The Berenstain Bears’ Moving Day by Stan and Jan Berenstain: A story about the Bear family's move to their now-famous tree house in Bear Country. Would Brother Bear like it? Would he find new friends? He wasn't sure until he got there. This book helps to introduce the idea of moving to a new house and all the important changes that go with it.
Bella and Stella Come Home by Anika Denise and Christopher Denise: A picture book that is great for pre-schoolers and young children. Bella, a young girl, faces a wide range of reactions and emotions as she moves to a new house and it is not what she expected. Once Bella starts making friends though, her feelings about her new home change and she begins to feel happier. This book provides a positive message for any child worried that they will not enjoy their new home.
Moving Day – a child’s play book illustrated by Jess Stockham: Another well represented book about an African-American boy whose involvement with his house move helps him come to terms with the transition. Helping with real tasks is a natural progression from pretend play and a crucial stage in a child’s development.
Here I am by Patti Kim, pictures by Sonia Sanchez: Moving to a new country can be a really confusing time for children, and this book brilliantly depicts the emotions a child in this position might be going through. Newly arrived from their faraway homeland, a boy and his family enter into the lights, noise and traffic of a busy American city in this wordless picture book. This book sends a really positive mes- sage to international children about acceptance.
B at Home: Emma moves again by Valerie Besanceney: For any children (ages 10+) who have moved a number of times, I couldn’t recommend this book highly enough. It shares an important message that home moves with you wherever you go and sheds a light on what it is like to be a third-culture child by sharing concepts that children who grow up globally can relate to.
Ellie McDoodle: New Kid in School by Ruth McNally Barshaw: Told through notebook entries and illus- trations, Ruth McNally captures the real experience of moving to a new school really well, such as teachers mispronouncing the character’s name. But Ellie’s spirit and the tone of the book is encouraging and will definitely help children who find themselves in similar situations.
Pack memories in a scrapbook and take them with you
As well as reading books, why not try making one too? Children unsure about making new friends or settling into a new environ- ment could create a scrapbook of their memories ahead of their move. This will provide some reassurance ahead of the move and be an on-going comfort to remind them of their friends. When I was a child, I did the same thing and being able to look back at pictures and notes written by friends really helped me. Happy reading!
Anastasia Cotton is ACS International Schools’ Assistant Dean of Overseas Admissions. To find out more about ACS International Schools, or to register for an open morning visit
www.acs-schools.com/opendays. All our schools have state-of-the-art facilities with impressive grounds and an on-going programme of investment including a new boarding house at Cobham, a science centre at Hillingdon, and a new 2,400+ student campus in Doha, opening this year. Twitter: @ACSIntSchools @ACSCobhamSchool @ACSEgham @ACSHillSchool
www.focus-info.org FOCUS The Magazine 25
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
