Novels to help children’s emotional development are blinking marvellous, says Gill Furniss MP
Local schools to benefit from book donation
MP for Sheffield Brightside & Hillsborough Gill Furniss this morning visited Abbeyfield Primary School in her constituency to promote a series of children’s books which entwine strategies for emotional and behavioural development into magical stories for children aged 7-11 to enjoy alone or with their parents.
“The Blinks” were created by Andrea Chatten, children’s emotional and behavioural psychologist at Unravel, and who has worked with vulnerable and challenging children, young people and their families for over 20 years across the City of Sheffield.
Each of the books, which cover issues such as worry, anger and self-esteem, are accompanied by a Reference Manual for parents, carers and teachers, which explains in more detail the ‘why’ behind the interventions that The Blinks characters use to support the children in the story.
The Blinks series is sponsored by Hallam FM’s Cash for Kids charity, of which Gill is an ambassador. As part of her visit to Abbeyfield she presented the school with a free set of “The Blinks” books, and Cash for Kids hope to make copies available to all Sheffield Primary Schools.
Speaking during the visit, Gill said: “Learning how to cope with complicated and difficult emotions is a key part of growing up, and is not easy at the best of times. Andrea has done a fantastic job in writing a series of thoughtful and entertaining stories that help young children and their parents to understand this process.
“I’m so pleased that Cash for Kids has teamed up with Andrea and are working to make these books available in schools across the city. Hundreds of our youngsters will now get the benefit of Andrea’s many years of experience in helping vulnerable children manage their feelings in a positive way.”
Cash for Kids Charity Manager Allan Ogle said: “We fell in love with these books as soon as we saw them. This is one of those projects that doesn’t cost a huge amount of money but yet has a huge impact on the well-being and quality of life of children in our local communities.
“I’d like to thank Andrea for approaching us for the support to get this out to the schools and to Gill for getting behind the project.”