Thunderboots
Naomi Jones and Rebecca Ashdown
Oxford Children’s Books

What she lacks in stature, young Trixie makes up for in sheer joie de vivre. She dashes up the stairs in her home, cartwheels along corridors and generally makes her presence felt to the other residents of her apartment block who call her Thunderboots.

When it’s time for her to start school, Trixie is excited and she loves school, her teacher, the new friends she makes and playing on the outdoor equipment. Moreover she really enjoys learning, especially listening to stories but her favourite of all lessons is PE.
One thing she finds really challenging though is learning letters and writing. School isn’t such fun any more ; everything feels hard, so she tells her empathetic Dad.

Dad says that everyone learns differently and that is perfectly fine; he sees things and thus learns differently from others: he calls this a ‘superpower’.

Next day at school Dad and Trixie’s teacher chat and make a learning plan to help his little girl, who has dyslexia, with the things she finds tricky.

This includes a class circle time where everyone highlights something their neighbour is especially good at. Now at last Trixie decides that having a superpower and learning differently is just a part of who she is.

Drawing on her own experiences of growing up, the author has created an empowering story of a neurodivergent child, who happily, had the understanding and support she needed. In this celebration of everybody’s unique abilities, Rebecca Ashdown portrays Trixie as a thoroughly endearing character, bursting with energy and enthusiasm for life and I’m sure young children will love exploring the fun details in every one of her scenes be they at home or in school.