The Pirate Mums

Product Information

Oxford University Press will publish The Pirate Mums, an LGBTQ+ picture book written by Bluebird communications director Jodie Mullish. The book will be illustrated by Lydia Corry. By the close of the book, Dimitri is surrounded by new friends, received and accepted: ‘they made quite a pile’. And this pile, fostered by Dimitri through his own acts of love, and made up of people who receive and nurture him, represents a vital form of family, too. 9. Kind by Alison Green and Axel Scheffler Because whilst my children obviously know that families with two mums and two dads exist, plenty don’t. Often, families with same sex parents aren’t something that young children have seen before, either in real life, on TV or in books. In fact, if they don’t, Me and My Dysphoria Monster is a wonderful lesson in empathy for children who are growing up in an increasingly diverse social landscape. This is one of the smartest yet most relatable children’s stories you’ll ever read, and another tale that can be read in different fun ways.

Play a listening game where one child is blindfolded in the middle. Children can take it in turns to say 'Ahoy me hearty' in their best pirate voice. The blindfolded child then guesses who it was. Lydia Corry studied painting at the Royal College of Art. Her first book, Eight Princesses and a Magic Mirror by Natasha Farrant, was nominated for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2021. She has illustrated several picture books. Name characters from your favourite pirate story. Children can use their knowledge of the story to ask relevant questions. This collection is a veritable treasure trove of ideas for pirate-themed learning, perfect for EYFS children. Here are a few circle time activities you could add to your early years pirate-themed plans.This is a great read about a little girl who helps a worried unicorn with a bit of medical know-how from her warm and supportive parents.” The clever ways in which the life and actions of crayons are laced into this story makes it a very funny and charming tale, but it’s also a desperately important one about being true to oneself. Patrice Karst wrote The Invisible String as a working single mum, looking for a way to comfort her son through the distress of nursery drop-offs. Yet the message of her book extends far beyond the context of its creation, and it has become a key text across a wide range of settings: social care, bereavement support, the prison system, the military, and fostering and adoption services. These stories are not only important so that children with same sex parents feel included and accepted, but also because they show children who might grow up queer, that, if they want to, they can have a family, too. Books that specifically say that ‘families come in different shapes and sizes’ are hugely important.Todd Parr’s vibrant, bouncy The Family Book and the Donor Conception Network’s warm, straightforward My Story both spring to mind, and are enduring favourites in our house. My aim is to write books that introduce the idea of non-traditional family set ups in a more incidental way, that doesn’t immediately mark those families out as ‘other’, books that will be enjoyed for their story as much as the lesson it contains.

Ahh-har me hearties, set sail for education with our great collection of pirate-themed activities. With enough parrots, eye patches and fully-hoisted anchors for your entire early years setting, this collection of pirate activities is just the thing you need to engage children with a variety of learning outcomes.

About the book

This makes Perfectly Norman a broadly relatable story about how fear and shame can cause us to hide who we really are, even though who we are is never a bad thing.

Picture books that can bring tears to the eyes even after repeated reads are few and far between. John Burningham mastered the skill with Granpa, as did Julia Donaldson and Rebecca Cobb with The Paper Dolls. But it’s particularly impressive that debut author Lauren Ace and illustrator Jenny Løvlie achieved the feat while fresh to the game with The Girls, about four schoolgirls whose friendship and lives blossom under an old apple tree. The tale won the illustrated book category of the 2019 Waterstones children’s book prize, and the pair have since received messages from readers worldwide thanking them for reflecting their own friendships and inspiring the next generation. But the final, and, perhaps most personal reason I so fervently want teachers to read and use The Pirate Mums at story time, in projects and as a core part of their teaching, is because, when I was at school they wouldn’t have been able to. There are a million ways we can feel apart from our peers as we grow and work out who we are, and I know that teachers are perfectly placed to bring out that aspect of the story in the classroom. Fighting homophobia

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One of the most important tasks that primary school teachers have is to impart the practicalities of reading and writing – phonics and digraphs and spelling and grammar. But it’s at least as important that they also instil a love of reading in their pupils. Have conversations about the kind of treasure children would keep for years and years to come. What does their treasure chest consist of? Perfectly Norman is a fascinating story. As a transgender person who kept their true identity secret from her parents for fear of rejection, I related to this book in a big way. The first, unsurprisingly perhaps, is so that children like mine, with two mums or two dads, see themselves and their lives somewhere other than in their home setting.