30/05/2021
Writer Helen Kumar and Illustrator Caroline Greener love working together on a monthly series of picture books for children aged 2 - 7 years. Together the books are part of the 'Happy Days of Childhood Collection'.
Each book celebrates the simple pleasures and adventures any child can enjoy about seasons, special days, traditions, nature and the power of imagination. Through the eyes of children, we share the wonder and go on a magical journey through poetry and encourage readers to collect descriptive words to create their own dance and bring the pages to life through movement.
What is special/different about our books?
The books are interactive:
- Readers collect words throughout the book and can make up a dance using them (Helen also creates video tutorials which are shared in our Facebook group which is linked to this page so follow along for free content!)
There is a scrapbook element to each book where children can stick photographs or draw pictures to remember each month
How do we know parents and children will like our books?
We launched our first book 'April Days' using Kickstarter. We made our initial target within 48 hours of the launch and ended with 273% of our funding target. 87 backers pre-ordered copies of 'April Days'. We then self-published 'April Days' on Amazon. Some reviews are below:
"Beautifully written and illustrated. A unique concept of interactive reading, incorporating dancing and poetry. Inspiring to both young and old alike! Looking forward to the next one :-)"
"I thought it very positive and playful. It had the most wonderful illustrations. I loved the idea of making a dance or keeping a diary or both! Looking forward to the next one..."
"I have 2 children, one aged 10 and the other 2 and a half. My 10 year old has loved reading this book to her little brother and teaching him new words from the book and the illustrations. He has copied the actions of some of the words in the back and my eldest relates to doing some of the illustrations when she was younger. It's his go to book to read at the moment. Thank you for inspiring a love of reading for both of my children."
More reviews can be seen here: https://amzn.to/2SgrgPL
So far we have completed and self-published 'April Days', 'May Days', and 'June Days' with a new book scheduled for release every month!
The books are available on Amazon as kindle e-books, or paperbacks and are FREE with Kindle Unlimited subscriptions.
April Days
https://amzn.to/3p1dKMb
May Days
https://amzn.to/3c1TYuy
About the Authors
Helen Kumar and Caroline Greener have worked together at Dance City in Newcastle upon Tyne for some years and share a love of dance, poetry and children's literature. Helen is a Dance Engagement Coordinator. She is passionate about getting people of all ages moving and experiencing the joy of dance. Caroline is Head of Communications and shares Helen's passion for dance, and loves to draw and paint. She drew inspiration from Helen's words and her two daughters, Maya and Priya when creating characters for the books.
