Penny Harris (text) and Winnie Zhou (illustrator), A Brand New Band (Ginnie and Pinney), Big Sky Publishing, January 2021, 32 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781922265753
In A Brand New Band, Ginnie the giraffe and Pinney the hippopotamus put on a concert.
All the animals have an instrument except Lulu Kangaroo.
Will the band let Lulu join in with her unique talent?
In a story about inclusiveness Ginnie, Pinney and friends discover they all have special talents but that joining together in harmony makes all the difference.
Exploring themes such as sharing, friendship and teamwork – all key qualities of being inclusive – A Brand New Band stimulates meaningful conversations with young children and provides wonderful opportunities to learn and accept differences, develop friendships, and foster belonging.
The ‘meet Ginnie and Pinney and friends’ introduction is a fantastic way of showing individual personality traits while the story role models accepted social behaviours that demonstrate emotional intelligence and wellbeing.
In consultation with experts in education, linguistics and psychology author Penny Harris and illustrator Winnie Zhou bring their craft and originality to a series of 8 books that are well targeted to the 0-5 age group.
Learn & Grow is an award-winning series based on learning outcomes from Australian government frameworks and has been developed to support school curriculums and early learning frameworks. It is available in English and Chinese, and when purchased as a complete book set comes with a wealth of teaching resources for classrooms. Free resources are also available via the website. Each individual book includes a full animated video via QR code scan. The book series has recently been optioned for development as a TV series.
Reviewed by Shelley Stephens