Tag Ashwin Chacko

Let’s Play Rugby!

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Let’s Play Rugby!
Gordon D’Arcy and Paul Howard, illustrated by Ashwin Chacko
Little Island

This interactive story is published to coincide with the Six Nations rugger tournament, which this year kicks off on 31st January. The aim herein is to help your team lift the trophy and once clad in your gear, like all players the first thing to do is some warming up exercises – jogging on the spot and star jumps – before the kick off.
Now it’s time for you to kick that ball you have in your hands right up high and it’s game on!
Wow! Some of your opponents are enormous so tackling someone with the ball can send them down really hard and win your team back that ball. Yeah!
As the story proceeds we learn more about the game of rugby – the scrum,

the line out and scoring a try, while following the instructions to shout loudly, push, rotate then shake the book, weave your finger through the defenders,

find the gap and touch the book down to score a try. Now it’s up to you to kick the conversion to win that trophy. WOOOO1 Hurrah! One last thing: lift the cup high above your head to show the crowd. What a game!

Co-authored by Irish rugger Gordon D’Arcy and writer Paul Howard, and robustly and dramatically illustrated by Ashwin Chacko, this action-packed picture book captures something of the excitement of the game. One hopes it will not only inspire young children to watch the Six Nations games but also to seek out one of the many rugby clubs that cater for primary school age children with mini-rugby sessions.

Rosie and the Friendship Angel / Everybody Feels Fear

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Rosie and the Friendship Angel
Lucinda Riley & Harry Whittaker, illustrated by Jane Ray
Macmillan Children’s Books

This is the third of the Guardian Angel series written by Lucinda Riley with her son Harry Whittaker before her death in 2021. Like the previous ones it’s based on stories she would tell her childen when they were facing challenging situations that made them fearful.

Here we meet young Rosie and her Guardian Angel Frederick. It’s Rosie’s first day at a new school and she is feeling very nervous as she ‘s greeted by her teacher Miss Marshall and reluctantly lets go of her father’s hand. Rosie is introduced to her classmates, one of whom, Jessica, has been asked to look after the newcomer. However Jessica doesn’t seem particularly friendly and come playtime Rosie is made to feel an intruder.

By the end of the day she’s feeling invisible and lonely, especially after what happens in the final task.
That night having kept her feelings to herself, Rosie lies awake in bed and she makes a wish, a wish that is heard by Angel Frederick, whose job it is to help anybody in need of a new friend.

Frederick moves down towards Rosie’s home town and sets in motion events that result in Rosie finding a wonderful new friend.

Starting at a new school is an event that many children find stressful and scary and this gentle story is one that could help them overcome those fearful feelings. Jane Ray’s illustrations are strikingly beautiful and capture Rosie’s anxiety perfectly. There’s a special angel bookmarked ribbon attached to this lovely book.

Everybody Feels Fear
Ashwin Chacko
Dorling Kindersley

As this book’s creator asserts we all have fears, some long-lasting, others much less so, some are small and some can be huge and overwhelmingly. This picture book is an exploration of the wide variety of fears we might have, from spiders to mice and bears to monsters. The text starts in rhyme and part way through changes to prose that offers encouraging words about fears: no matter how seemingly overwhelming a fear feels, with a modicum of courage, ‘as small as a mustard seed’ we can begin to face up to whatever is making us fearful. Assuredly fear does not define a person and most importantly love fuels courage and ‘where love lives fear cannot be.’ In other words, working together is the way to go.

Chacko uses a wacky, bold illustrative style combining it with arresting typography to put across his important message. This zany book offers a helpful starting point to encourage children to talk about their fears and in a classroom could act as the prelude to a circle time discussion.