Barbara Throws a Wobbler

Product Information

The author / illustration has drawn their own interpretation of what a ‘wobbler’ might look like. Can you create pictures of what you think it looks like? Why does the story end with a question? What does it make you think? Could you use this technique in your own stories? Nadia Shireen enjoyed making homemade magazines and comics as a child. She studied law at university and then worked in magazine journalism; it was during this time that she started to draw again. After a lifetime of doodling in the sidelines, Nadia decided to pay some attention to drawing and in 2007 was accepted onto an MA course in children’s book illustration at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. Her debut book, Good Little Wolf, received a mention in the Bologna Ragazzi Opera Prima Award and won the UKLA Book Award. Nadia has been shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. She lives in London. From the creator of Barbara Throws a Wobbler - the ultimate story to chase (and laugh) your worries away Like many little people, Barbara doesn't really know what a wobbler is, why it’s looming or how to control it.

Available in both Welsh and English this superb short novel is set in a dystopian world where The End came in 2018. The electricity went off and the ‘normal’ 21c world disappeared. 14 year old Dylan is surviving, isolated, with his mam above Nebo village in north-west Wales. His emotions are wonderfully, sparsely drawn and we really care about him and his tiny family. A great springboard for discussion of powerful emotions, and the connections between us that make life worth living, whatever. Research some phrases / idioms to describe emotions (e.g. on top of the world, hopping mad, feeling blue).A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature. LoveReading4Kids exists because books change lives, and buying books through LoveReading4Kids means you get to change the lives of future generations, with 25% of the cover price donated to schools in need. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. You could also retell the story from the point of view of one of Barbara’s friends. How did they feel when they saw that Barbara was upset? Picture books that can bring tears to the eyes even after repeated reads are few and far between. John Burningham mastered the skill with Granpa, as did Julia Donaldson and Rebecca Cobb with The Paper Dolls. But it’s particularly impressive that debut author Lauren Ace and illustrator Jenny Løvlie achieved the feat while fresh to the game with The Girls, about four schoolgirls whose friendship and lives blossom under an old apple tree. The tale won the illustrated book category of the 2019 Waterstones children’s book prize, and the pair have since received messages from readers worldwide thanking them for reflecting their own friendships and inspiring the next generation.

Through a laugh-out-loud story and loveable character, Nadia Shireen shows how to understand and dispel anxieties, one jitter at a time. Yet more fun comes in the form of Mammoth, by Anna Kemp and Adam Beer (Simon & Schuster, 27 May), a fish-out-of-water tale about a woolly mammoth who, having overslept somewhat, finds himself in New York mistaking cars for beetles, skyscrapers for trees and some furry boots for his missing herd.

About Nadia Shireen

Sona’s family are expecting a new baby and her feelings are all mixed up. It helps to talk to a best friend, her toy Elephant. As Sona takes part in the naming ceremony, choosing one of her baby sister’s new names, things start to fall into place. A warm, gentle book which helps explore the universal experience of first-born children, with fascinating insights into life and cultural traditions in India. Nadia Shireen enjoyed making homemade magazines and comics as a child, and during her time studying law at university and her subsequent career in journalism, she started to sketch again. Her debut book Good Little Wolf received a mention in the Bologna Ragazzi Opera Prima Award, and went on to win the UKLA Book Award. Nadia’s subsequent books have since been shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, The Sainsbury’s Book Award and the Waterstones Children's Book Prize. Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing - Co- sponsor Reading Cloud are “ really delighted to support these worthwhile and unique children’s book awards as co-sponsors again this year. We are always heartened to see so many dedicated teacher judges all over the UK working with the longlisted, shortlisted and winning books to inspire a love of reading in their pupil groups and beyond. Encouraging reading for enjoyment and improving literacy are very much at the heart of Reading Cloud and through our platform, pupils can review and recommend books, sharing their enthusiasm for reading through a variety of accessible and engaging tools and features.”

Winner of the UKLA Award and shortlisted for the Oscar's Book Prize and the FCBG Children's Book Award, Barbara Throws A Wobbler is a brilliantly funny and sensitive way to understand and deal with tantrums. Nadia now writes and draws full time, and dedicates her spare moments to tweeting about pop music and championing diversity and tolerance, values that are powerfully depicted in all her books. In 2017, she collaborated with Book Trust to promote their Time To Read campaign, sending 700,000 copies of The Bumblebear to school children all across the UK. Nadia joined forces with Book Trust once more, as their official Writer and Illustrator In Residence for 2018. In addition, Nadia is an official friend of the Ministry of Stories, and supports the Penguin’s Write Now initiative for discovering under-represented voices. She lives in London with her son. Billy and the Beast was recently shortlisted for the inaugural Booktrust Story Time Prize.

Yet, rather than just Barbara being cross, an actual red, jelly-like cloud emerges above Barbara’s head and stays there, forbidding any hugs or friendly attempts at talking. The Wobbler threatens to take over Barbara altogether, until she talks to it and realises she’s in control after all. With a little bit of effort, can Barbara make the Wobbler disappear? Rewrite the story (or part of it) in the form or a play script. Could you perform this to an audience? Barbara’s wobbler grows and grows and grows, until it is the only thing that she can see or feel. Think of strategies that you can use to calm down when you are feeling upset.