children's lives are precious! In these troubled times, we can encourage friendship with others by encouraging children to read with us at home. Sharing stories with siblings and peers will help create bonds between children, and they will learn that friends often have similar interests and tastes.
In addition, diverse books, which celebrate differences, for instance diverse cultures, will teach children mutual respect and understanding, so essential to build a better world. Happy World Book Day!
March 20, 2021
A Quest for Adventure by Suzy Davies
Some of the best qualities to cultivate in children are: patience, resilience, perseverance, courage, loyalty and kindness.
In these challenging Covid times, these qualities are all the more important and will effect outcomes for everyone all over the world.
In my opinion, and one which is backed by scientific studies, in order to succeed in life, children, and of course, their adults, need to practice deferred gratification. This means having the wisdom and good judgement to wait for what we may feel we want now, if this means a better outcome in the long run.
So, many of us are doing just this, sacrificing "normal everyday life" by wearing masks, adhering to lockdown bubbles, social distancing, and, more often than not, simply staying at home for the greater good.
Children are feeling lonely and isolated, cut off from friends and family and missing the freedom of play outdoors.
One of the most healing things to do is to make home a haven, and to bring in nature and outdoor activities indoors. And we can do this by reading adventure stories.
One of the most natural things about childhood is that kids have an innate sense of wonder and curiousity about the world around them.
I am fortunate to have had a happy childhood, which I remember vividly. One of the things I remember most is reading adventure books. And I also remember the real-life adventures, and today I'm going to share a snippet of information about The Boot Camp in Kendal in The Lake District. I went there when I was eight years old.
On this residential camp, every day was an outdoor adventure. I recall one particular day walking on nature trails that led to a wooded area. In this wood were all kinds of "ungirly," (for want of a better word,) things to do - at least they were considered tomboyish - in the 1960's. There were climbing frames, tyres swinging from trees, wooden horses, rope ladders and the like - a giant obstacle course to negotiate in teams. It was such fun! At the end of the day after hot showers and a change of clothes, we all chatted together about what we had achieved, how we problem-solved, what worked and what didn't, and how we felt about the challenges we had overcome. All this at a long trestle table, where we ate dinner together, washed down with mugs of hot tea. In our dorms, some of us had stashed away Kendle Mint Cake for a midnight feast.
When I reflect on this wonderful adventure today, I can remember how it boosted my confidence, and made me feel I could succeed at anything on which I had set my heart, mind and soul. I also learned how great it was when a team pulled together for a common goal. When a member of our team got stuck, we would help them.
And so, this was one small beginning that got me hooked on adventure, and now I am a writer who writes about this taste for adventure, this openness to new experiences, that has never ever left me. I am passionate about the value of adventure quests.
Adventure books, as you will know, follow the familiar pattern of Home-Away-Home, where the protagonist or hero starts out on an adventure, and the process of overcoming challenges and difficulties makes them "more than" they were before.
The quest narrative is a metaphor for life itself; and the emotional, physical and mental challenges the heroes meet bring out and develop qualities and character traits that were latent, and, perhaps, unknown before.
Of all the qualities a human being can have, it is my belief that courage is the greatest of all. For it is from this quality that all other qualities flow. By reading adventure books, children emulate role models who have the courage to be themselves - their best selves. But, perhaps even more important, they learn camaraderie and teamwork; the ability to reach out in a non-judgemental way to others. They learn not to fear reaching out to a fellow human being, and how by putting their needs before their own, they elevate themselves. In other words, bravery and kindness are a win. Through reading adventure stories, children learn about the world with those who are, in some ways, different than themselves. It takes courage to take the imaginative leap that is empathetic understanding; a quality every good hero has in their love for humanity.
In these challenging Covid times, these qualities are all the more important and will effect outcomes for everyone all over the world.
In my opinion, and one which is backed by scientific studies, in order to succeed in life, children, and of course, their adults, need to practice deferred gratification. This means having the wisdom and good judgement to wait for what we may feel we want now, if this means a better outcome in the long run.
So, many of us are doing just this, sacrificing "normal everyday life" by wearing masks, adhering to lockdown bubbles, social distancing, and, more often than not, simply staying at home for the greater good.
Children are feeling lonely and isolated, cut off from friends and family and missing the freedom of play outdoors.
One of the most healing things to do is to make home a haven, and to bring in nature and outdoor activities indoors. And we can do this by reading adventure stories.
One of the most natural things about childhood is that kids have an innate sense of wonder and curiousity about the world around them.
I am fortunate to have had a happy childhood, which I remember vividly. One of the things I remember most is reading adventure books. And I also remember the real-life adventures, and today I'm going to share a snippet of information about The Boot Camp in Kendal in The Lake District. I went there when I was eight years old.
On this residential camp, every day was an outdoor adventure. I recall one particular day walking on nature trails that led to a wooded area. In this wood were all kinds of "ungirly," (for want of a better word,) things to do - at least they were considered tomboyish - in the 1960's. There were climbing frames, tyres swinging from trees, wooden horses, rope ladders and the like - a giant obstacle course to negotiate in teams. It was such fun! At the end of the day after hot showers and a change of clothes, we all chatted together about what we had achieved, how we problem-solved, what worked and what didn't, and how we felt about the challenges we had overcome. All this at a long trestle table, where we ate dinner together, washed down with mugs of hot tea. In our dorms, some of us had stashed away Kendle Mint Cake for a midnight feast.
When I reflect on this wonderful adventure today, I can remember how it boosted my confidence, and made me feel I could succeed at anything on which I had set my heart, mind and soul. I also learned how great it was when a team pulled together for a common goal. When a member of our team got stuck, we would help them.
And so, this was one small beginning that got me hooked on adventure, and now I am a writer who writes about this taste for adventure, this openness to new experiences, that has never ever left me. I am passionate about the value of adventure quests.
Adventure books, as you will know, follow the familiar pattern of Home-Away-Home, where the protagonist or hero starts out on an adventure, and the process of overcoming challenges and difficulties makes them "more than" they were before.
The quest narrative is a metaphor for life itself; and the emotional, physical and mental challenges the heroes meet bring out and develop qualities and character traits that were latent, and, perhaps, unknown before.
Of all the qualities a human being can have, it is my belief that courage is the greatest of all. For it is from this quality that all other qualities flow. By reading adventure books, children emulate role models who have the courage to be themselves - their best selves. But, perhaps even more important, they learn camaraderie and teamwork; the ability to reach out in a non-judgemental way to others. They learn not to fear reaching out to a fellow human being, and how by putting their needs before their own, they elevate themselves. In other words, bravery and kindness are a win. Through reading adventure stories, children learn about the world with those who are, in some ways, different than themselves. It takes courage to take the imaginative leap that is empathetic understanding; a quality every good hero has in their love for humanity.
March 15, 2021
Happy Girl Scout Day
Happy Girl Scout Day! It is so important to instill confidence in girls. It is my belief that my action adventure fairytale, "The Girl in The Red Cape," transforms Charles Perrault's "Little Red Riding Hood" female protagonist into a real girl with a can-do attitude. All modelled on a real life young woman - Anna Stephan, Champion Musher of The Junior Iditarod, 2019, and consultant for our book, illustrated beautifully with hand-drawn color illustrations by Michel Bourke. Our book is a fairytale, but at the same time it shows girls they CAN win!
March 8, 2021
Happy International Women's Day
"We become the books we read in childhood" - Suzy Davies
Happy International Women's Day to All!
What kind of role models are influencing your daughter?
It is a well-known fact that impressionable middle-graders get ideas for their "life scripts" from the books they read, so make certain that what your children read gives them positive life-hacks and can-do confidence.
Our book, "The Girl in The Red Cape," is a retelling of "Little Red Riding Hood" and shows that girls and women CAN!
Celebrate this day with a free copy on Amazon Kindle Unlimited, (for members,) or download a Kindle today. Also in gift edition paperback. All editions have over 30 beautiful color illustrations created by Michele Bourke. Suitable for any occasion.
www.amazon.com/Girl-Red-Cape-Fairytal...
www.amazon.ca/Girl-Red-Cape-Fairytale...
www.amazon.co.uk/Girl-Red-Cape-Fairyt...
Happy International Women's Day to All!
What kind of role models are influencing your daughter?
It is a well-known fact that impressionable middle-graders get ideas for their "life scripts" from the books they read, so make certain that what your children read gives them positive life-hacks and can-do confidence.
Our book, "The Girl in The Red Cape," is a retelling of "Little Red Riding Hood" and shows that girls and women CAN!
Celebrate this day with a free copy on Amazon Kindle Unlimited, (for members,) or download a Kindle today. Also in gift edition paperback. All editions have over 30 beautiful color illustrations created by Michele Bourke. Suitable for any occasion.
www.amazon.com/Girl-Red-Cape-Fairytal...
www.amazon.ca/Girl-Red-Cape-Fairytale...
www.amazon.co.uk/Girl-Red-Cape-Fairyt...
March 1, 2021
Happy World Pig Day
Pigs are gregarious, magic and fun,
Luna's excited now Springtime has sprung,
snuffling and snorting, going for a dig,
that's what it means to be Luna, The Pig!
Luna's excited now Springtime has sprung,
snuffling and snorting, going for a dig,
that's what it means to be Luna, The Pig!
February 17, 2021
Thank You!
I'd like to thank fellow author, Cheryl Carpinello for interviewing me as a guest on her author writing blog.
Here's the link to my interview:
https://carpinelloswritingpages.blogs...
Here's the link to my interview:
https://carpinelloswritingpages.blogs...
January 13, 2021
5-stars Readers Favorite
Delighted to receive a 5-star #bookreview for our book from the highly-regarded Readers Favorite
Reviewed By Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers’ Favorite
“Leaves are love letters/ that fall from the sky” – what a beautiful way to begin a collection of poems that celebrate the seasons of life. There are special celebrations we associate with each season: winter hosts Christmas and spring suggests Easter. There are special events and sports associated with each season: football with cheerleaders in the fall; sledding in the winter; baseball in the spring – and so much more. There are lots of things to celebrate all year long.
Suzy Davies’ picture book story, Celebrate The Seasons, is a sweet, charming collection of poems and illustrations to help young readers celebrate something special about each season. It is interesting that the author begins with Fall; I think I would have begun with Spring, but perhaps the idea is to leave the best for last: Spring and Summer. The poems are all rhyming verse and cleverly constructed with wonderful illustrations to accompany each theme. The magic of each season evokes all of our five senses and the poet/author is clear in representing each of the senses.
I think I’m partial to her use of music imagery with striking metaphors that beautify: “let’s go dancing in the rain,/ skipping to the rhythm of a musical refrain!” The references connecting rain to music in the charming poem “Dancing in the Rain with My Friends” doesn’t end there: “There’s joy in the rainsongs, the sweetest melodies,/ and the rhythm of the raindrops as delightful as can be!/ How I love the music, lightly pattering away;/ the air has special energy – brings laughter here, today!” These words bring music to my ears because isn’t music all around us all the time? This book is a real treasure.
Reviewed By Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers’ Favorite
“Leaves are love letters/ that fall from the sky” – what a beautiful way to begin a collection of poems that celebrate the seasons of life. There are special celebrations we associate with each season: winter hosts Christmas and spring suggests Easter. There are special events and sports associated with each season: football with cheerleaders in the fall; sledding in the winter; baseball in the spring – and so much more. There are lots of things to celebrate all year long.
Suzy Davies’ picture book story, Celebrate The Seasons, is a sweet, charming collection of poems and illustrations to help young readers celebrate something special about each season. It is interesting that the author begins with Fall; I think I would have begun with Spring, but perhaps the idea is to leave the best for last: Spring and Summer. The poems are all rhyming verse and cleverly constructed with wonderful illustrations to accompany each theme. The magic of each season evokes all of our five senses and the poet/author is clear in representing each of the senses.
I think I’m partial to her use of music imagery with striking metaphors that beautify: “let’s go dancing in the rain,/ skipping to the rhythm of a musical refrain!” The references connecting rain to music in the charming poem “Dancing in the Rain with My Friends” doesn’t end there: “There’s joy in the rainsongs, the sweetest melodies,/ and the rhythm of the raindrops as delightful as can be!/ How I love the music, lightly pattering away;/ the air has special energy – brings laughter here, today!” These words bring music to my ears because isn’t music all around us all the time? This book is a real treasure.
December 30, 2020
Happy New Year
I'd like to wish all my readers and reviewers a Very Happy and Healthy New Year!
My special gift to you is my new book, "The Girl in The Red Cape" new on Amazon Kindle Unlimited - with membership, it's free to read and enjoy!
My special gift to you is my new book, "The Girl in The Red Cape" new on Amazon Kindle Unlimited - with membership, it's free to read and enjoy!
December 22, 2020
"Bend it Like Beckham," Girls, Sport and Fairytales by Suzy Davies
A comedy about bending the rules to reach your goal, “Bend It Like Beckham” explores the world of women's football, from kick-abouts in the park to freekicks in the Final. Set in Hounslow, West London and Hamburg, the film follows two 18 year olds with their hearts set on a future in professional soccer. Heart-stopping talent doesn't seem to be enough when your parents want you to hang up your football boots, find a nice boyfriend and learn to cook the perfect chapati.
—Anonymous
Somewhere, deep within me echoes of “Bend it Like Beckham” came flooding back when I wrote my script for “The Girl in The Red Cape.”
Of course, “Bend it Like Beckham,” is a comedy, whereas my book is a fairytale adventure. My fairytale has a wilderness setting far from the real streets of Hounslow in England. So, what did “Bend it Like Beckham” have to say that resonated with me?
For starters, I was never particularly sporty. But, I threw javelin at school with some success, and always came third out of eighty reluctant runners in cross-country long distance running.
Often in adulthood, I have replayed the exhilaration of running through an imaginary finishing line when striving to reach my goals. I went to an all girls school, when the best most girls could aspire to was always somewhat less than their more ambitious peers who were boys. The labels boys were given made it relatively easy for them to imagine themselves in leadership roles.
So the idea that we could turn Patriarchy on its head, and achieve for ourselves, in our own way, without censure, was a dream, at best.
“Bend it Like Beckham” was the beginning of a quiet revolution. Not just for our Indian peers, but for us as well.
As “anonymous” rightly states, “Bend it Like Beckham” was about breaking boundaries. And little by little, generation after generation, young girls and women have been doing just that. Quiet revolutions do not happen overnight. Patriarchy will always move the goalposts, get in best defenders of the Status Quo until males who are subjugated join the fight for liberation, and quietly kick some curved balls.
So I took the theme of “Bend it Like Beckham” and put it into the context of dog-sledding - arguably a tough, extreme sport. The heroine in my fairytale is Stella, a girl musher who has heart, stamina and the will to win. In contrast to “Bend it Like Beckham” Stella’s family share her dream, support her as a sportswoman in a man’s world. So what must she fight against? Perhaps her shyness. And perhaps a legacy in sport where only now, girls and women are truly beginning to find their own in a world that was male-dominated and women underrepresented. Her brother competes against her. He has depth of character, a modern mindset, and understands that feminine power and “feminine” kindness lifts us all. Stella is the hero in the tale and the brilliance of this star makes the constellation shine all the brighter. And this is the whole point of a fairytale. It takes imagination to see what might be, and make it happen.
—Anonymous
Somewhere, deep within me echoes of “Bend it Like Beckham” came flooding back when I wrote my script for “The Girl in The Red Cape.”
Of course, “Bend it Like Beckham,” is a comedy, whereas my book is a fairytale adventure. My fairytale has a wilderness setting far from the real streets of Hounslow in England. So, what did “Bend it Like Beckham” have to say that resonated with me?
For starters, I was never particularly sporty. But, I threw javelin at school with some success, and always came third out of eighty reluctant runners in cross-country long distance running.
Often in adulthood, I have replayed the exhilaration of running through an imaginary finishing line when striving to reach my goals. I went to an all girls school, when the best most girls could aspire to was always somewhat less than their more ambitious peers who were boys. The labels boys were given made it relatively easy for them to imagine themselves in leadership roles.
So the idea that we could turn Patriarchy on its head, and achieve for ourselves, in our own way, without censure, was a dream, at best.
“Bend it Like Beckham” was the beginning of a quiet revolution. Not just for our Indian peers, but for us as well.
As “anonymous” rightly states, “Bend it Like Beckham” was about breaking boundaries. And little by little, generation after generation, young girls and women have been doing just that. Quiet revolutions do not happen overnight. Patriarchy will always move the goalposts, get in best defenders of the Status Quo until males who are subjugated join the fight for liberation, and quietly kick some curved balls.
So I took the theme of “Bend it Like Beckham” and put it into the context of dog-sledding - arguably a tough, extreme sport. The heroine in my fairytale is Stella, a girl musher who has heart, stamina and the will to win. In contrast to “Bend it Like Beckham” Stella’s family share her dream, support her as a sportswoman in a man’s world. So what must she fight against? Perhaps her shyness. And perhaps a legacy in sport where only now, girls and women are truly beginning to find their own in a world that was male-dominated and women underrepresented. Her brother competes against her. He has depth of character, a modern mindset, and understands that feminine power and “feminine” kindness lifts us all. Stella is the hero in the tale and the brilliance of this star makes the constellation shine all the brighter. And this is the whole point of a fairytale. It takes imagination to see what might be, and make it happen.
Book News
"The Flamingos Who Painted The Sky," our new picture book is NOW fully available to bring in #Christmas #sunshine, #flamingo #sunsets, and #happiness #worldwide Illustrated by the talented Shirin Mass ...more
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