My eldest has a new girl starting at her school today. She’s been repeating positive conversations that have occurred in class, all about a new child starting and with the help of this book we’ve been talking about new friendships also.
There’s no denying how it hard it can be to make new friends but sometimes its something that takes time. A persons appearance or the way in which they speak or perhaps because you haven’t seen them much before may lead you to believe that you have nothing in common, but how will you know if you don’t speak?
The Pirate Tree is based on Sam who is enjoying playing outdoors and the tree mentioned in the book title is very central to this as it is in fact her pirate ship. Whilst playing Agu, the young boy observes her play and longs to befriend her but Sam explains that “I don’t know you. You’re not from my street.”
The expressive illustrations are really representative of each of their emotions and you can imagine Agu is bitterly disappointed at Sam’s initial response. However, it’s not until Agu corrects Sam about what she thinks Nigeria is like that a conversation is started between the two of them. That conversation leads to more exchanges and what unfolds are lovely moments of play on their pirate ship.
The book is a realistic insight into how it can be when friendships are trying to be formed and is a great resource for encouraging conversations around this topic. The fresh illustrations using natural textures and mixed media, set against clean white backgrounds are engaging and compliment the texts well. We also love the imaginary play between the children. Such a lovely book but also a useful resource too.
The book is now available to buy and more details can be found on the publishers website, Lantana Publishing.
Disclaimer: I received this book from the Jein exchange for my honest opinion. All words and opinions are entirely my own.