The Blurb On The Back:

I don’t have enough

This sensitively written picture book explains what poverty is and looks at the reasons behind why some people have less than others.  The books is meant to be read with children with the aim of opening up discussions about important issues in a simple and reassuring way.

Written by psychotherapist and counsellor Pat Thomas, this superb series promotes interaction between children, parents and teachers on personal, social, health and emotional issues.  

You can order I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH by Pat Thomas and Claire Keay from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Review (Cut For Spoilers):

Pat Thomas is a psychotherapist and journalist specialising in child development and Claire Keay an artist and illustrator.  This deeply compassionate non-fiction book (part of a series) aims to introduce the subject of poverty to children aged 5+ in a very sensitive way that encourages discussion and understanding without causing stress or worry or causing bullying or alienation.  It’s a great book with wonderful illustrations and worth a read.

This book takes the reader through how some people do not have as much as other people and what this means for their day-to-day lives.  Keay’s excellent illustrations are child-focused so the reader can empathise more easily with the words and understand the points being made.  I especially liked the diversity on display in the illustrations here – she really helps bring home the point that poverty can affect you no matter what colour you are and she also includes pictures of wheelchair users.

Thomas runs through the impact that poverty can have on families as well as the reasons for the same and how poverty can make people feel excluded.  The fact that she makes the point that people can be poor even though they work two or more jobs is a critical one and I applaud her for making it and also for pointing out that people can slip into poverty due to bad luck or discrimination or a host of other reasons.  She writes with a lot of compassion and the fact that she breaks up the text with boxes inviting the reader to think about how they feel or to consider situations analogous to what she’s talking about is a really good way of getting readers to engage with the text.  The book ends with suggestions for ways in which readers can help make a difference to those who have less than them and emphasises the importance of kindness.  The whole thing is really well done – thought-provoking, engaging and practical – and there’s a useful section at the back for parents, care-givers and teachers advising them on how to use this book with young readers and address the topic of poverty with them.

This book is part of a series that examines a number of complicated issues that children may have questions about, including death, racism, autism, ADHD, divorce, and disability.  On the strength of this book, I would definitely be interested in checking out the others because if they are as well done as this one, then they are an invaluable resource for parents, care-givers and teachers who want to help children learn about such matters.