Publication date 13th May 2021
I am so excited to be a part of this blog tour hosted by Lovebookstours. A huge thank you to them and Buster Books for allowing me a chance to read and review this book. I have been wanting to branch out into more Children's books on my blog so this was the perfect opportunity to start showcasing some lovely stories.
Blurb
Ted the dragon lives all alone in a big house, deep in the woods. He LOVES making things, spending his days baking cakes, painting pictures and creating costumes. There’s just one problem: he doesn’t have anyone to share his amazing creations with. Ted tries so hard to make friends with the other animals, but there’s something about his fiery breath and fearsome-looking claws that keeps putting them off. One day Ted notices a sign for a summer picnic party in the forest. The only trouble is that it's for BEARS ONLY. Perhaps if he dresses up as a bear for the day they'll let him in and he'll make lots of new friends. What could possibly go wrong? Just Being Ted is a sweet, heart-warming story about the importance of being yourself and being accepted for who you are.
My thoughts
We absolutely love this book! I was lucky enough to be gifted a physical copy of this, so as soon as it arrived myself and my 4 year old snuggled up to read it. I had to read it to him three times in a row before I was allowed to put it down for a short while! It is now a firm favourite! My little boy loves Dragons and so this was right up his street, he loved the character of Ted the dragon and was very sad to find out that he didn't have any friends.
The story is a great one for children as it has plenty of fun and laughter within but it also houses a really important message. It covers the themes of loneliness, inclusivity, exclusion and acceptance.
Ted is lonely as none of the others want to play with him, they think he looks too big and scary. He thinks of a clever way to disguise himself so that he can fit in with the others and make friends, however he soon realises that this is not the right way to go about it, he needs to be himself and ask people to accept him without the need to change the way he is.
The illustrations throughout are absolutely lovely, they are detailed and colourful and give a great picture for the children to enjoy while reading. Lisa is a very talented illustrator as well as writer.
As a parent to a toddler and a teacher to infants I think this book will be a great story to highlight the fact that we should not judge a book by its cover, not to exclude people because of the way they look or because they are different from us. We should be receptive to all people and get to know them on the inside in order to ensure we are completely inclusive. It will be a great tool for many circle time and PSHE lessons (if I can prise it away from my son at some point that is!) and I highly recommend it to parents and teachers alike. I look forward to seeing what future books Lisa Sheehan writes.
You can purchase this book following this link:
About the author
Lisa Sheehan is an illustrator, graphic designer and all-round image maker. Graduating from Kingston University with a degree in graphic design, Lisa went on to become an art director for the Financial Times, before embarking on the MA in Children’s Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art. Since graduating she has illustrated two picture books: The Find It Book by Margaret Wise Brown, which was shortlisted for the AOI awards, and Lionel and the Lion’s Share with Lou Peacock. Just Being Ted is the first title Lisa has both written and illustrated. The idea came from a teddy bears’ picnic at her daughter’s school, at which only teddy bears were allowed. Lisa thought this was very unfair on any other stuffed animals that wanted to attend, too, and the idea for Ted was born.
You can follow her on twitter @Lisa_R_sheehan
Looks cute. I think my students would really love it!
This is the first time I am hearing about this book but it does sound like a good one. Would love to give it a try!