Lively Lila Blog Tour – A Dance Of Happy Discovery – Mummy Conquering Anxiety

I am thrilled to take part in the Lively Lila blog tour. And to introduce you to such a special book. Today, I will be talking about this amazing children’s book.

Embrace Lila’s unique sparkle as she twirls through life’s ups and downs with ADHD, showing us all how to love who we truly are. And my blog and social media accounts align completely with this message.

Backstory – why we love books in our house

It was only right to create a book review page on my blog. Since I was a young girl, I’ve loved books, and writing. I even did an English & Media degree at University. My little one has firmly followed in my footsteps and we read a range of books with her. I talk about this more on my TikTok account. Check out the videos below and give me a follow.

If you want your book to be reviewed, I would love to hear from you – contact me here.

Quick note: Some of the links contained on this page are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. I only recommend products I use myself and think would be useful for other people.

Let’s dive into the review

First reading

I first read this book with my little girl – when we were tucked up in bed. She loves reading a book to settle her down at night.

ADHD is something which impacts our family. And therefore, it’s a subject we openly discuss with our child. Explaining to her that sometimes people think differently, due to how their brains operate and that is okay.

We also incorporate gentle parenting into our parenting style. As such, we explain that people in her class can react differently due to their upbringing or emotions. And that people don’t always mean what they say. They cannot control how they behave and apologising is the way forward. We regularly apologise to my little one, if it’s needed. The message is that we are all human and nobody is perfect.

We want her to embrace everyone’s differences and uniqueness.

How to discuss the topic of ADHD with children

Because this is a topic close to our hearts, I follow the discussion on social media and in the news. I’m aware that a lot of adults don’t want ADHD or autism to be referred to as superpowers, but I think we need to consider the intended audience. And how we broach this subject with younger people.

What I love, is that the book talks about Lila’s wonderful personality traits. But also the things in life she struggles with. Because of what I’ve read on social media, I will admit that the reference to a superpower in the book caused me to question whether we should be saying this or not.

But you know what, although it felt difficult for me to read those words, it opened up a positive conversation with my little one, about the topic of ADHD. She asked if she had it and commented on some of the things she does, like remembering everything – even things from a really long time ago. it’s true. She almost has a photographic memory; we’ve noticed it since she was little. Amongst other personality traits which have led me to have these open discussions with her.

Tools for opening up conversations with children

I think we need to ask why as adults, we have these beliefs ingrained in us. Surely the issue is as simple as seeing someone for who they are and respecting everyone’s differences. It’s society and the constructs we have in place, which make it difficult to do that.

Ultimately, we could all do with a little dose of seeing everyone’s wonderful and unique differences through the eyes of a child. If we did this, we would embrace everyone’s uniqueness and experience more joy in life. Kindness and a world without judgment would prevail.

Worries about my family

Because this issue impacts our family, I feel a huge burden to ensure my little one can always be her true self. What worries me is that as she moves through school and into adult life, there will be messages given to her which contradict our message as parents – to always be yourself.

I plan to do everything in my power to ensure she can always be her true self.

Books like this give me hope that things could change. And I hope they do!

Tiny Tree Books

I’ve now reviewed several amazing books published by Tiny Tree Books and I want to say a massive thank you to them – for publishing books that deal with such difficult topics. In a great way that allows kids to engage with the subject.

Synopsis

These are my previous book reviews for Tiny Tree books:

THE ANNA’S GARDEN BLOG TOUR – MUMMY CONQUERING ANXIETY

THE LONELY TIGER BY TERENIA EDWARDS, SEVERUS LIAN (ILLUSTRATOR)

Buy the book

All the details you need if you want to purchase the book:

Summary

You know what, writing this post has allowed me to open up and conquer some of my judgments and fears on a topic currently impacting our family.

And I think this perfectly summarises the impact of this book. Buy it for your children and for anyone you think would benefit.

It’s time for us all to open up the conversation on ADHD, and how we start embracing everyone’s uniqueness. Even if that is very different to our own.

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