What to do when you're not sure what to do by Davina Bell and Hilary Jean Tapper

What to Do When You’re Not Sure What To Do is another gentle picture book by the author and illustrator of What To Say When You Don’t Know What To Say. This latest book is beautifully illustrated in the same soft style and tones with brief and thoughtful text written on each page.

The book begins with gorgeous front endpapers showing a child hovering in the doorway of public transport and the final endpapers show the same child confidently walking inside. There are a number of scenarios that will be familiar to children including not sitting still on a train or tram, taking a freshly baked cookie without asking, finishing a book, becoming lost in a shop, waiting for a turn on a swing and carrying a goldfish. All of the scenarios are accompanied by a different calm learning statement to be read and discussed. For example, ‘gentle hands’ and the complementary illustration shows an older child reaching for a tiny baby being held by an adult, and the two children who discover a bird’s nest with eggs and the words ‘some things need to be left alone’.

This is the perfect book for parents and teachers to share with young children who are growing and encountering new experiences as they explore their widening world. Teacher's notes are available.

Themes: New Experiences, Making Choices, Taking care, Bravery, Confidence.

Kathryn Beilby