Tag Jayde Perkin

Shoot For the Stars

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Shoot For the Stars
Danielle Brown, illustrated by Jayde Perkin and Filigrana de Ideas
Little Tiger

Both empowering and full of information, this is written by double Paralympic gold medallist and five times world champion in archery, Danielle Brown MBE. She hopes to encourage girls from around twelve years old on to keep participating in sport instead of dropping out of physical activities, which often coincides with the onset of puberty when among other things, girls start menstruating and they sometimes see this as a barrier to sporting activity.

This and other perceived barriers are discussed in a matter of fact manner, be it feelings of discomfort in school PE kit, ideas of body image or worries about controlling one’s temper when one’s performance is adversely affected by hormones. It’s particularly good to see the spread featuring Chinese swimmer, Fu Yuanhui, who openly discussed the impact of starting her period on her performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The dress code of bikini bottoms for women’s beach volleyball was not altered until 2021 when he Norwegian team took action by wearing shorts instead. They were fined for so doing but public outrage precipitated the change. It was not until 2023 that the all whites rules for underwear for women players at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships was changed.

A stand was also taken by Kulsoom Abdullah, a weightlifter. She was invited to compete in the national championships, but against her religious beliefs, wasn’t allowed to cover her limbs or to wear a hijab, so she didn’t participate. However she did take her story to the media with them behind her to the International Weightlifting Federation. The outcome was that the rule was changed and so Kulsoom represented Pakistan that year at the World Championships.

Accepting feedback and applying what you’ve been told is vital for making progress and improving in any sport, and indeed other aspects of life and a chapter is devoted that topic: all those who brief biographies are included must certainly have done that.

I was listening to a discussion on the radio this morning about the increased number of people who are over weight and how this can lead to ill-health. Food was the subject under discussion but I couldn’t help thinking that being physically active is equally important and Danielle’s book encourages readers to do just that whether or not they end up going further and becoming sporting competitors.

Illustrations by Jayde Perkin and Filigrana de Ideas and colour photos of renowned women sports stars add to the enjoyment of the book.

Mum’s Jumper

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Mum’s Jumper
Jayde Perkin
Book Island

This is a book that explores the nature of grief.

A mother dies but for the child narrator and her dad, life must go on.
Her mother’s absence feels like a dark cloud that is always hovering close by, and makes concentration at school difficult. No matter how kind other people are, the overwhelming feeling is of being alone, angry even, at times.

Her father explains that the constant ache she feels is the way grief engulfs a person who has lost someone very dear to them; he too feels it.

While sorting out her mother’s belongings the girl comes upon a much-loved jumper. Along with her father’s words of solace, it’s adopting that snuggly warm garment that helps her begin to find a way through those dark days.

Grief, Dad says, ‘is like Mum’s jumper. The jumper stays the same size, but I will eventually grow into it.’

After some time, her world does enlarge around her grief and she feels able to put her treasured possession out of sight, safe in the knowledge that it, like her mother, will always be there; for she’s a part of everything and everywhere, and most important she’s there inside forever.

Grief is a very personal thing and Jayde Perkins’ illustrations for this book are heartfelt. (Her own mother died of cancer) and here she puts into her art (and words) some of the feelings that a young grieving child might have.

I’d like to see this ultimately uplifting book in every primary classroom; and I’d definitely offer it to anybody who has, or knows, a young child coping with the loss of a parent or close family member.