Ivy And The Rock Book By Jess Childs Review
This book melted my heart for so many reasons. The author of this lovely book is Jess Childs and has been brilliantly illustrated by Heather May Williams who wrote the story for her 2 children to help them understand why her own Dad is no longer with them and how her Dad was her rock. The story and illustrations are both lovingly heartfelt and written in such a beautiful and simple way; that helps and covers the subjects of love and the loss when loosing someone. So much so, that it is much more comforting to young children. It reaches out and really does touch your heart, along with your mind and soul. Even if your child has not experienced the loss of a loved one as yet, this is a great story to read as it will help them to understand and even talk about.
My granddaughter has recently lost her great nanna on her mums side and whilst she’s 7.5 years old, she has struggled to understand why someone she loves so much is no longer around. Since her loss, she has been very confused and everyone around her has been there for her, no matter how many questions she has asked. After reading this book, she now understands her thoughts and feelings so much more now and talks about her great Nanna in such a different way. The book has helped her parents and myself to explain her loss in a way we never thought of.
THE STORY
It is about a beautiful little girl named Ivy Jones who walks the path on a journey of adventure and most importantly, self discovery. With the security from a rock she adores and loves so much, it gives her a lot of security, safety, trust and confidence.
Ivy has gorgeous blonde hair, dressed in a blue and white polka dot top, and a pink dress, along with brown bootie shoes. She has gorgeous brown eyes, rosy red cheeks, a really cute button nose and her hair has a cute bun on the top of her head which is tied up in a bobble with green leaves and berries.
The rock is beautifully illustrated with so many dazzling colours such as yellow, teal, purple and pink. The way it is drawn even looks like it is sparkling. Such lovely art work.
The story also makes reference and illustrates flowers such as pansies, snowdrops, hollyhocks, hibiscus and roses. These played a very important part of the story for my granddaughter as now, when out walking, she says to me ‘look Nana, flowers, flowers like Ivy has and their roots will keep growing and look beautiful, just like great Nanna’. This melted my heart and naturally made me cry. I was so proud and uplifted by her own take on her loss and how she has taken the story of Ivy and the rock and made it a positive one. She likes to draw the rock and calls it ‘great Nanna’s heart’. She even has her own drawing of it up on her bedroom wall and every day she says ‘good morning/good night great Nanna, I love you so much and I will always love you’. Just some of the words she has taken from the story and uses herself.
I would absolutely and most definitely recommend this book for all the reasons I have covered above.
You can see the full review live here: https://whatsgoodtodo.com/ivy-and-the-rock-book-by-jess-childs-review/#