About the Book and Author
This imaginative, fun and constructive ‘self-help’ book by Carlie Sorosiak will help tweens to navigate their way from child to adulthood. It draws on the qualities and personalities of animals to demonstrate how to cope with challenging situations and dilemmas. We think the concept is original, the book is accessible, useful and brilliantly illustrated by Katie Walker. Check out some sample pages below.
Life can be tricky. You have school, homework, hobbies and friendships to juggle . . . and all the time you’re trying to work out what sort of person you want to be. Do you know who can help you? A lion. A koala. Even . . . a wombat. Animals have so much to say about how to be brave, confident and kind. So step into the wild, listen to the animals around you . . . and learn how to be the best YOU you can be!
Thank you to David Fickling Books for sending us a copy for Alastair to enjoy reviewing for us.
Carlie Sorosiak writes books mostly about the inner lives of animals. She lives in the USA.
Katie Walker is an award-winning illustrator and designer based in the UK. Katie has had a varied career, working on textile design and children’s books, and has also created artwork for a dog-themed board game.
Book Review
This tremendous creation is great for anyone who needs to feel better or wants to know animals that little bit better too
Carlie Sorosiak has looked at life in a totally different way to how I have ever imagined. It shows me that although we share 40% of our DNA with apples, 98% of our DNA is shared with chimpanzees. This book is as magnificent as a lion and as detailed as a butterfly. This book is a great read!
This book is set out in seven chapters. Chapter one is called: ‘Bee yourself’ and it celebrates everything you. Chapter two is called: ‘Roar with pride’ and it is all about finding you inner confidence. Chapter three is called: ‘Discover your Pack’ which about finding the right friends for you. The fourth chapter is called: ‘Dig a large hole’ and is all about being as kind as humanly possible. Chapter five is called: ‘Show your spikes’ and it is all about be brave when you need to be. Chapter six is called: ‘Keep swimming’ and is about finding the resilience you need to keep going. The seventh chapter is called: ‘Sniff out joy’ which is all about being HAPPY!
In each chapter, Sorosiak looks to animals for inspiration about how we can look after our mental health, which is a clever idea and makes the advice easy to understand. This tremendous creation is great for anyone who needs to feel better or wants to know animals that little bit better too.
I thought that this book was a bit similar to ‘You Are Awesome’ by Matthew Syed, but would perhaps suit slightly younger readers because the animals help to make the ideas easier to understand. This book isn’t hard to read, so you don’t need to worry about that.
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Whichever you choose we hope you enjoy being part of your unique reading community – happy reading everyone!
Reviewer Profile
- Name: Alastair
- Age: 11 years
- Likes: science and space, Lego and sports
- Dislikes: mushrooms and blue cheese
- Favourite Book: Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson
- Favourite Song: Hello by Adele
- Favourite Film: Star Wars
