I still remember that after the "double reduction" policy was introduced some time ago, I also fell into a little uneasiness like the majority of old mothers.
The child had more time to play, which made me worry about his future, and then I tried to figure out what was disturbing me.
It turns out that at the end of the day, I was afraid that a child would one day become a mediocre adult.
It wasn't until recently that I read a set of interesting picture books that I was slowly relieved and found the direction that my child should go in the future.
So today I also want to share with you this set - "I don't have to be the perfect child" series of picture books.
Slow down and look at the children around us, because many times we only notice that our own children are worse than "other people's" children, but we rarely pay attention to the shining points in them.
Different from the more common hard-working and persistent "chicken baby" growth children's books, this set of "I don't have to be a perfect child" series of picture books focuses on the child's inner world, which allows children to better understand the real world, while accepting and understanding others, but also to take care of their own emotions!
If you read carefully, you will find the truth inside, and many adults also need to understand...
No 100% perfect kids
Learn to accept your imperfections
Be true to yourself."
Don't label it lightly
Just have the courage to take the first step
Even a little bit is the beginning of getting better
Discover your own "coolness"
The beauty of appearance can make others remember for a while
The quality of kindness will be remembered by others for a lifetime
There are 3 books in the whole series, with anthropomorphic bad seeds, good eggs, and cool beans as the protagonists, all of whom are not perfect, and all have their own shortcomings and troubles: being ridiculed, being excluded, not being understood, wanting to be part of the group, being lonely, and losing confidence.
But at the same time, they are also making progress and moving forward, trying to tear off the labels on their bodies, truly know themselves, and try to get along with others and the world.
"Good Egg"
Accept your imperfections
Sometimes, children want to be the object of everyone's liking, so they are always trying to be what others see.
For example, the oval, glasses-worn egg in "Good Egg" is a "very good egg."
It helps carry things, paint houses, change tires, rescue cats, and even wants a dozen eggs to stop tricking. But the humorous details hidden in the picture are also hinted at: good eggs water the flowers and spill out of the pots; paint the house and paint the toast on the side.
It's like saying, in fact, that good eggs aren't as perfect as they think they are. No one is perfect.
You might think that this is a picture book that teaches children to do good. Until this egg, which remained perfect all the time, cracked in its body and spread all over the body!
The good egg has finally fed up with all this and embarks on a journey to find himself...
When it came back, everything got better. This journey of self-healing makes the good egg realize that friends are different from themselves, and also realize that maybe they don't need to behave perfectly.
This picture book tells the question that adults and children will encounter in a relaxed tone: Do we need to be so perfect?
Perhaps, we are not always so perfect, we need to learn to know ourselves, love ourselves, relax with others, and strike a balance between ourselves and interpersonal relationships, let the rift disappear, and find a good state.
Bad Seeds
This is a bad seed that is always late, lying, and bullying others.
However, this story is not a rough education for children what is bad behavior and cannot be done, but cleverly places this melon seed in the context of a real and complex story, so that children and adults who read picture books can "feel" what they have.
Why does bad seed feel bad?
Because it will be late, tell unsmiling jokes, not wash your hands and feet... Because of this, everyone said he was bad. Gradually, he also felt that he was a bad seed.
Peanuts and other seeds cast a strange glance at the "bad seeds"
But is that true? Of course not. The bad seed was born in a warm family, and it was not until the family was separated and almost killed that it decided to become bad."
Children are actually like this. Many mistakes that can be changed only need to be reminded and guided a little, rather than immediately labeling them "bad boys".
Everyone has the potential to make positive changes. How should we empathize with changes, whether for ourselves or for others? This is the first question the author wants to communicate with the children through the picture book.
Illustrator Pete Oswald also draws children in vivid and cute illustrations, causing them to think about other issues.
You see, the seeds of mischief in the picture are not frowning fiercely, but sometimes showing an apologetic look, sometimes appearing to be enjoying, as if revealing information outside the text, making people reflect on whether the "bad seeds" are so bad?
It also inspires parents and teachers to understand the stories behind their children's anger, hurt and sadness, and to patiently guide them to find out what causes these behaviors when helping children calmly deal with their anger.
In addition, "Bad Seeds" also uses a relaxed and gentle way to convey to children the great power of courage and willpower to accept themselves.
Like in the end, bad seeds slowly change their habits. "He's not so bad!" This sentence gave the bad seed full of energy, made him smile, and began to welcome himself better. Even a little bit of trying, it is a remarkable growth.
It's easy to label someone, but it's far more difficult to get a person to throw away a label than to label it. Don't forget to tell the children that seeing such a "bad seed", give him a little encouragement, let him hear it!
At the end of the picture book, the "bad seed" showed a warm smile that almost never appeared, and the color of the picture book was much brighter. The children learned "what is good behavior" in a cheerful subtle way.
"Cool Beans"
The book "Cool Beans", I believe that the big and small pot friends will have a lot of resonance when they read it.
In Bean Edge Elementary School, there is a group of cool beans, they are versatile, not only handsome, but also wear sunglasses, look so cool! Like the "hero" in school, he is good-looking, handsome and versatile.
The protagonist of the story is the ordinary bean that represents most of us, who cannot be integrated into the cool bean group, and can only be secretly envious on the side.
To get cooler, it began to imitate cool beans, learning their dress, styling, and movements, and these initiatives gave us a glimpse of the sensitive hearts of many children: lack of self-confidence, easy to fall into self-doubt.
It has made a lot of efforts, but its popularity has not become better, just when the protagonist loses confidence and wants to give up, Kudouzi lends a helping hand to it, making it understand that the real "cool" is not the appearance of the outside, but the inner goodness.
This story reinterprets the definition of "cool", and while we can't be the kind of shiny "star" characters, we can choose to be "kind" people, that's the coolest!