Be Brave Little Penguin, by Giles Andreae

[via bookdepository]

Perfect for: 
Ages: 2-6
Occasion: First day at school, daycare, pre-school

Last Christmas, the Bea received many gifts, chief among them a brand new, state of the art, all-terrain, spectacular-spectacular balance bike. She took one dubious look, picked up the paper it was wrapped in and escaped in her "boat".

"Do you want to ride your bike?" "No! I'm in my boat!"

She spent approximately forty minutes in her paper boat just that morning, and countless time in the days that followed. But time on the balance bike? Zero. Nada. Zilch. Not for lack of trying on my behalf but she's flat out refused since she first saw it and how now graduated to saying it's just too "scawy" and she's too "yittle".

Sigh.

When I found Be Brave Little Penguin in one of my lunchtime book expeditions, I was immediately taken back to the Great Bike Debacle of 2016.

Pip-Pip is smaller than the other penguins and is just too scared to take his first dip in the water. His friends tease him, his Dad urges him to be brave and leap on in, but all he can imagine is how deep and cold it is and what might be waiting for him in the dark ocean. His Mama tells him to imagine how wonderful it might be - warm and fun and full of fish - and encourages him to ease himself into the shallows.

[via amazon]

Finally, Little Penguin takes a deep breath, imagines how great it might be and SPLASH! Dives on in.

This is a sweet little story for little penguins about being brave and thinking about the wonderful, instead of the scary, things that might happen if we take a risk. It's perfect for ages three and up, and would be a great one for kids heading off for the first day of daycare or school.

Be Brave Little Penguin is also a nice reminder for parents to take it easy when our little ones aren't quite up to the challenges we present them with every day. It reminded me to take it slowly, have faith and wait for my own little Penguin to be ready for her first big bike ride.

And in the meantime, at least we have a boat...

The book and the bea x