Book Reviews

Wow what a book!!

Eyes that kiss in the corners is a story of a young girl who has learnt that her eyes look different to her friends and describes them very eloquently.

“Some people have eyes like sapphire lagoons”, “I have eyes that kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea”.

The young girl realises that her eyes are the same as her Mama’s eyes, they are the same as Amah’s eyes and the same as her little sister Mei Mei.

The young girl describes what she can see through her eyes, the love for her family, the stories they can tell, the power that she has inside of her and how she has curled eyelashes and can see the kingdoms through the clouds.

The young girl calls herself a “revolution” and how her eyes and her family’s eyes are beautiful.

The book is filled with amazing and intricate artwork which reflects the emotions and is powerful as a standalone without any words.



It is a young girl’s story of self-belief, passion and believing in your own self-worth and beauty.

The Huge Bag of Worries is a story of a young girl called Jenny who was a happy girl but as time went on she began to worry about lots of things. Jenny was getting worried over lots of different things even “war and bombs”.

One day Jenny woke up to a huge bag of worries that would not go away, it followed her everywhere, even to the toilet!! The problem was she asked her brother for help, but he did not understand what was wrong with Jenny, so she did not tell her Mum or a teacher and she was getting more and more unhappy by the day.

This was until she sat on the wall and just cried and cried, an old lady, her neighbour saw Jenny crying and she asked what was wrong. Jenny told her and together they went through the bag of worries. The old lady put them into groups of ones that she could keep, ones that belonged to other people, some that had no place in the bag, so she blew them a kiss and sent them on their way. Jenny felt so much better after this and learnt how to group what she felt were problems and if they were even hers to deal with.

The book showcases that when you bottle up your worries and emotions they can build up and can weigh you down but finding someone you trust to talk to can make you feel free and relieved. This book resonates quite close to me as a child who suffered with high levels of anxiety and fears. It really helped me as this is a book I used to read with my Mum lots.

Beautiful little book explaining a child’s experience with having a different cultural background to her carers.

Her and her sister sadly did not have foster carers, the first time around , that showed any interest in learning about them and their background. But little Lola had a mission and was determined to help her new foster carers to understand and learn about her culture. So when she met her next set of foster carers, she set about educating them.

It explains beautifully Lola's cultural beliefs, why certain practices are in place and about her roots. I learnt a lot.

I particularly found this interesting as one of our first children we had was from a different cultural background. 

I can remember not knowing how to look after her hair and skin. Her hair was in a poor state so I asked my friend who is Ghanaian if she could help. 

She lives in New York, but happened to be in the country so spent an evening with us explaining how often to wash her hair, how to apply the creams, all of this was invaluable but needed. She spent so much time teasing out the matted hair and explaining how her mum and aunties would all be involved with this process.

What I also loved about the book was how the foster carers felt it was important that they share their backgrounds and culture. They all learnt about dishes, traditions, festivals from their own cultures and why these things are celebrated.

Demonstrates beautifully how important it is to learn about our children. Sometimes that can only happen if we start having those conversations, as not every child is as competent or brave as Lola was to teach her carers.

We love the book Words of Love by Jake Biggin. The main characters are Alice and her new best friend who is a little Dachshund called Sunny.

Sunny encourages Alice to face her fears and believe in herself.

I just finished reading The Boy with Wings by Lenny Henry, and it was really good! 🌟

The story is about a boy named Tunde who suddenly grows wings on his 12th birthday. 🦸‍♂️ He has to figure out how to use his new powers and save the world from some really bad people. Tunde is super relatable because he deals with bullies at school, just like some of us do. But then he finds out he’s special and has a big mission to complete.

I loved how funny the book was. There were so many jokes that made me laugh. 😂 Plus, Tunde’s friends always have his back. The illustrations by Keenon Ferrell were also really cool.

The best part was the comic book adventure at the end. It was like getting two stories in one! 📚

If you like action, adventure, and a lot of laughs, you should definitely read The Boy with Wings. It’s perfect for kids around my age (12 years old).