BOOK REVIEW: Joy's Playground

TITLE: Joy's Playground
AUTHOR: Lizzy Shortall
PUBLISHED BY: Cranthorpe Milner

With a suggested reading age of 4-8 year olds this entertaining story, told in rhyme is sure to delight young readers. In the book, the author uses animals who face challenges to bring home the message to children that obstacles can be overcome, and different methods of how to do so are described in the story.

The star in the story is a young girl called Joy and her animal friends in this delightful book are playful, entertaining and have a sense of understanding beyond their years. With Joy’s help they find different methods to get though the challenges they face in their daily escapades. In doing so, they gently remind children and adults how to help each other and themselves, if things become demanding.

The story begins whilst Joy is in the playground with her two friends, Jumpit the frog and Tortie the tortoise. They are joined by other friends who have been having a very bad day but they all work together to help their friends overcome the challenges they face through gratitude, mindfulness and self-belief.

This instructive book promotes resilience in children though practising and teaching important skills. Unfortunately it is common knowledge that now more than ever, anxiety, stress and change-management are crucial for young children. The book is a fun way to teach children resilience tools and coping strategies during their formative years whilst starting school and meeting new friends and discovering new skills and interests. Moreover, following the Covid pandemic, anxiety, stress and change management are crucial along with separation anxiety which will also be high on the list of important issues for some young children.

The story will encourage young, inquisitive minds to question their feelings and try to work through those which are troubling them. Teachers (and parents) can use the book as a resource to host a discussion about feelings, emotions, mindfulness, anxiety and stress. 

There is a useful reminder page at the back of the book with helpful messages for parents and teachers to use to reinforce the messages within the story to young children.

The colourful illustrations bring the story to life and make this a very enjoyable read for young children and early readers.

The book’s compact size makes it manageable for a child with small hands to hold. Plus, it has easy-to-slide pages which make it easier for small hands eagerly wanting to turn over to the next part of the story to handle. An added bonus are the wipe-clean front and back covers, ideal for parents reading the story to children with sticky fingers.

The book is delightfully illustrated by Roberto Crux.

Reviewer - Anne Pritchard