Inspiring City Girl: Giving Free Children’s Book Boxes to Primary Schools in Need
Trigger warning: This article includes reference to depression, anxiety and bereavement
At the City Girl Network, we often speak to a range of powerful and inspiring women, and today we are focusing on one of our very own writers, Carrie. Carrie is setting up a monthly subscription service for Children’s Book Boxes and is currently raising money to send out three themed picture book boxes for free to schools and families who need them the most.
We caught up with her to discuss her project, why it is important to her and why she wants to make a difference.
Tell us a bit about you and Hookable Books
I’m Carrie, a Bath Girl, former primary school teacher and a volunteer for the City Girl Network. I have always loved books and firmly believe that stories can open up difficult conversations with children.
In November, I started a website called Hookable Books, which is a book recommendation site for parents and teachers. It was from here that my project grew.
Tell us about the free kid’s book boxes you want to give to Primary Schools
The idea behind the first three Hookable Book Boxes is to help get children talking and support them through difficult times in their lives. They are a range of collated picture books designed to open up conversations.
The first book box focusses on grief, loss and bereavement, what it is and what it means.
The second book box includes books about big emotions, such as anxiety and anger. To help children to understand and articulate those emotions.
Whilst the third focuses on stories about resilience and confidence – you can visit our project page for further information.
Why have you chosen to create these children’s book boxes?
There are lots of statistics which suggest that children’s mental health and wellbeing have suffered since the start of the pandemic. Also, we have all heard about the devastating loss of life, as a result of coronavirus.
As someone who has personally experienced bereavement, I want to do what I can to help children. As a primary school teacher, I know that books are a fantastic way to open up conversations with children. It is often easier to talk about characters in a book than about your own life.
I want to get these book boxes out to children who need them the most. In the hope that they support them through difficult times and help to nurture a love of reading.
How can we support you with your Hookable Books mission?
Please visit our project page, pledge what you can and share this far and wide. The money we will raise will directly go to sending these book boxes out to schools, families and children for free. The more that we raise, the more that we can send out. It closes on the 18th May 2021 at 8am.
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