One fact I have discovered as I have joined some speech/language pathology author groups is that we have worldwide interest in writing children’s literature as we all realize the importance of books in life and in therapy.
Our focus post this month is on an Irish speech and language therapist. She has lived in various countries but now resides in Paris, France. Yes, her latest book is available in two languages – English and French.
The book, Ivy’s New Garden, has an international theme of uncomfortable childhood emotions that are associated with changes in life. This is the way the author presents it when reading to her students, “Ivy has a special garden. The garden is a special place Ivy goes to play pretend and it’s really important to her. One day something changes, and Ivy cannot control anything that happens to her garden anymore. She has lots of feelings about that. What feelings do you think Ivy experiences? Do you think she is sad or mad?”
This is an excellent book to address pragmatics skills and emotions. The main target areas of the book are 1) awareness of and the process of dealing with change and 2) the normalizing of uncomfortable emotions associated with changes in life. The author wants all children including our neurodivergent students to understand that these emotions are normal. An added bonus is that it talks about playing pretend and how it helps Ivy, and the illustrations are gorgeous too!
Check out Ivy’s New Garden in both English and French versions.
For more information on Marie Robert and her other book, Georgia’s Far-Away Family, click here.