LoveReading4Kids Says
LoveReading4Kids Says
June 2024 Debut of the Month
Home is ‘the place where, when you have to go there/They have to take you in’ in Robert Frost’s famous poem; Oliver Sykes uses poems to create a very different sense of home in this debut collection, a vibrant, warts and all description of his own childhood experiences.
After his mum left the family when Oliver was 8, his dad had sole responsibility for looking after their six kids. It was tough, and they didn’t have much money – the first poem explains how Dad went poaching rabbits and trout to get them through the weeks until the first benefit cheque arrived, the kids all helping in whatever way they could.
In sections titled Meet the Family, Dad’s Most Dangerous Dishes, Savage Siblings and Priceless Pranks, we live the life that Oliver lived, the scrapping and arguing, the days out, the games, and the precious moments when it was just him and his dad, one particularly powerful poem describing going boxing, just the two of them.
There’s a wonderful sense of the helter-skelter of life with so many brothers and sisters but just as clear is the sense of family love and togetherness. Ian Morris’s black and white illustrations catch the moments of quiet as well as the noise.
Andrea Reece
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About
We Are Family - Six Kids and a Super-Dad Synopsis
There’s Dad’s disgusting nettle soup and peculiar pancakes, horrible home haircuts, punishing press-ups and scum in the bath tub. BUT then there’s the joy of boxing lessons with Dad, fun family outings, jokes and pranks – and storytelling round the fire. Not to mention a homemade birthday cake like no other!
The author's real-life childhood – rough, tough but happy – is vividly depicted in this ground-breaking, debut story told in poems.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781915659248 |
| Publication date: |
9th May 2024 |
| Author: |
Oliver Sykes |
| Illustrator: |
Ian Morris |
| Publisher: |
Otter-Barry Books Ltd |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
111 pages |
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Press Reviews
Oliver Sykes Press Reviews
‘Beautiful, honest and bursting with heart. You can feel the love in these pages.’ Rashmi Sirdeshpande, Booktrust’s Writer-in- Residence, and author of We’ve Got This! and How To Be Extraordinary
Author
About Oliver Sykes
Oliver Sykes grew up on a council estate in Derbyshire. A former amateur boxer and qualified boxing coach, since 2015 he has worked with Manchester-based Stories of Care, where he is now Lead Artist and Producer.
His debut story, Alfie's First Fight, illustrated by Ian Morris, is winner of the 'Illustrated Young Reader' category at the 2023 Children's Literature Festivals Book Awards. A theatre adaptation went on a national tour of England in 2022.
Oliver lives in Manchester.
Photo credit Dawn Kilner
More About Oliver Sykes
More
A letter from the poet, Oliver Sykes,
Do you know the best thing about family? It’s having people in your life who love you for who you are, just as you love them for who they are; who truly want the best for you, just as you truly want the best for them. Nothing compares to those who raise us, and those we’re raised with. They’re a priceless gift. They shape our minds and our hearts in powerful and lasting ways. But family isn’t all sunshine and roses.
Back in 1997, when I was eight years old, my mum left the family unit. I remember peering out of the living room window, watching her throw her bags into the boot of the car, climb into the driver’s seat and drive away without a backward glance. I’m 34 years old now, and I haven’t seen her since. This collection tells the true story of how our family came together to support one another through a most difficult time. How, despite everything, we found time to laugh, to go on adventures and to get up to all sorts of mischief.
And how, Mum leaving actually led us to become closer as a family. This collection is a celebration of my family’s integrity, hard work, humility and compassion. It is dedicated to my five super-siblings, my amazing super-dad and everyone else who finds themselves in the pages that lie ahead.
With love, Oliver
