Tag Fotini Tikkou

Won’t Go! / Not Tired!

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Won’t Go!
Not Tired!
Sumana Seeboruth and Fotini Tikkou
Barefoot Books

Both books are part of the publisher’s Feelings & Firsts series and with their bright expressive illustrations and simple words told from the featured child’s perspective, are worth having if you have a very young child.

Won’t Go! shows a small girl busy playing at home and protesting about being told she must stop and go elsewhere. Eventually though, after some playfulness on the part of one of her dads, it’s off to the ballet class. There however, all the other pupils are wearing blue, but fortunately the teacher has a pink dress and shoes in a similar hue to those of the little protagonist. This makes all the difference both during the lesson and afterwards when her dads arrive to collect her with the baby.

Not Tired! presents another situation that the majority of parents/carers will be familiar with. A small child wants to continue playing and certainly isn’t ready for bed. There follow a plea for another book, another snuggle and some shenanigans over a missing teddy bear until at last the little one has tired herself out and is ready for that goodnight kiss before falling fast asleep. In this book the mother is differently abled but this is shown rather than spoken of in the text.

Step into my shoes

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Step into my shoes
Alkisti Halikia and Fotini Tikkou (translated by Constantine Matsoukas)
Lantana

Matou, the narrator of the story, lives with her parents in a small town just outside Paris. One Friday afternoon, her school finishes early and walking home alone, Matou passes the mosque. Outside she sees what she calls ‘a sea of shoes.’ Her eye is drawn to a pair of trainers and as nobody is around, she tries them on. Then suddenly the door opens and she hurriedly removes the trainers and puts her own shoes back on. Shortly after a boy wearing the trainers passes her.

Henceforward Matou would make a habit of stopping and trying on various pairs of shoes left outside the mosque.

A few weeks later an eagerly anticipated day arrives; Mum has promised to leave work early so the two of them can visit the shops together. The perfect opportunity to show her mum those sports shoes, thinks Matou. But when she gets home, it’s Dad who greets her with the news that her mum is unable to take the time off from work. Matou is very angry, Mum apologises and asks her daughter to … “step into my shoes for a moment.” Having had this saying explained to her, Matou agrees to try.

The result is that by recalling her mosque shoe trying, the girl is able to understand her Mum’s difficult position and all is well between them.

Come the spring, Matou is much happier; not only does she have a new friend, she also has a special new pair of shoes. With themes of acceptance, positivity and optimism, this book with its French setting, and mixed media illustrations, will enable readers to step into the shoes of the girl narrator.