You can listen or watch.........such choice!! Enjoy this fabulous conversation!
This is one special episode. So usually, we bring you one guest but today we have two!!
Brothers, Tom and Jo Brassington are both primary school teachers who have written the most beautiful and impactful book called Bottled.
Bottled is a children’s picture book helping children of all ages understand why, and how, they should express their emotions in a healthy way.
“…An invaluable tool which parents, guardians, teachers and others can use to create emotionally honest spaces for children in their care.”
(Bottled)
Early on in their teaching careers, Tom and Jo were seeing patterns in their classrooms. They were observing children who were struggling to navigate their own emotions and in particular the naming of certain emotions. They both learned in their teacher training about particular barriers
to learning and in sharing experiences in their own classrooms, noticing, naming
and opening up about emotions had become a real barrier.
This experience coupled with an unexpected family crisis, Tom and Jo found themselves in their 20s with no tools in their arsenal to handle such issues.
“When something impacts you, you need to help others”. (Tom)
The impact of Bottled has been huge. The brothers have had feedback from primary schools across the UK, in particular, those working within SEN (Special Educational Needs) schools and families who have opened up and in some cases with traumatic stories, about how this book could have saved their son or daughter. It’s incredibly powerful.
“Children’s picture books don’t change the world, but they do change the little world of little people” (Tom) – these are the kind of gems you are dealing with in this episode.
Get your copy of Bottled at Waterstones, Amazon and all good book shops.
Visit https://anemotionallyhonestspace.co.uk/ to connect with Tom and Jo and browse their resources which are amazing!
You can follow Tom and Jo on the socials using @brassobrothers
Jo @jobrassington
Tom @brassoteach
Thank you both for your incredible words, what you are doing is nothing short of amazing and so impactful. I am so honoured to know you both and I know how much you will love these two humans!
Ps Jo’s artwork and Tom’s baking is almost as good as their writing!!! Don’t you just love how beautifully talented some folks are?!!!
TW: We discuss children’s mental health, depression, anxietyand death by suicide.