Nursery World Awards 15: Equipment - professional books

This four-part book series, which includes The Feeling Child, The Growing Child, The Thinking Child and The Social Child, links theory to everyday practice. Each book takes a detailed look at a major strand of child development – cognitive, social, physical and emotional.

In The Thinking Child: laying the foundations of confidence and resilience, author Maria
Robinson emphasises the importance of understanding the theory that underpins children’s emotional development. She shows practitioners how they can use this knowledge to provide learning opportunities that nourish children’s thinking and creative skills.

Within the book, Maria Robinson discusses the key principles of children’s emotional and behavioural development, alongside descriptions of everyday practice. She explains how a child’s early experiences influence their particular behaviours towards different people and different situations.

Clair Stevens’ The Growing Child: laying the foundations of active learning and physical health considers how children’s early physical experiences influence their future health and wellbeing. The book looks in detail at all aspects of physical development including exercise, diet and sleep, and how these link to the development of the ‘whole child’.

Meanwhile, the key principles of children’s cognitive and intellectual development are
discussed in The Thinking Child: laying the foundations of active learning and
physical health.

Written by Pamela May, the book explains the cognitive strategies that children use to learn new knowledge, the development of cognitive milestones such as symbolism, memories and the imagination, metacognition and creativity, along with research into how the brain processes information. The author shows practitioners how they can use this knowledge to provide learning opportunities that nourish children’s thinking and creative skills.

The Social Child: laying the foundations of relationships and language, by Toni Buchan, aims to provide the reader with a rich understanding of the social skills and relationships that children develop, as well as their discovery of communication and language.

The book explores the importance of developing genuine, trusted and reciprocal relationships with babies and young children and shows how a child’s intrinsic drive to be social can be nourished and supported. The author also emphasises the importance of play in developing children’s relationships and
language skills.

Highly commended

100 Ideas for Early Years Practitioners: Outdoor Play,
Julie Mountain, Bloomsbury

A new title in the 100 Ideas series, this book is designed for experienced practitioners and those just starting out. It provides easy to implement activities and practical advice on managing and evaluating practice, with ideas to inspire practitioners to get outside and make the most of their setting’s outdoor space, big or small and whatever the weather.

The ideas range in complexity from ‘getting started’ activities for those less confident with outdoor play, to more challenging strategies for practitioners who have used forest school ideas. Each idea is broken down with step-by-step instructions and includes teaching tips, ‘taking it further’ boxes and tips for use with parents and carers.

Finalists

Continuous Provision: The Skills, Alistair Bryce-Clegg, Bloomsbury
Time to Move, Trudi Fitzhenry and Karen Murphy, Bloomsbury


Criterion
Open to books for early years professionals that help practitioners to improve their practice and provision

Download the pdf