Tilda Tries Again
By Tom Percival

Entertaining, fabulously illustrated well-told positive story that is great for pre-school, reception and primary 1 classes and for parents/carers etc to read and have fun with their children; as well as it having a deeper message that promotes positive wellbeing. This is a book worth getting excited about. Find out more in the blurb and my review.
Thanks to Bloomsbury Children’s Books for gifting me this book.

Some time ago I was privileged to review Tilda Tries Again and now I am republishing this review as it has been chosen as a CBeebies Bedtime Story. It will be read by Rob Burrow.

Blurb

Be open, be honest, be you! Big Bright Feelings for little people.

Tilda’s world is just as she likes it . . . until one day, it turns completely UPSIDE DOWN. All of a sudden, everything is topsy-turvy, and nothing feels right. Things that were once easy now seem incredibly challenging.

Can Tilda discover a new way to approach her problems and believe in herself?

Bold, bright and empowering, this is an inspiring story about coping with difficult situations. It’s the ideal book for helping children to build resilience and embrace a ‘can do’ approach to life.

Tom Percival’s Big Bright Feelings series is the perfect springboard for conversations about mental and emotional health, positive self-image, building self-confidence and managing feelings.

Review

It’s bright, bold and greatly positive for young children. Not every day is going to be just as your children would want it to go, it isn’t possible and Tilda shows not only that, but that they can overcome that bad day and things can become brighter again. Tilda has her friends and toys and all is well with her world, but suddenly nothing feels right and for her, her whole world is turned upside down (literally, in the depiction). The pictures are all terrifically illustrated. They illustrate the narrative perfectly as children can follow both and it is a real attention grabber. The use in dramatic pictures and draining the colour out of the time when she is having a bad day, and bringing it back into full colour, when things get better only further, visually helps with the understanding of how she is feeling, when she is sad and happy. It captures children and their moods and interests very well.

 It is positive, entertaining and such a well-written story that children will relate to. What is so good is that Tilda brushes herself down and decides to try again. It also refrains from it being a sob story or self-centred story. It does in a fun way, promote resilience and that there will be a better day. It could also have a positive impact on children in a way that may just make them feel good inside and out and ready to try again, as Tilda does. It promotes the idea of not giving up.

It’s well written for young children, with short sharp sentences, perfect for preschool and reception or primary 1 classes as fun and discussions can come out of this book. Parents/carers etc can also have so much fun reading this to their children and whatsmore is that it is properly positive and can also be used as a bedtime story, or just curling up having a quiet time together.