Health Resources - 6 years and up

NZ Writer and Illustrator

Mona Roper, illustrated by the writer

A Sallamong’s Story

Mona Roper 2014  $15.00pb  30pp

ISBN 978 0 4732 8813 6

Themes: Grandmothers/ Growing up/ Self-awareness and self-esteem

On Santos’s tenth birthday he wakes early to find the sun shining and a cheerfully wrapped parcel containing a pair of Moss skis on his bedside table. It is to be his last really happy time for a while because from the next day everything turns to custard when his parents begin to fight; a drought is declared on the Islands of Sallamong and Santos has to decide whether or not to shed his skin - a ritual that will determine the way he grows up.  On the surface this appears to be like any other short chapter book with an unusual and very engaging hero and an exotic location. However, it is much more than that. For children it will reinforce the comfortable truth that whatever happens to them in life (being bullied/ surviving an earthquake/ getting sick/ moving house) they will always be themselves within their own skin and nothing can change that. This is a book that would sit very well in the NZ School Curriculum Health and Physical education resource area.

If you have any problem locating a copy of the book at your bookstore go to:www.bookdepository.com (the cheapest option) or

http://www.fishpond.co.nz/c/Books/q/a+sallamong%27s+story?rid=1455675996

or you could try Amazon

And for more information about the book and its author go to www.sallamong.com

Year 2 up/ Age 6 up