Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Children’s Books about Self Respect & Determination

  • GALDO’S GIFT: The Boovie by Eleanor Long & Trevor Young – Animated, Picture Books, Children’s Fantasy Stories

    GALDO’S GIFT: The Boovie by Eleanor Long & Trevor Young – Animated, Picture Books, Children’s Fantasy Stories

     

    In Galdo’s Gift: The Boovie, Eleanor Long & Trevor Young create an interactive animated story that helps children learn about their unique gifts through an imaginative tale and diverse vocabulary.

    The first page opens with a poem sharing a personalized gift with the reader. Then, we meet the frog King, and his kingdom Galdovia. His land is “where the wild wind whistles while the songbird sings” and he narrates the story, voiced by Brian Murphy.

    The townsfolk of Galdovia move on the page in textured illustrations. They need a hero to undertake an important adventure, with the promise of a gift from the King to whoever completes this quest. Enter four great heroes who start their journeys in the hope of earning the King’s reward.

    The four fearless heroes of this story are hilarious!

    Any child or child at heart will notice the innocent humor in this story. Even their names (Strompoff, Brendara, Mustafo and Doogood) are silly, along with their exaggerated physical appearances.

    The four are hysterical to watch as they employ clever alliteration-described skills to obtain the king’s gift. The animations show deliberate attention to a child’s curiosity and imagination. Overall, the story is a very joyful read.

    By helping children to see their individual gifts, it empowers them to become better people.

    We do not all share the same gifts as the fearless four, but individually we learn our strengths and purpose. Galdo’s Gift teaches us to hone our abilities while growing up.

    Often adults convince children they must become something they are not capable of or comfortable with. Long & Young foster a child’s worth and esteem as inner flames which must be stoked. We all admire great heroes, but once we play to our strengths, they show us the heroes inside ourselves. This story teaches us this lesson without sounding overpowering or insensitive to a child’s curiosities and insecurities.

    More importantly, by encouraging a child’s strength, we empower and boost their confidence. Galdo’s Gift encourages us to use our strengths and magical gifts, one adventure as a silly great hero at a time.

    Galdo’s Gift: The Boovie by Eleanor Long & Trevor Young won Grand Prize in the 2019 CIBA Little Peeps Book Awards for Early Readers and Picture Books.  This interactive masterpiece is available on Apple i-Tunes.

     

    5 Stars! Best Book Chanticleer Book Reviews

  • YOGA FOX by Sylva Fae – Children’s Animal Books, Children’s Fox Books, Children’s Lit.

    YOGA FOX by Sylva Fae – Children’s Animal Books, Children’s Fox Books, Children’s Lit.

    Self-respect and determination provide the themes for this cheerful children’s book by English author Sylva Fae.

    When he was little, Scaredy Fox was scared of everything: the dark, his shadow, thunder. But now he’s older and the only animal in the forest with a negative nickname. There’s Funny Bear, Bright Owl, Running Deer, and even Scaredy’s own brother, Lucky Fox. Lying at the edge of a park, Scaredy spies some girls doing something they call “yoga.”

    The young fox is inspired. He returns to the forest and begins to assume strange postures, naturally inciting curiosity among the animals. He invents what he calls the Swaying Willow posture, boldly imitates a charging position he calls Warrior Wolf, and many more. It isn’t long before his wish comes true: his animal companions rename him Yoga Fox.

    Fae has constructed this vibrant tale imaginatively. The yogic postures depicted, with simple cartoon illustrations, are so engaging that once they are part of the story, readers will want to see what strange shape comes next. This sense is enhanced with a final page in which all poses are repeated, inviting children to try them and invent their own names for each one. Fae’s creation makes a genuinely satisfying read for youngsters and for their parents or grandparents. The central idea – striving for self-improvement – can be discussed in the process, making this a multi-layered experience for all.

    Yoga Fox won First Place in the CIBA 2018 Little Peeps Awards for Early Readers Books.