Books that Tug at My Heartstrings

 

I haven't come across children's books that tug at my heartstrings in a long time!

 

I could so identify with Brian, the invisible boy.

He often felt unattended to by the teacher who was too busy managing the difficult children and tending to the vocal ones.

He felt out of place sitting in the midst of chatty classmates who talked about the party he was not invited to.

 

Until Justin, a Korean boy, joined the class. The friendly boy was laughed at over the name of his packed lunch but Justin quietly wrote a note telling him his food looked tasty.

In return, Justin befriended Brian and invited him to join him in a group project.

As Brian felt noticed and included, he started to have colours on him.

Eventually, Brian became a part of his class like the rest of the children.

I showed the book to Baby as she had told me she went for recess alone. 

I told her I liked the book because I felt like Brian sometimes, and I asked her if she ever felt like him too.

She said yes, especially during recess.

Oh, I feel so sorry for Baby. Apparently, an unkind girl had asked other girls not to be Baby's friends.

I encouraged her to befriend other girls but she said that she had tried to and she did not like to hang out with 'boring friends'.

A tricky problem I see there.

 

Last Stop On Market Street tells of a story about kindness.

Grandma would take CJ to a soup kitchen, a charitable organisation which prepared food for the needy, every week after church.

 

Whenever CJ asked a question, Grandma always had a wise and beautiful answer to it.

 

Coco had done CIP (community involvement project) at a soup kitchen locally. She felt exhausted just washing vegetables for hours. I thought it interesting that soup kitchen is a borderless organisation that helps the poor.

 

The last book, Sumi's First Day Of School Ever, is about Sumi's fears on her first day at school.

She was worried that the teacher and friends would be unkind.

But as she interacted with the teacher and friends, she realised things were not as bad as she had imagined. 

And she started to enjoy school.

The book reveals the inner world of children whose fears should not be dismissed. It would be apt for children who are going to school for the first time, or even Primary One.

All in all, these three books are highly sincere children's literature that aim to identify with children's vulnerable feelings, especially The Invisible Boy and Sumi's First Day Of School Ever. A good read anytime!