Since we are leaving Jakarta soon, I went to N’s school library and asked his librarian for book recommendations on moving, so that I can read them with the children. She shared six titles with me, so here are the first two.
Bad Bye, Good Bye
‘Bad Bye, Good Bye’ is a really simple picture book, with very meaningful illustrations and short captions. N didn’t really enjoy it as he prefers books with a bit more text these days, but I think it’s a good book to read and perhaps use to kickstart a discussion on how the child feels about moving.
I liked how this book covered the moving process, and that it showed how the child struggled with it. The illustrations and text complement each other in highlighting how upset the child was when his belongings were packed up and put into the moving van.
However, it also shows how the journey has interesting sights along the way, and how a change of scenery can be good too. Best of all, the child makes a new friend at the end, which is very important for the children reading the book, as their primary concern about moving is usually whether they will be able to make new friends.
Before I Leave
‘Before I Leave’ is my favourite book among the six that we read, and I almost teared when I read some pages to the kids. The adorable illustrations appealed to the twins, and I thought it was a really sweet book.
The book reminds the reader to cherish whatever time you have together with your friends, and to play as though nothing is going to change, before you leave. *bawl* It really broke my heart because I know that N is going to miss his good friends here, and I’ve been trying to let him have more play dates with his best buddy and classmates before we leave for good.
The last part of the book is meaningful because it showed how the best friends may be physically apart from each other, but they could still be best friends by keeping in touch. I’m not sure if N and his friends will write to each other, but I think it would be nice for them to chat via FaceTime or even send each other messages via their parents’ WhatsApp accounts.
We have about two more months before we leave Jakarta for good, and I’m glad that I found these books to prepare them a little for the big move. I also read Augustine (read my review HERE) to the twins this morning, and they really enjoyed it as well. They had so many comments to make about the book while I was reading it to them!
I’ll write about the other books in my next Friday Flips, but you can see some of the titles in the photo above.
Happy reading!
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Buy the Books
Bad Bye, Good Bye on Book Depository Before I Leave on Book Depository
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