Instagram live with Molly Potter
Did you catch Alistair’s Instagram live with Molly Potter? They chatted about Molly’s children’s books, and discussed talking openly with children about emotions and tricky situations. We’ve taken look at some of Molly’s books, read on to find out more, and scroll down for the link if you missed the live.
To get 25% off Molly Potter’s books visit Bloomsbury.com and use the code Molly25.
What's worrying you?
Sharing worries is the central theme of this book – such an important idea to unpick with young children. Especially when, as parents, we have that instinctive feeling that something is bothering our child, but we’re not quite sure how to talk to them to get to the bottom of it. This book can really help.
By normalising the idea that everyone has worries and considering how particular things might make us think and feel in certain ways, the book guides parents and children through strategies to talk about familiar worries that often arise. Together, you can discover and plan simple ways to help your child feel better.
Many of the worries feel familiar: from anxiety around friendships, such as not having friends to play with or falling out with friends, through to concerns about meeting a new teacher or overhearing your parents arguing.
Although this book is written with small children in mind, we think it is useful for all ages. As Molly says in her introduction, “Just remember, everyone has worries, even grown-ups!”
This can help us if we are concerned about our children’s worries – and that’s got to be a good thing!
How Are You Feeling Today?
Feelings can be tricky to understand and discuss with others, especially when we might not have much experience with them yet!
Author Molly Potter has written many books covering different topics that come under wellbeing, such as making friendships, worries and feeling sad. This edition in the collection, How Are You Feeling Today?, looks at emotions, including anger and happiness, and discusses what we can do when they pop up in our lives.
This book also looks at different ways to cope when things aren’t going as expected – there are many options to test out to see what works for you and your child. As well as being great for young children, this book is really useful for parents when supporting their children with understanding and thriving in emotional situations and equipping them with the tools to be confident when it comes to feelings and emotions in day-to-day life.
It's OK to Cry
Sometimes feelings are so big, or so new, that we don’t quite know what they’re trying to tell us. Our children are discovering new experiences every day and with this comes a wealth of new emotions to learn about. Even as adults, there are moments when we don’t know if we should laugh or cry and this means that untangling the reason for these feelings can be tricky. It’s OK to Cry is a fantastic book to help your child think about different emotions and how they might feel in the moment.
The book talks about all feelings, from joyful emotions to sadness and loneliness. More than many other books in this style, Molly Potter breaks down those bigger emotions, giving your child more words to describe their feelings and so allowing them to develop a deeper understanding of what is happening. For example, the book recognises that feeling happy could mean lots of things – perhaps being excited, proud or delighted. Being able to express emotions more specifically will help you and your child better understand what they are experiencing when they feel emotional.
Being able to understand emotions is helpful when experiencing positive and negative feelings, and It’s OK to Cry does not shy away from sharing thoughts about feeling sad, worried or even petrified. The book is perfect to share with all children, but it thoughtfully shows boys as well as girls feeling big, and negative, emotions to help move away from the harmful narrative that boys should feel things less or not react when they are sad or scared.
Colourful illustrations from Sarah Jennings give you and your little one lots to look at as you discuss each feeling, and the detail taken over showing small differences in the pictures is worth taking a moment to appreciate. It can’t be easy to draw pictures that help show the subtle difference between feeling amazed, pleased and enthusiastic, but Sarah Jennings has managed to do so beautifully.
The Same but Different
This book is a perfect look at the ways that we are different but also still the same. It’s brilliant for encouraging empathy, inclusion and understanding among children.
We really like the way Molly begins this book by talking about how many people there are on earth. She has written this in a fabulously simple way, and it well and truly gets the cogs working. This information is uber important when trying to get a grasp of how many people there are and how much individuality there is on this planet.
Our world is so diverse, and it is astonishing to think that no two people are the same! As very young children start to discover differences between themselves and others, this book is fantastic for encouraging them to appreciate humanity's beauty. And with that it introduces respect, which is a fundamental part of life. She shares how it is ok to have your own thoughts, and that you don’t have to agree with someone else's, but you can respect their opinions.
Molly raises lots of ideas about how people differ in their thoughts, beliefs, looks, strengths, languages and so much more. Yet she also beautifully highlights that within our differences there are also similarities.
Will You Be My Friend?
Making friendships for the first time can feel like a little bit of a scary prospect. There are many stages in childhood where a child might be meeting others for the first time, such as starting nursery or school, or going to new clubs or classes.
Will You Be My Friend?, offers a supportive approach to developing new friendships in childhood. Reassuring and practical, it looks at ways that children can reach out to one another and make new friends, as well as maintain the relationships that they build. This book also touches upon working through difficulties in friendships.
As well as being relatable and friendly, this book has bright illustrations that complement the content very well, helping children understand the points that are being made in the text.
Let's Talk About When Someone Dies: Starting conversations with children about death and bereavement
Once again, Molly Potter has shown her gift for helping children navigate life’s tricky experiences and events. She herself admits she is nothing but open when it comes to delivering the facts, whether it’s with her own children or within her written work.
This book explores death, bereavement and what happens next in simple, everyday language that children can understand and relate to. This approach aligns with our My First Five Years belief that it is not the big topics themselves that frighten children, but more a lack of clear information from adults –usually in an attempt to protect their little ones – which can in fact create confusion and fear.
Whether parents share this book with children because someone has died, or whether it is because children are keen to know more about death, it gently supports parents and caregivers with guidance, tips and advice and gives children straightforward information.
Complex questions about death and how people might feel when someone dies are considered, along with the associated feelings, thoughts and behaviours. The book explores what death is, why someone might die and how other people might react to someone dying. It also contemplates what happens after someone dies.
We particularly love the tips and ideas for remembering someone who has died.
Missed the live? Don't worry, you can catch up here: