Robin and Pip
When you are an anxious child the world can feel full of problems. Problems that are too big for you to understand, and way too big for anybody to fix. Robin is a little bird with big worries – worries about things that may never happen. Luckily Robin has Pip, a wise apple tree who shares her thoughts about the future and helps to ease Robin’s worries.
The author and illustrator Margaret Anne Suggs takes inspiration from the patterns of the natural world, both for the story and Robin’s anxieties, and also for the illustrations of Pip’s support. Her colourful art works to support the story and draw in the reader’s attention. There is plenty of detail in the illustrations to appreciate and possibly discuss when reading to a child. The layout is cleverly designed, allowing both art and text their space. Sometimes artwork can obscure the text of a story in a picturebook, but here there is enough white space given to the words to make them clearly legible.
The story is told in a simplistic manner using a question and answer style. Aimed at younger children, this story may help them to put their own worries into words and guide adults to support them, acknowledging the problem and putting forward a solution. This book can also serve as an introduction to mindfulness for children, showing how to accept and be aware of our worries, but to not worry too much about the future.
