Midge has changed schools. Everything is strange and all he wants to do is go back to the way things were. The teacher assigns a classmate to look after him. Mo is a happy and very positive girl. She loves the idea of showing Midge around her school but Midge just does not react to anything - not a soccer game, the school friendship flower garden, the giant sunflowers the class have been growing, or the climbing frame. Midge just sits under a tall tree in the playground.
Through his eyes the world is a grey and sad place to be. In art he draws a sad rainy-day picture (sadly the teacher misinterprets this). After two days of trying so very hard to reach Midge, Mo talks to her teacher Mr Lupin. I love his advice:
"Don't give up Mo ... Nothing is in the right place for Midge at the moment. Perhaps he doesn't feel like he's in the right place either. New beginnings can feel like that ... You were new here once ... That's why I asked you to be Midge's buddy, because I was sure you would remember how your first day here felt, too."
Mo goes home and talks to her mum and dad and togther they come up with a really special gift for Midge and while I am sure he will still have sad days a little sparkle has entered his life at last. Oh and those huge sunflowers have now opened up and are showing off their own bright yellow happy colours. I also love the character names - Mo (I wonder if this is short for something) and Midge.
Publisher blurb: Midge doesn’t want to go to a new school. He wants everything to go back to the way it was – with his old school, his old friends and his parents back together. Mo is Midge’s buddy at his new school. She’s super smiley and can’t wait to be his friend, but the more Mo tries to make friends the more Midge retreats. It’s like there’s an invisible raincloud hanging above his head – drip-drip-drip. Then Mo remembers how she felt when she was new, and it makes her even more determined to help Midge feel happy and to show him that the sun will come out for him again soon.
This book is from the Little Tiger series published by Stripes. I have mentioned books from this series previously. I highly recommend adding lots of these titles to your school library. These are so appealing with their hardcovers, high quality paper, colour illustrations and most important of all - really good stories that are easy to read but also contain authentic and emotional narratives.
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