Tom’s Sunflower

One in a series of picture books about various issues children face, this story tells us about Hana, whose parents have decided to separate. She is sad and finds it hard to join in Copper Tree Class activities, such as planting sunflowers. She is able to share her feelings with Mr Davis, the class teacher, and the children rally round to help too. In the afternoon, Mr Davis reads them a story he has written about a boy called Tom whose parents also split up. Tom plants a sunflower, just as the children did, and as he and the sunflower grow, he learns to cope with the new situation. Hana is quiet after the story, but all the class are delighted to learn that Tom is actually Mr Davis, who has come through this hard time. Much of the strength in this story is from the pictures. Sensitively painted, they subtly illustrate children who are disabled, children from different races, and children from a travelling family. This book also shows us a teacher who handles a sad child’s problem with great sensitivity.