KIDS BOOKS REVIEW: Sweep by Louise Greig and Julia Sarda

Do you sometimes feel like you choose a picture book for your children, because the story is uplifting and they will learn so much from it when you read it to them?  And, then you read the book yourself and realise that the story was actually meant for YOU?!

Well, that was Sweep for me.

Sweep follows the story of Ed, who is in a bad mood. A mood that starts as something small, but before he knows it, it turns into a raging storm, a rage that becomes bigger than him and affects everyone around him.

The piles and piles of autumn leaves describes Ed’s spiralling mood as he tries to sweep them away and everything else that got in his way, cars, bicycles, cats, dogs and even a big bus!

Ed knew he had gone too far but he could not stop himself.  He stormed on, piling everything as high as mountains until darkness fell and all this time refusing to look up at the beauty around him.

Ed was tired, he sat down, and he knew something had to change.  Oh man, I think we have all felt like this at some stage of our lives.

Suddenly, a new wind swept through and gently helped blow the rage and bad mood away.  With the wind, came a kite, that made Ed look up, and it lifted his mood higher and higher.  Slowly, he noticed the beauty all around him again, and his bad mood vanished into thin air.  It is so important for us all to sometimes, take a step back and see the bigger picture.

Sweep is a wonderful, uplifting and metaphorical story about confronting big emotions. The beautiful, moody illustrations make you want to give this book a big hug.

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