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Robin and the White Rabbit: A Story to Help Children with Autism to Talk about their Feelings and Join In ISBN: 9781785922909
Brunnstrom, Ase and Lindstrom, Emma
Published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2017
This story is one for children who can visualise better than they can vocalise. When Robin is in school, he feels lots of different emotions. They swirl around him in the bubble that he lives in perpetually - the phrases the teacher uses, 'Listen up', 'Concentrate', 'Why are you not doing anything?' and his own responsive feelings: anger, confusion, shame, distress, etc. In the playground, he sits under a tree, still in his bubble, and watches the other children playing. When a white rabbit pierces the bubble and comes to sit next to him, Robin is taken aback and rather interested, particularly when the rabbit offers to help him understand what he really enjoys doing. With Robin's permission, the rabbit pulls picture cards from a blue bag and begins with a picture of a tree: 'What does it feel like when you are sitting under the tree?' he asks. Then he shows Robin how to draw a happy face and put the cards under it that make him feel happy, a face with a straight mouth is for things he doesn't know about, and a big red X is for the things he doesn't like. In playing this game, the rabbit discovers that what Robin really likes best is climbing trees! Robin doesn't want to climb the tree by himself, so he asks the rabbit to come with him. Rabbit is a bit fearful about climbing trees, but Robin promises to help him and gives him a hug of encouragement, and together, they climb the tree. We see that this makes Robin feel happy, important, friendly, caring and brave (amongst other things), and when he sees one of the other children waving from down below, he also feels curious. Perhaps there could be a friend there after all? This delightful, delicately illustrated picture book will prove a boon to teachers and parents who want to communicate better with children who find putting their feelings into words difficult. Lovely as well as useful. Available from Amazon, from good book shops and from the publisher: www.jkp.com.
Age: 5+