With the devastating events that have been occurring around the country these past few weeks I thought that I’d move up my schedule for sharing this wonderful new book from our friends at Sleeping Bear Press. I won’t even pretend to understand what people who have been personally impacted by a devastating event such as a hurricane, forest fire, or tornado go through, but I will say that it breaks my heart to see these displaced families and my children are always concerned for the families and people affected.
To help with some of the questions my children have been having about what happens after an event like a big storm we have been reading When the Wind Blew by Petra Brown. This book is for ages 4-8 but even older kids (like my almost 10 year old) can benefit from the conversations that this book can easily start for you.
The book starts with Big Bear and Little Bear sleeping in their snug and cozy den, when Little Bear is woken by a loud scary sound. In the morning Big Bear and Little Bear expect to start their day as normal and instead find that a storm raged through overnight and damaged the surrounding forest.
Big Bear and Little Bear then set out to find a new home where they will still be able to find food and shelter. Throughout their long day of travel we hear some of Little Bear’s fears, “Did the wind hurt the water?” And “What if all the trees in the world had blown down?”
At the end of the day Little Bear and Big Bear find their new home and Little Bear comes to the realization that “… when I’m with you, wherever we are, I feel I’m at home.”
Petra Brown does a lovely job of tackling a very scary subject for kids and making it much less scary with her friendly illustrations and cute interactions between Big Bear and Little Bear. I really appreciate how this has made it easy to reassure my kids that as long as we’re safe and together we are home.
