REMY – A Book About Believing In Yourself Review

I’m a huge fan of books that teach my children important lessons and I am also a big advocate of the important of mental health, for adults as well as for children. So when Mayuri Naidoo contacted me to review her book REMY – A Book About Believing In Yourself I jumped at the chance.

***Disclosure – This post is sponsored***

The Storyline Of REMY – A Book About Believing In Yourself

The story follows a boy called Remy who is being bullied and teased at school. The story has five chapters and takes us through his journey of being bullied and not knowing how to cope with it. Remy lashed out in anger and got himself into further trouble. Remy, through the help of a talking owl that he meets, starts to see things differently and understand how he has been picked on because he is different. He also starts to understand how the way he reacts to the teasing has not made anything easier or better.

Remy has a fantastic heart to heart with him mother who gives him some advice to get through the bullying and towards the end of the story Remy manages to learn how to control his temper and helps another girl that the bullies were targeting.

His mother started doing yoga to encourage Remy to join her and it worked. Yoga is incredible, not only for the physical benefits, but for the mental health benefits too.

The end of the story shows how Remy manages to control his temper and stops giving the bullies the reactions that they want.

My Verdict For REMY – A Book About Believing In Yourself

This is a charming book that highlights the pain and struggles that children who have been bullied face. I read this book with my seven year old son and it really resonated with us both since he was bullied by two boys right at the end of the school year when he was in Grade R.

There was one particularly bad week during that time when my son walked into the house every day after school, dropped his bag as he came in and lay down on the couch and refused to move, not for food or to play. He stayed there every afternoon and did not even move for supper so I had to carry him and put him in his bed. My heart was broken because he is such an active and energetic boy. He loves to play, he is always laughing and he loves to eat too. It was so unlike him and I could see how badly he was being affected.

Thankfully the bullying only happened for a few weeks and then the school year ended. When he started Grade 1 in the new year I set up a meeting with the school immediately and let them know that if there are any incidents with those boys it is not a new occurrence and I expect it to be dealt with appropriately (ie harshly) and fast. I am so grateful that there were no further incidents and my son bounced back beautifully.

So back to the book – I can really relate to this story and how REMY struggled to understand his feelings and how to cope with them. My son never lashed back at the boys that bullied him but he did lash out very badly at home, with his older sister, with me and his father.

I love how the story ends with REMY being comfortable enough to let go of his comfort toy and he gives it away to a little girl in an orphanage.

I’ve got to admit that I find parenthood incredibly hard at times. When my son was being bullied and was in so much pain I could not bear how helpless I felt. I would have loved to have this book during that time to make it easier for my son.

I love using books as a way of teaching my children and books like this really help children to understand that they are not alone and assist them with processing their own confusing and often conflicting emotions. Having Remy overcome his insecurities and fears at the end of the book is such a powerful message to children that they too can believe in themselves and overcome the challenges they face.

I highly recommend that you buy this book for your children, it is entertaining and delightful while also being a powerful teaching tool.

The book is currently available for pre-order on the Amazon Kindle store, Rakuten Kobo and direct from Kaori Mai Publishing. 

Win A Copy Of REMY – A Book About Believing In Yourself

Stand a chance to win a copy of REMY – A Book About Believing In Yourself – enter your details into the form below.

This competition is open for residents of South Africa.

This competition is open for entries from 14 March until 12 April 2021 – the winner will be announced on our competitions page.

T & C’s apply.

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