THE GINORMOUS SERIES 3-9yrs
Children's Teaching Tools
SILLY BULLIES
WELCOMING ARMS
ANNOYING FRIEND
MISSING A LOVED ONE
NEW FAMILY MEMBER
BROKEN BARK
JO'S SECRET
YOU ARE SPECIAL
LOST BUDDY
ONE GOOD THING
WORRY DETECTIVE
As a grandma and ex-crime investigator having helped victims and families over the years, author SCCunningham understands the importance of helping parents and schools equip our young for life.
Through the fun adventures and voices of a loving pet family of cats and dogs, the Ginormous picture-books help open tricky conversations, allay fears, and inspire confidence in a safe environment.
Witnessing cute animals taking care of each other, and solving problems together, helps children to not feel alone and learn valuable life messages in a way they listen and understand at their level.
Whether reading with an older sibling, parent, grandparent, or teacher, The Ginormous Series is a wonderful addition to any child’s home, or school’s read-aloud library.
TOPICS
The storylines within the books help with;
fear, anxiety, bullying,
what to do if lost,
missing a loved one,
accepting a new family/classroom member,
feeling different,
knowing you are special.
The importance of being kind,
good deeds, listening and learning.
READERS
"I enjoyed them so much and cannot wait to share with my school class as part of PSHCE lessons.”
"A way for parents to educate their children on important topics in a way that children will listen."
“These books should be available in every home and school to come back to again and again.”
"WOW! I absolutely loved these books! Each story has something to teach, a lesson to learn. What a great teaching tool. The pictures are gorgeous! A fantastic series!"
"WELCOMING ARMS; I like this book because it teaches a lesson about differences. It doesn’t matter how different we are, or what colour our skin is, or where we live, or what our religion is, everybody wants the same: security and love, big amounts of love coming from friends and family.''
"YOU ARE SPECIAL This is a great book for children to learn about differences, unique personalities, and physical qualities. If everybody were the same, it would be very boring.''
''YOU ARE SPECIAL, Jo lives with two dogs, Muttley and Tom, a cat, Vinnie and a kind lady, Mary.One day, Tom and Vinnie were talking. Poor Vinnie feels useless, as he is too small compared to the three dogs. Tom feels the same sometimes, as he is smaller than the other dogs in the house. They decide to ask Jo. This is a great book for children to learn about differences and unique personalities and physical qualities. If everybody were the same, it would be very boring. They can also learn about the importance of taking care of our planet, recycling the things we don’t use to create new ones.''
‘'LOST BUDDY, Jo, Muttley, and Vinnie are sleeping when Mary wakes them. She needs them to take care of something in a bundle. When Jo looks into the bundle, she finds Buddy, their neighbor. He ran away through an open door and got lost. This is a great book for teaching children what to do if they get lost. They need to know so they can find their family.''
‘'ANNOYING FRIEND, Joe is very happy with the Tuttle family. He and Mary are best friends and enjoy spending time together. One day, Mrs. Tuttle’s sister brings her dog to stay with them for a week. Joe doesn’t like Mo, and he counts down the days until she leaves. However, something happens that makes Joe change his mind. This book taught children that problems can be told to parents and solved together. That makes their anxiety stop.''
‘' SECRET, Jo shows Vinnie about ‘liswat’, a secret word Jo made up. She explains to her little friend the meaning of the word (the secret to learning is listening and watching). I knew “liswatshu”. My grandmother used to tell my siblings and me “oir, ver y callar” which means listen, watch and shut up. It is good advice that we all could learn or remember, not just the kids but adults as well.''
‘'MISSING A LOVED ONE, Jo lived with two little dogs, Muttley and Tom, a kitten called Vinnie, and a lady called Mary. One day, Tom is very sad because he has two friends called Colin and Zippy, and Zippy has passed away. Tom is sad because, apart from missing Zippy, he doesn’t know how to help Colin. Jo, being older and wiser than Tom, gives him some advice. When we lose someone we love, it starts a difficult time. We miss them, we are sad, we cry, etc. We need time to accept that they are not here anymore, and the pain lessens with time. This book is a gem for explaining to children about losing someone they love. I loved this series because it explains things easily, so children can understand some difficult matters.''
''WELCOMING ARMS, Jo is a big dog who lives with two smaller dogs, Tom and Muttley. They are happy living and playing together until a ginger kitten appears in their house to stay with them. Soon, Tom starts complaining about Vinnie, the little kitten, but Jo shows him he is wrong. I like this book because it teaches a lesson about differences. It doesn’t matter how different we are, or what colour our skin is, or where we live, or what our religion is, everybody wants the same: security and love, big amounts of love coming from friends and family. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.''
''SILLY BULLIES, Jo is a big, huggable dog, and she has a little friend called Muttley. He is fun, and they like to play together. However, he has been looking sad lately and doesn’t want to play anymore. Jo misses him a lot, so she asks him what was wrong. This book is about bullies, and Jo gives Muttley some advice on what to do when someone picks on you. I think that advice can be used in real life, at school. This book should be required reading in school, so children learn what a bully is and how to stop them.''
''NEW FAMILY MEMBER, Mary, the lady who lives with Jo, Tom, Muttley and Vinnie, tells them about a little cat that needs a new home. His name is Arthur. Tom and Muttley are afraid that if a new member joins the family, there will be less love for them. Jo reminds them of what happened when Vinnie joined them. When another member joins our family, there is always uncertainty about losing our status, but having a new member in the family, especially if it is a little one, we can be a big brother or sister and take care of them. Most of the time, it is funny. And the most important thing is that Mum has plenty of love for all of us. Again, the author did a good job explaining how to accept having a new member in the family.''
''MISSING A LOVED ONE, this was a lovely, excellent story that is intended to teach children about dealing with grief. The characters are animals who are mourning the death of their friend Zippy. It is sweet story. It has sadness but not too much. Children in my opinion, won't be upset by their grief but will like the lessons the friends learn. The illustrations are beautiful. They are bright and really colorfully. The animals burst off the page in awesome color.''
''BROKEN BARK, Joe is a big dog and lives with a mean man called Nasty Nick. He didn’t give him enough food and had him tied with a chain. One day, Nasty Nik abandoned Joe and laughed at him because he couldn’t bark. However, this was the best thing that could have happened to Joe because days after, he was adopted by a kind family. No animal should be abandoned for any reason. This touched my heart very deeply because I adopted a little black cat who was thrown into a bag and thrown into the rubbish container along with his three sisters. Nobody wanted the black cat just because he was black, so I adopted him. That’s why this story made me cry. This book is a good way to teach children about differences and respect and about protecting animals.''
''BROKEN BARK, Ginormous Joe's Broken Bark felt like such a soft and comforting read. It quietly touches on things like fear, self-doubt, worry, and those little emotions children often feel but don’t always know how to explain. What I really loved is that this book doesn’t try too hard to “teach a lesson.” It just naturally shows children that it’s okay to feel scared sometimes, okay to need reassurance, and okay to take time to believe in themselves. And honestly, I think that makes the message even more powerful. The cats and dogs in the Ginormous family make the story feel warm, playful, and easy for kids to connect with. As a reader, I really appreciated how much heart this book has. You can feel that it was written with genuine care and understanding. It feels like the kind of story that could really help a child feel a little more understood and a little less alone in their emotions. This feels like a lovely book for parents, grandparents, and teachers to read with children because it can open small but important conversations in such a gentle way. Have you ever read a children’s book that felt simple on the surface but carried such a beautiful message underneath?"
"GOOD BOOKS! SCCunningham has created a lovely, heartwarming set of children’s books, tackling various subjects and creating an opportunity for conversations between children and parents to talk about their feelings and thoughts. It’s a wonderful way to learn about important issues facing children and their families today. The books are well illustrated and have bright eye-catching colours, which will entice children to want to read them with their parents. As well, the books are read aloud on YouTube, which I think is a great idea and another way to share the books. Summaries listed below;
In ‘Worry Detective’ children would learn how to take care of themselves when they feel worried or anxious about new events. It would be a great way to open the conversation about their feelings and how they can deal with them when they pop up. I wish I had had this book as a kid. :)
In ‘New Family Member’ children would learn the value of taking in a new family member (could be a furry one or not) and how to deal with new people coming into your life to stay.
‘Missing A Loved One’ deals with grief by talking about a dog who passed away but could help children process all kinds of grief in their lives. It shouldn't up set them at all, but it could be very helpful.
‘Lost Buddy’ deals with keeping pets safe and making sure that everyone in your family is safe as well, as it's easy to transfer these lessons to humans as well as our furry friends.
‘You Are Special’ deals with being different and having different abilities to other people. Life certainly would be boring if we are all the same.
‘Silly Bullies’ deals with bullies and learning to find your own voice.
‘Secret’ deals with new pets and adjusting to change, maybe even creating new routines and ways of dealing with these big changes and feelings that young people may be feeling.
‘Broken Bark’ deals with animal abandonment and how it is possible for neglected animals to find new families and love. This hurt my heart to read, to be honest, as I could never imagine dumping my pet!
In ‘One Good Thing’ children would learn the value of doing one nice thing for someone to help their friends and family and how that one thing could really make someone's day feel a lot better.
‘Annoying Friend’ deals with new pets and adjusting to change, which could also work with young kids who have a new sibling or perhaps a new family after a remarriage.
‘Welcoming Arms’ deals with new family members and how to respect everyone, even though we are all different." Tanza 5 Stars
LINKS
FREE READALOUDSAMAZON TRAILERSTORES