Brave adventures, little girl by Iresha Herath

Little Steps, 2019. ISBN: 9780648267485.
Recommended. If you have a little girl (or boy) who sometimes feels anxious, or angry that things do not quite go to plan then this book is for you. Anika is a gorgeous little girl who loves visiting her Grandparents as there is always an adventure to be had. She wants to show them what she has learnt at Kindy but alas, things do not go to plan. She does not feel brave and she needs the help of her Seeya (Sinhalese for Grandfather). He takes her on a story time adventure through various countries and tells her fantastical things that he hopes will make her feel brave.
Iresha Herath is the author of this book and after doing some research on her, I found that she is a very interesting woman and many of her interests come through in this book. She is a lawyer, has a theatre company, is a social justice advocate and is in the process of redeveloping her late father's house in Sri Lanka. Her varied life shows through the multitude of countries presented, the text flows and Seeya (based on her late father) is an excellent main character. The bond between Anika and her Seeya is also a lovely touch when many children do not know much about the past lives of their grandparents.
We really loved the colourful pictures, and my daughter thought Anika looked 'just like her, a kindy girl!'
This book could be used to discuss feelings of anxiety and fear, discuss countries and travel, different names used for grandparents and even discuss visits to family members.
An interesting book, we give it 4 out of 5.
Lauren Fountain