Tiger Livy Children's Book Review and Giveaway (In aid of the Cure JM Foundation).

Tiger Livy is a book for younger children which is written by Erin Garcia and Betsy Miller, with illustrations by Ivreese Tong. The main character Livy is a little girl with a serious chronic illness and is inspired by Erin's niece, who was diagnosed with Juvenile Dermatomyositis aged 5. We've been sent a copy for review and the authors have also kindly offered a copy each for two of my readers.

Livy struggles at first to cope with being ill. She is sad and confused and getting better feels like it will take forever. With help from her wise Grandfather she begins to look at everything differently. She sees the scars on her legs as tiger stripes, reminding her that she is as brave as a tiger. She sees her vegetables as tasty prey that will make her strong.

I've spent the last 9 years with several hernias. It has physically limited what I can do, but emotionally it's hard work. I posted that I'd been brave after my operation 2 weeks ago. I did feel brave because hospitals and medical treatments are scary. I can't imagine how children cope when they don't even really understand what is happening.

The illustrations are lovely, with comic book and slightly manga style characters, and lots of expression in the faces. There is little extraneous detail, focus is always on the characters in the story and their interactions. It's especially excellent when you find out the illustrator is 15! She'll go far.

The text is understandable for younger children aged around 3+, but not condescending, so even my 9 and 10 year olds have read Tiger Livy to themselves.

I really like this book. It expresses a lot of the fears a child who is ill or has to attend hospital might have, and it encourages children to be positive and proud of how they are coping, rather than feeling low. It is positive and comforting, and shows a child that they are not alone in how they feel - we understand. It's short and sweet and perfect for reading together, and talking about afterwards.

Tiger Livy is available to buy now in hardback (£16.99rrp) or glossy large format paperback (£10.99rrp) with 30 pages. Every page is brightly illustrated in colour and it's best suited to reading together with children aged around 3-9.

Part of the Tiger Livy Project to inspire people to make their own communities brighter and be kinder to others. Proceeds from the sale of Tiger Livy will be donated to the Cure JM Foundation.

Handy Amazon affiliate links*

Author Erin Garcia has offered a copy each of Tiger Livy for two of my readers. Entry to the giveaway is via the Gleam form below and the sweepstake is open to UK entrants only. For a link to help with Gleam or to see my other UK giveaways, please go to my Giveaways Page...

Entry will close at midnight Sunday 19th May. Your details won't be used for anything other than administrating the giveaway, full terms and conditions are at the bottom of the Gleam form.

Tiger Livy Children's Book Review and Giveaway

We were sent our copy of Tiger Livy for review. *Amazon links are affiliate, which earns me a few pence if you order through my link, but never costs you any more.