>
Giveaway closed.
Congratulations SusanSmoaks!
About the book:
Night Knight Therapeutic Bedtime Stories are aimed towards helping children ages 5 – 11 years develop confidant, happy and peaceful self identities, particularly during challenging times. The stories explore four themes common to many children; childhood bereavement, separation, bullying, and childhood anxiety and depression. Written in third party to enable the child to impersonalise themselves from the story content, rich metaphor and imagery is used through out to help the child absorb healing messages that are helpful to them.
The author uses her background experience in counselling, to help children who are struggling with feelings like guilt, shame, depression, and other immobilising and self destructive emotions. During times of change and challenge, it is very easy, and often inevitable, that a child can assume they they’ve done ‘something wrong’ and there’s ‘something wrong ‘with them. The author uses various fantasy characters who undergo various challenges, and are shown by their friends, in ways that children can respond and relate to easily, that they are not the cause of the circumstances. The book has been carefully crafted to help children develop a sense of wholeness, happiness, peace and self confidance. This helps them avoid self injurious preoccupations with seeking other’s approval, or need to control and dominate, as they become older.
About the author:
Emma Piers is an author, wellbeing coach and narrator. She lives in rural Dorset in the UK with her life/working partner Mark Turner. Emma was born in a rambling old vicarage in Kent, in 1958. Her father was a vicar, and she had two siblings. During her early years, the family moved five times. During these years, Emma developed a deep love and sense of connectedness with the natural world around her. Walking and writing stories about mythical creatures and people became a big preoccupation, alongside a love of English that was instilled in her by two teachers who were both passionate about their subject. As a counter balance, she managed to fail her Maths ‘O’ level three times. Friendships came and went with five different schools in short succession being attended. A working year exploring the USA and France was followed by another year feeling out of place in a technical college studying pitman script, shorthand typing and profit and loss accounts. Many years and several homes later, after her younger child started grammar school, Emma started studying counselling and creative writing. After a number of years in counselling practice, and travels in Australia, Emma’s more recent studies are encompassing both traditional therapeutic and mythological storytelling. This form of storytelling incorporates understandings of the holistic ways in which human and environment interact
You can visit her website at
http://www.emmapiers.com/.
My thoughts:
Rosador and the Dark Forest starts out by introducing us to Rosador the elf, and her friend Elf friend Orion. While Rosador worries a lot about others, Orion has his own "dark fairy" or negative thoughts because of bad things that have happened in his life. They look for guidance over their feelings from each other and others, like the trees. Through this adventurous and magical story the characters find that they can deal with their feelings appropriately. They also learn that there is typically a reason why someone is acting badly. That everyone at one time or another has a "dark fairy" that is weighing them down. Sometimes they need more guidance than others to overcome those negative thoughts so that they do not turn into negative actions. This story is a good way to introduce children to those concepts of negative feeling and actions, as well as feelings that occur because of negative things that happen in their lives. What is nice is the story has characters that have to deal with their feelings over things that may be common for school aged chldren like their parents seperating, someone dying, getting bullied (or being a bully), and feeling not good, strong, or smart enough. This may help the child express their own feelings as they may be able to relate to some of the characters.
Though the story helps the characters work through their feelings, it is also an adventurous story. I think the adventurous parts will help keep the child interested in the story. It makes it feel more like a story than a lesson on their feelings. I think it would be a story many children would like even if they may not be going through a rough time, because of the adventure and magical nature of the story. The story takes you on adventures and shows you how the characters like the elves, fultures and hobgoblins interconnect. The story has "good" and "bad" and magical and intelligent beings like many mythical stories have. I think it is a great story to not only help children with their feelings, but to think creatively and use their imagination. It would be a great story to start introducing them to longer fairy tale stories. The story also has a few illustrations, by Mark Turner, that help give the reader an idea of what the characters and scenery would be like.
I really like how the story is broken up into eight chapters. You can read one chapter each night. The chapters will end with a message to the child on getting tucked into bed and give them things to think about with the story, the characters, and themselves. It gives them something to think or dream about...and even if the story might be a little scary....the message before the chapter ends will be positive and reassuring. It will make them "Sleep tight and Night Knight"!
The story also can be listened to with the accompanying cd's. These are nice so the child can listen to the story if they can not read it. The story is narrated by the author Emma Piers. It is narrated well with much expression. There is some background music in spots and sound effects that are entertaining. There is a brief pause in between the chapters/parts. If you only want your child to listen to one part a night then you will have to stop this yourself. Otherwise your child can listen to these all at once with two cd's.
Giveaway:
One lucky reader can win this book. To enter: Leave a comment telling me why you would like this book.
Extra entries:
Follow Pump up your book on
facebook and/or
twitter. (1 entry for each)
Follow my blog with google friends connect.
Follow my blog on facebook.
Follow me on twitter.
Share this on facebook. (1 entry daily)
Tweet this giveaway (1 entry daily)
Subscribe to my blog.
Blog about this giveaway (3 extra entries)
Write a review of my blog on alexa (3 extra entries)
This giveaway will end on May 2 and the winner will be chosen by random.org.
Click here to read my giveaway rules and guidelines.
disclosure: I received the book for free to review. These are my personal opinions.
