Olivia and The Proverbs is HERE!

Olivia and the Proverbs (2021) is HERE!

It’s my brand new book of short stories for Primary age children.

Each story is based on a well known proverb with a clear message/lesson to be learned in each tale. 

Join happy-go-lucky, mishchief-maker, Olivia Monkey who lives with her family and pet dog, Biscuit, in a house near the middle of town.

The big house next door is a retirement home for elderly monkeys. Can you just imagine how much fun and monkey business goes on in there?

Olivia has so many friends at the retirement home she doesn’t have enough fingers to count them all. But two are her VERY best friends – Boris Monkey and Blossom Monkey

.Join Olivia and her very best monkey friends as they get up to all kinds of adventures and shenanigans. See what they’re doing right now! It will make you laugh out loud from start to finish!

HOW DID THE BOOK COME ABOUT?

The original stories started with my youngest daughter, Rebecca. When she was little, she had a huge collection of soft toys, mainly monkeys, who all had very different characters(!). I used to make up stories of their escapades to tell her at bedtime. I suppose Olivia is modelled to some extent on Rebecca, as being the youngest of four children is not always easy!!

I re-told the stories occasionally when I taught KS1 children. As the stories were created on the spot, I could design scenarios to fit different classroom situations as they occurred, using the stories to talk about behaviour, arguments, kindness to others, comforting or reassuring the children, and so on. Funny stories seemed a good way to approach situations sideways without appearing to target attention on any one child. Gradually I began to design specific stories for use in PHSE lessons. Then I had some EAL children in the class, plus pupils who had poor reading comprehension, and began to design the stories more for vocabulary exploration and extension.

When I came to write some stories down during lockdown last Springtime (2020), I took a slightly different angle yet again. I have seven grandchildren who all live locally and we missed their company greatly. It was difficult not to see them at weekends, pick them up from school, babysit in the evening…etc; so then the stories became more of celebration of the grandparent/grandchild relationship.

FREE RESOURCES FOR PARENTS/TEACHERS

I’m offering a set of resources/worksheets to accompany three of the stories in the book, which will soon be available for free from my website. The resource gives ideas for developing children’s vocabulary, reading comprehension, speaking and listening skills.

I hope Olivia and the Proverbs will be both an educational and enjoyable read for all.