Equipment and Resources
Reviews: For your shelf
No fear: growing up in a risk-averse society
By Tim Gill (Calouste Gulbenkien, £8.50 plus p&p, ISBN 978 1 903080 08 5, www.centralbooks.co.uk)
Reviewed by Jennie Lindon, psychologist and early years consultant
This book is a welcome blast of fresh air on a topic that is burdened by adult anxiety and confusion. Tim Gill takes a balanced approach to weighing up the genuine risks for children in our current society. He highlights the crucial goal - that childhood experiences have to lead into a competent adulthood.
The book takes a responsible look at the fears of adults and at reliable information on practical topics like playground design, online and personal safety. There is some proper grown-up thinking about the need to consider all the consequences of steps taken in the name of protecting children. A key theme is that attempts to reduce risk to zero can increase dangers to children, as they cannot learn how to assess risk themselves. Tim Gill also makes thoughtful points about labelling any troubles between children as bullying, when adults could help them problem solve the more minor conflicts themselves.
Still Here With Me: teenagers and children on losing a parent
Edited by Suzanne Sjoqvist (Jessica Kingsley, £13.99, ISBN 9781843105015, www.jkp.com)
This book, which won the YoungMinds Book Award earlier this month, offers the accounts of children and young people talking about the loss of a parent. They describe the range of emotions they felt, from sorrow to anger, and the struggle to cope with embarrassed reactions and silence from others. The book will provide insights for all practitioners into the needs of grieving children.
Supporting Multilingual Learners in the Early Years
By Sandra Smidt (Nursery World/Routledge, £14.99, ISBN 9780415438018, www.routledge.co.uk/teachers)
Are children who are exposed to more than one language from birth at an advantage or disadvantage when starting school? The author examines the issues involved in the education of children who speak two or more languages coming to settings which are predominantly monolingual.
