The New Girl by Nicola Davies – Book Review
The New Girl Nicola Davies – Book Review
The New Girl
Author – Nicola Davies
Illustrator – Cathy Fisher
Publisher – Graffeg Limited
Pages – 32
Released – 25th May 2021
ISBN-13 – 978-1913634223
Format – ebook, paperback, hardcover
Rating – 4 Stars
I received a free copy of this book.
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Synopsis
A new title by award-winning author and illustrator team Nicola Davies and Cathy Fisher. This short story tells of a girl’s attempts to fit in at a new school, despite not being accepted by the other children. Nicola Davies’s heart-warming text about inclusion is accompanied by brilliant illustrations by Cathy Fisher.
A child starts a new school in a strange new town. The children in her class are hostile towards her and unhappy about the stranger in their midst, refusing to talk to include her. The girl’s response is to create something beautiful that transforms their attitude towards her and their vision of themselves and their own lives in this inspiring story.
Review by Stacey
The New Girl is a story of acceptance and understanding. When a new pupil arrived at a school the students in her class were not the kindest to her. She didn’t speak their language, she ate smelly food, and she looked different.
The new pupil was feeling sad and lonely. One day she began making paper flowers for the teacher and her classmates were so impressed they wanted to make paper flowers too and by this small act the students learned so much about the new girl and they began to bond.
The book is completely beautiful and the story will resonate with anyone who has started a new school part way through the year. It would also be a wonderful aid for pupils who may be getting a new classmate to show them how they might feel and how not to behave towards them.
The illustrations are soft, gentle, and I love how we never see the new girl’s classmates, just shadows of them so that the book doesn’t take the focus from what is happening to her and the situation she found herself in.
This is an adorable book. Beautiful both on the inside and out and was touching to read.
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Nicola Davies is an award-winning author, whose many books for children include The Promise (Green Earth Book Award 2015, Greenaway Shortlist 2015), Tiny (AAAS Subaru Prize 2015), A First Book of Nature, Whale Boy (Blue Peter Award Shortlist 2014), and the Heroes of the Wild Series (Portsmouth Book Prize 2014).
She graduated in zoology, studied whales and bats and then worked for the BBC Natural History Unit. Underlying all Nicola’s writing is the belief that a relationship with nature is essential to every human being, and that now, more than ever, we need to renew that relationship. Nicola’s children’s books from Graffeg include Perfect, The Word Bird, Animal Surprises, Into the Blue and the Shadows and Light series: The White Hare, Mother Cary’s Butter Knife, The Selkie’s Mate, Elias Martin, Bee Boy and the Moonflowers and The Eel Question
