Search Results for: Children's

An adventure of the near future – brought on by a catastrophe in the far future. On a summer’s day like any other, holes appeared in the air and people from nowhere walked through them into our world.

They came, and they kept coming, until they numbered in the millions. They said they came from the future – they were our children’s children. They said there was trouble “up there”. They knew they were a terrible burden on our economy, and all, but – well, we couldn’t just let them starve, could we?

Then more facts became apparent.The “holes in the air” were time tunnels, one-way tunnels from the future. The trouble up there was in the form of alien creatures – ravening beasts with teeth, claws, and tentacles, that reproduced like bacteria and were intelligent.They were utterly uncontrollable and so our children’s children fled through the time tunnels, which, they claimed, were securely guarded. The beasts, whatever or whoever they were, couldn’t get through. So they claimed.

But then somebody up there slipped and the beasts were abroad.

In his classsic book, Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and powerful Ideas , Seymour Papert set out a vision of how computers could change school. In The Children’s Machine he now looks back over a decade during which American schools acquired more than three million computers and assesses progress and resistance to progress.

***Perfect for fans of Black Mirror and The Handmaid’s Tale***

In America, the End of Days has finally arrived.

Felix Strange has had a ring-side seat as the USA has transformed into a fundamentalist state. Now he has nothing left to lose.

In the deserts of the American Southwest, a new militant group called the Sons of David have risen. Joshua, their prophet and leader, promises to do what the nation’s brutal religious leaders could not: wash away the corrupt old world, and bring about the Second Coming.

All Strange has to do to make this nightmare end is assassinate this new Messiah.

The problem?

He’s twelve years old.

The Children’s Crusade is the final instalment of Elliott Hall’s cult hit Strange Trilogy, revealing the frighteningly real ways in which America has completed its transformation into a totalitarian state.

Praise for Elliott Hall

‘Strange’s sardonic wit makes him the perfect guide to his troublingly familiar landscape’ – Guardian

‘Ingenious and witty’ – Daily Telegraph

‘Outstanding‘ – Independent

‘Wonderful’ – The Times

‘An ingenious twist . . . Hall’s novel combines pacy storytelling with a disturbing dystopian vision’ – Mail on Sunday

“What does ‘allegiance’ mean?” the New Teacher asked, hand over her heart.

In this classic and chilling tale about an elementary school classroom in post-war occupied America, James Clavell brings to light the vulnerability of children and the power educators have to shape and change young minds. Originally written in the Cold War era, Clavell’s extraordinary and enduringly relevant allegory on the impressionability of the human mind is still read in schools around the globe today, and is a call to every person to keep questioning and keep learning.

Children’s picturebooks are the very first books we encounter, and they form an important, constantly evolving, and dynamic sector of the publishing world. But what does it take to create a successful picturebook for children?

In seven chapters, this book covers the key stages of conceiving a narrative, creating a visual language and developing storyboards and design of a picturebook. The book includes interviews with leading children’s picturebook illustrators, as well as case studies of their work. The picturebooks and artists featured hail from Australia, Belgium, Cuba, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, the UK and the USA.

In this publication, Martin Salisbury and Morag Styles introduce us to the world of children’s picturebooks, providing a solid background to the industry while exploring the key concepts and practices that have gone into the creation of successful picturebooks.

The brand new novel from Virginia Macgregor, perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty

THE WHOLE COUNTRY IS ASKING.
BUT THEY’RE NOT TELLING . . .


At a children’s party . . .
Nothing ever happens in a sleepy American town like Middlebrook. Until the shocking events of one hot Saturday afternoon when, at a back-to-school party, nine children sneak off to a barn. And one child is shot by another.

In the media storm that sweeps the nation . . .
The press are asking questions. About the type of parents who let their children play unsupervised in a house with guns. About how damaged a child must be to commit this kind of atrocity.

In the ensuing police investigation . . .
Two questions are the most urgent, and the most baffling. Of the nine children who were present in that barn, which one actually pulled the trigger?

And why are the others staying silent?

Incredibly gripping and gorgeously written, this is a spellbinding novel that asks how far we’ll go to protect our children, and how we can come together when so much divides us.


Why do readers LOVE Virginia Macgregor?

‘I defy you not to fall in love . . . a future classic’ Clare Mackintosh
‘Will delight you but break your heart several times over’ Sun
‘I couldn’t put this insightful, compelling novel down’ Woman & Home
‘Might restore your faith in human nature’ Bella
‘Deeply satisfying’ Sarra Manning, Red
‘Sharp, funny and hugely moving . . . a must read’ Fabulous
‘Warm, wise and insightful’ Good Housekeeping
‘Beautifully written and thought-provoking, this is a brilliant read’ Sun
‘This wonderful story will tear at your heart.’ My Weekly
‘Brilliant!’ Heat
‘A poignant and very clever read’ Company
‘A truly heart-warming story of family, love and loyalty’ Daily Express
‘An astonishingly brilliant novel’ Australian Women’s Weekly
‘A touching look at the meaning of motherhood’ Good Housekeeping
‘A challenging and moving story about the power of love’ Image
‘Absolutely delightful . . . Everyone should read this book!’ Novelicious
‘Written with plenty of heart’ Sunday Mirror
‘An emotional and powerful family drama’ Heat
‘So engaging and powerful’ Press Association
‘Layered and lyrical’ Irish Independent

The memoir of a Great Ormond Street nurse.

This is the inspirational story of life as a nurse during the 1960s, 70s and 80s, most of which was spent at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital.

Susan Macqueen was 12 years old when she accompanied her mum to see her friend Ms Fairweather, the matron at the local nursing home and from that day on she knew she wanted to be a nurse. A few years later, despite being told that her grades weren’t good enough and having left school with only two O-Levels, Susan was accepted on the three-year nurses training course at Addenbooke’s hospital in Cambridge. It wasn’t long before Susan knew she wanted to work with children and set her sights on a job at Great Ormond Street. Thirty-five years later, on her third attempt, Susan has finally retired from that iconic hospital and is enjoying a more leisurely pace of life.

Hope, despair, laughter and tears, Susan’s stories move the reader through the incredible stories that she was faced with on an every day basis.

‘A jewel of a novel about a perfect family falling apart’
DAVID NICHOLLS

‘The Children’s Bach is Garner’s masterpiece’
PUBLIC BOOKS

‘A perfect novel. I was so stunned that I wanted to run around the block’
RUMAAN ALAM

Athena and Dexter Fox are happy. They love each other. They are friends.

They live with their young sons in a sparsely furnished house near the Merri Creek: its walls cracking, its floors sloping and its doors hanging loosely in their frames. There is a piano in their kitchen.

But then, one day – years after their lives have taken different directions – Dexter runs into Elizabeth, an old friend from his university days. She brings into his world her loose-living musician boyfriend, Philip, and her seventeen-year-old sister, Vicki.

And all at once, the bonds that hold the Fox family together begin to fray.

Helen Garner’s perfectly formed novels embody Melbourne’s tumultuous 1970s and 1980s. Drawn on a small canvas and with a subtle musical backdrop, The Children’s Bach is a beloved work that weighs the burdens of commitment against the costs of liberation.

A W&N Essential

Examining children’s rights from a global perspective, Mary John considers how children experience power, being powerful and the transformation of power relationships. She explores this issue objectively yet compassionately, comparing the situation of children to that of powerless minority groups and asking why children are rarely included in debates on social accountability, freedom and autonomy.

Examining children’s rights in relation to current thinking about the nature of power, the role of competence within this, and how perception of power is determined by culture and economics, she presents discussion of issues and movements affecting children around the world uncovered in her research, including:
· the Children’s Parliament in India
· the rise in violence among Japanese schoolchildren
· child soldiers in Africa
· democratic schooling in Albany, USA.

She argues that democracies are not only sought in the public sphere, they are created within the emotional intimacies of private social worlds, presenting the child with new challenges for the recognition and realization of their rightful autonomy and agency. With in-depth research and thought-provoking discussion, this book supplies a wealth of information for policy makers, social workers and academics, articulated in a compelling and lively style.

This ebook reports on the unprecedented and radical step taken by Warwickshire Social Services Department when, in 1986, it closed the last of its children’s homes.

This book examines the background to these developments, the reasons for them and their consequences. The findings are set in the context of the crisis of confidence in residential child care that occurred in the early 1990’s culminating in the Pindown Report on Staffordshire which revealed an alarming catalogue of inhuman and degrading treatment of children in residential care.

This research, undertaken by NCB, reports findings that have major national and international significance. The future role of children’s homes is in question and this study examines whether foster care, in particular, is more effective at meeting children’s needs than residential care. Young people’s own views are included and the work is presented very much in the context of the Children Act 1989.

Published in association with Save the Children

Priscilla Alderson examines the often overlooked issue of the rights of young children, starting with the question of how the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child applies to the youngest children, from birth to eight years of age. The question of finding a balance between young children’s rights to protection, to provision (resources and services) and to participation (expressing their views, being responsible) is discussed. The author suggests that, in the belief we are looking after their best interests, we have become overprotective of children and deny them the freedom to be expressive, creative and active, and that improving the way adults and children communicate is the best way of redressing that balance.

This second edition has been updated and expanded to include the relevance of UNCRC rights of premature babies, international examples such as the Chinese one-child policy, children’s influence on regional policies, and the influence on young children’s lives of policies such as Every Child Matters and those of the World Bank, IMF, OECD and UNICEF.

This readable, informative and thought-provoking book is a compelling invitation to rethink our attitudes to young children’s rights in the light of new theories, research and practical evidence about children’s daily lives. It will be of interest to anyone who works with young children.

Gwyneth Doherty-Sneddon, a developmental psychologist and the mother of two young children, demonstrates the way in which a young child’s developing personality and intelligence is revealed through non-verbal communication. She shows how parents and other adults have the potential to facilitate a child’s social and intellectual growth through acknowledging and responding to this unspoken language.

Taking an in-depth look at four of the channels of non-verbal communication – hand gesture, facial expression, eye gaze and touch – this accessible text follows the development of young children from birth to late primary school age. Using jargon-free language Children’s Unspoken Language is invaluable reading for parents and professionals alike.

The Integrated Children’s System (ICS) was developed to support effective practice with children and families and improve decision making and planning for children in need. This book outlines what the ICS is and how it works, and assesses the effectiveness of a number of pilot studies, offering guidance for others using and implementing the system, which is being rolled out nationally.

Part of the Government’s long term programme to improve outcomes and life chances for children, the system provides a more structured and systematic approach by integrating the processes of working with children in need from the point of first contact through to the final review.

The Integrated Children’s System is vital reading for policymakers, social care managers, social care practitioners and those responsible for implementing the system.

Providing perspectives, insights and recommendations, this is a comprehensive overview of the current state of children’s rights and education around the world. Written by experts in their fields, the book includes chapters on:

national accountability

how international standards can be implemented

the rights of children with special needs

respecting children’s views in education

education and democracy

how the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child can be implemented.

This authoritative and thought-provoking volume will be essential reading for anyone involved in, or concerned about, the rights of children in education around the world.

Who lives in children’s homes and why? Who works there? How are the homes run? How effective are they? In this book, based on a three-year national research study, David Berridge and Isabelle Brodie examine the changes in structure and use of residential child care services over the last ten years. Beginning with a critique of the series of crises to have hit children’s homes over the past decade (such as Pindown), the authors analyse the changing patterns of service use, developments in policy and the law, and general social factors affecting families. They consider findings from key research studies, interviews with managers in local authorities, staff and residents of homes, staying in each home for almost a week. The detailed account this provides forms the basis of their comprehensive analysis of the quality of care available and their recommendations for policy, practice, and the future management of children’s homes.

Managing Children’s Homes focuses on leadership, effective management, the allocation of resources, and ensuring positive outcomes for young people in residential care.

The book develops an interdisciplinary understanding of what needs to be taken into account when establishing and maintaining good practice on behalf of young people living in children’s homes. The authors explain the considerable variation in quality achieved by children’s homes and how this relates to management style, working environment and staff structures. The skills and qualities that make effective managers of homes are explored. These, along with factors such as the provision of resources, are investigated to demonstrate how to attain a successful children’s home environment and longer-term achievement for looked-after children.

Based on innovative, DfES-funded, interdisciplinary research, this book will be essential reading for staff and managers in children’s care homes and will also be of interest to students, policy-makers and directors of social services.

Due to the convenience of ready meals, we are in danger of bringing up a generation of children that can’t or don’t want to cook.

Cooking at school is no longer compulsory and it is left to parents to encourage our children to want to learn. Children’s Book of Baking is suitable for children of all ages and promotes cooking to be a fun, yet educational, pastime.

There is an overwhelming selection of mouth-watering recipes split into six sections. Children’s Book of Baking provides an easy and useful insight into the kitchen including:
– Hygiene and safety
– Cake-making techniques
– Baking tips.

Each recipe provides a list of ingredients and equipment needed, clear instructions, serving quantity, handy tips and colour photographs!

Why does one child and not another in a normal family develop a behaviour problem? If a child is sensitive and likely to complain, how does that affect the quality and quantity of the medical care provided? What happens to the neurologically intact child who has trouble paying attention in school?Children’s temperaments make a substantial contribution to their environments and their interactions with them. Certain of these largely inborn behavioural style differences, which are not abnormal in themselves, may lead to clinical problems by predisposing children to abrasive, incompatible relationships with caregivers.In this book, William B. Carey and Sean C. McDevitt present a clear, concise summary of the recent clinical research on temperament, in particular from the last ten years, coupled with practical suggestions on how to use this information in a variety of clinical and educational settings. These management strategies were assembled from their own extensive clinical experience and that of others. They take the professional,psychologist, physician, nurse, teacher, day care worker, and social worker,through all the stages of a child’s life to show how the effects of temperament play out in infancy, the preschool years, middle childhood, and adolescence.Richly illustrated with detailed case examples, this outstanding book brings theory and practice to life and shows how all who work with children can improve their care by understanding these important differences.

Herbal remedies can provide safe and effective treatment for common childhood ailments ranging from diaper rash and teething to sore throats and conjunctivitis. In this Storey BASICS® guide, Rosemary Gladstar shows you how to prepare soothing salves, syrups, tablets, and teas that support children’s health. With simple instructions, clear dosage guidelines, and in-depth profiles of 24 medicinal herbs, you’ll soon be confidently easing your child’s achy flu with some hibiscus tea and using the healing properties of nettles to combat bouts of hay fever.

Growing up with Asperger Syndrome (AS) can throw up all sorts of challenges, but never fear, The Brain Guru, The Sensory Detective and The Social Scientist are here to help!

These likeable characters guide children with AS through some of the trickiest, stickiest conundrums known to humankind: from anxiety and negative thinking, to sensory overload, emotions, friendship and trust and social situations. By working through the activities and using the cut-out-and-keep tools with a parent, carer or teacher, children with AS will learn how to build upon their strengths and develop techniques for coping with areas of difficulty – as well as how to handle setbacks and celebrate successes along the way! The important topic of staying safe in the digital world is also covered, providing children with the knowledge and know-how they need to use the internet, social networking and text messaging safely.

Original and highly interactive, with attractive colour illustrations throughout, this is an essential toolkit for every family with a child with AS.

Bereavement is undeniably one of the most challenging experiences a child can face. It is crucial for individuals caring for such children to be well-informed about how to provide the best support. This comprehensive guide on children’s grief is designed for teachers, educators, psychologists, and family members, and aims to equip them with essential knowledge about how to support the child and family through this experience.
The authors delve into various aspects of grief reactions and processes in children, offering insights into bereavement in different settings, including home and school. The guide also explores therapy options, the impact on development and relationships, and the lasting effects that extend beyond childhood.
Drawing from scientific research, clinical experience, and the voices of bereaved children through stories and quotes, this guide provides practical and concrete advice for those dedicated to supporting children’s grief. It serves as an invaluable resource for understanding and aiding children in their journey through loss.

On a cruise ship between Algiers and Venice Martin Boyne, a bachelor in his forties, befriends a band of ebullient, precocious children. The seven Wheater stepbrothers and sisters, grown weary of being shuttled between mother and father ‘like bundles’, are eager for their parents’ latest reconciliation to last. They are kept together as a ‘family’ by the eldest, Judith, who takes on the role of protector. Genuinely outraged at the plight of the ‘homeless’ and fought-over children, Boyne finds himself increasingly drawn to their enchanting, improper and liberating ways. Among the colourful cast of characters are the Wheater adults, who play out their own comedy of marital errors; the flamboyant Marchioness of Wrench; and the vivacious fifteen-year-old Judith Wheater, who captures Martin’s heart. With deft humour and touching drama, Wharton portrays a world of intrigues and infidelities, skewering the manners and mores of Americans abroad.

One day, as she enters her local supermarket, Laura Romero has a startling encounter with a beggar, who seems to offer her a child. A short while later, in the middle of the night, she discovers a mysterious young boy on the pavement outside her apartment building: Fidel, who is six years old, a child with seemingly no origins or meaning. With few clues to guide her as she tries to discover his real identity, Laura finds herself swept into a bureaucratic maelstrom of fantastical proportions. From the National Institute for the Welfare of Families to the Hearth & Home Centre, from imagined worlds to lost loves, The Children explores the limits of isolation and intimacy, motherhood, neglect and compassion, filtered through the lives of two lonely people, whose coming together is less for company and more to share their loneliness.

A tender, intelligent novel from a startling and brilliant new voice in English translation.

Translated from the Spanish by Nick Caistor