Attack of the Heebie Jeebies - Review

Hello, hello my lovelies,

I hope you are staying safe and well and managing with the social isolation. I'm lucky as I have a garden but I can't imagine how those of you who don't have one are managing.

So today I have another review for you.

Attack of the Heebie Jeebies by Tom Percival



Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Published: 2nd April 2020

Synopsis:

Erika's had a bad day. But going to sleep upset means bad dreams. She finds herself stranded in the Dreamscape along with a mob of hungry Heebie Jeebies - and to make matters worse, she's being hunted by a terrifying Angermare!

Enter the Dream Team! Can they help Erika overcome her worries and get home, or will she be trapped forever? 

Review:

What a lovely book! 

Meet Erika. Erika is the older sister to her baby brother and has become VERY jealous and feels she is missing out on her parents attention. In fact, this has made her grumpy. VERY grumpy. So much so, she snaps at her brother and parents, she argues and finally, in a fit of rage tells her parents exactly what she thinks and storms off to her bedroom, where she cries herself to sleep.

This is where her adventure begins. She finds herself in another world. One that is full of Heebie Jeebies and she soon discovers that there are other creatures that she can talk to. However, there are bad things in store. Erika and her new friends have to work together, not only to defeat the nasty being, but also to get her back home.

I really enjoyed how the author has sensitively dealt with the problems that Erika has. I thought the illustrations particularly enhanced the story. They are mostly black, white and purple, which sounds boring, but actually depicts Erika's feelings and situations really well. 

I can see myself reading this aloud to my class. The book deals with anxiety, behaviour, jealousy and how to overcome these. It can be easily used within the LKS2 PSHE curriculum, being proactive, or indeed as circle time if you need to be reactive to a situation. In fact, it would also be an ideal book to give to a specific parent and child to read together, to help the child relate to Erika and then come up with their own strategies to deal with their problems.

I'd happily have this on my bookshelf at school but I would also happily recommend this for any parent to read with or give to their child to read. Not only would it help a child that finds themselves in the same situation as Erika, but it would also help those children who are lucky enough to have no worries, understand where Erika is coming from in order to empathise.

My rating is ⭐⭐⭐⭐