⭐Gina Kaminski Saves the Wolf
✒️Craig Barr-Green
🎨Francis Martin
📔Little Tiger Books – kindly sent for review
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Read on to find out why we love Gina Kaminski Saves the Wolf .
Buy Gina Kaminski Saves the Wolf
Gina Kaminski Saves the Wolf Autistic Main Character
Gina Kaminski Saves the Wolf is a book that, like the emoji endpapers, makes me have so many different emotions as I read it. As I write this review we are coming to the end of Autism Acceptance week in April. The book doesn’t say it but I feel that Gina very much represents an autistic character and the publisher’s website confirms that this was the intention of the author.
What the publisher says…
An empowering retelling of Little Red Riding Hood about challenging the traditional narratives we are told, with a confident, autistic character at its heart.
Gina Kaminski is here to tell you three facts.
Little Tiger Books
1 – Little Red Riding Hood is full of BIG mistakes.
2 – She is off to fairy tale land to fix them.
3 – She WILL save the wolf.
Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf? Certainly not Gina as she takes the narrative lead and tells the story in her own distinctive way. With fantastic illustrations from Francis Martin, and an innovative use of pictorial emoji language, this is the ideal book to empower every child to be the hero of their own story. Fans of Little Red by Bethan Woollvin, Luna Loves Dance by Joseph Coelho and Fiona Lumbers and Look Up! by Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola will love Gina Kaminski Saves the Wolf.
Autism My Superpower
I’ve always described autism as my superpower. There may be things that I find very challenging but there are other things that I can do with ease that I credit to the way my brain works. These days the description of my brain is neurodiverse.
Keeping Up To Date
Pondering about these changes in terminology for Autism has made me see how important it is to keep up to date with current research and thinking. There is so much more happening right now that even if you feel you know lots about Autism it’s important to ensure you are keeping up. Things I learnt whilst teaching several years ago feel achingly out of date now.
Gina Kaminski Review
Gina Kaminski has a problem-solving brain that can, with ease help re-write the narrative of a classic traditional tale – Little Red Riding Hood. Don’t worry Gina I totally get it, I’ve always felt very sorry for the Wolf and I wouldn’t wear something that was itchy too!
In her own unique way Gina gives a twist to the traditional story in a very direct – matter of fact way. Yet there is such warmth, care and empathy throughout the story. (MYTH BUSTING – empathy is not lacking in all autistic people – sometimes empathy can be all-consuming, overwhelming).
Francis Martin’s illustrations are dreamy. There’s bold black lines, lots of white and punches of fabulous colour on every spread. We adored the bookshelves, facial expressions and boy picking his nose under the table! 🤣
Representation in Books Matters
Why does a fabulous book like this have to feel so refreshing and unique? Even in my 40s I feel the power of a book that transports me into the main protagonist – thank you Craig Barr-Green! A position that I haven’t often found myself able to be and especially not when I was a young reader. I remember feeling as a child that if I did feel some hint of representation of me in a book then it was usually the studious, quiet, slightly awkward, bespectacled friend rather than the main character. Here Gina is absolutely the hero of the story – she takes control and narrates her own path.
An exceptional book that I would recommend for EVERYONE to read.
Buy Gina Kaminski Saves the Wolf
Own Voices Autistic Books
If you’re looking for books with exceptional autism representation in for a slightly older, middle grade, audience then look no further than the wonderful books A Kind of Spark and Keedie by Elle McNicoll. Incredible books written by an own voices author.
Autistic Blog Posts of Interest
If this post was of interest to you, you may find Books for Sensory Seeking and Sensory Needs, Processing and Sensory Diet Menus blog posts helpful. If you’re a teacher then Autism Friendly Classrooms Tips and Ideas would be an ideal post to read.