Pause for Poetry: You Are Not Alone

‘You Are Not Alone’ is Shauna’s second poetry collection. Each poem is on the theme of mental health and well-being, making it a powerful, thought-provoking treasure trove for individuals, classrooms and families to share, explore and express their feelings.

The book is divided into five sections- Sometimes like a Wild Horse and Sometimes Like Disco Lights’, ‘What if I’m Not the Shape of the Boxes on Offer?’, ‘I Asked the Edge, the Edge Said Yes’, ‘The Crate of Air That Will Change Everything’ and ‘Happiness is a Hummingbird.’ - and cover a huge variety of feelings and experiences. Readers are sure to find those which speak directly to them, those which make them pause for thought, those which make them empathise and those which make them cry.

I was caught by the pace and imagery of ‘I’m Juggling a Hundred Full Stops’. ‘Suvi’ reminded me of children I have taught and made me cry. I was fascinated by ‘If We Have More Words for Good Things, Do We Feel Better?’. There are so many poems here to comment on- and which I will return to regularly.

The collection offers a rich source of material with which to support and develop understanding of emotions, encouraging empathy and self-awareness, a recognition that others may have similar experiences and an outlet for pent up worries and fears.

The addition of notes about the poems at the end of the book makes for fascinating reading and can be used as a starting point for further reading. An excellent collection which should not be missed!

You Are Not Alone Shauna Darling Robertson

Troika ISBN: 978-1912745173

You can read my review of ‘Saturdays at the Imaginarium’ here.

Big Feelings and what they tell us

Emotions are messages from your heart,

they tell you what you need.

Some of them are BIG feelings

and some are very small indeed.

Told in rhyme, ‘Big Feelings and what they tell us’ explores different emotions, designed to help children learn how to identify and cope with a range of feelings. Different children are pictured experiencing reactions to a range of situations. These reactions are validated by the text which is reassuring -’It’s okay to feel disappointed when everything goes wrong’…’But it’s normal to notice things like that when you’re feeling worried’- before offering suggestions for how to cope with these feelings.

At the end of the book, there is a section of practical advice designed to support parents, carers and teachers. Many of the strategies suggested will be familiar to adults working in schools, but might be invaluable for use at home where adults might be struggling to cope with their children’s emotions or understand how to support them. The author has a background in counselling and the ideas offered are practical and fun.

A great deal is packed into this book and so it would be best used by selecting relevant pages as the need arises rather than reading this in one go. This would enable adults to focus on one feeling at a time, making it meaningful and relevant rather than overwhelming. The feelings wheel and feelings thermometers are particularly useful in supporting children with identifying their emotions, understanding them and coping with them.

A useful text not just for Children’s Mental Health Week, but all year round!

Big Feelings and what they tell us

Rebekah Ballagh

Allen and Unwin ISBN: 978-1761069482