YLG REVIEW: Small, independent publishers have recently been at the forefront of commissioning innovative illustrated material to support building empathy and developing emotional resilience. Cicada Books adds to this with a quirky picture book, Melbourne-based artist Henry Blackshaw's The Inner Child. The importance of making time to play and be joyful is conveyed in this open letter to both children and adults. The value of cherishing our inner child, the lessons learned in childhood and that fact that adults feel fear and anger too is delivered with subtle charm and limited text. There are positive messages about friendship, love and growing old. Bullies come in all shapes and sizes; "Nasty adults...have a nasty child inside." Blackshaw encourages his readers, regardless of age, to look beneath the surface; his adult characters dance, stride and ride across the pages in vivid colour while their child selves are superimposed in pencil. Perhaps The Inner Child's key message is about tolerance; preserving the inner child in each of us, and listening to their voices, makes us kinder and more thoughtful adults. READ IT DADDY REVIEW: We're always instantly attracted to new picture books that have a bit of quirkiness and eccentricity about them, particularly if they present something original and fun. "The Inner Child" by Henry Blackshaw absolutely sings out to all those parents who (like me) love messing around with lego with their kids, or getting messy with finger painting, or (ahem) love new toys and gadgets and absolutely MUST have them. Henry's fun book presents this as a self-help manual for kids, informing them of a fact they may have completely missed. Inside every adult there is also a child - and quite often that child springs out at unexpected moments. Sometimes our inner child expresses our fears and anxieties (but honestly, who could possibly be scared of such adorable kitty cats as the ones in this book?) Sometimes people's inner children are horrible shouty poopy-butted monsters (again as deftly demonstrated by Henry in this book). But above all, now and again, it's good to let our inner kids go on the rampage a bit. Have fun, enjoy life, and enjoy the world - you only get one shot at this so even if you get a second chance at enjoying a second childhood, you grumpy adults, just do that thing! A philosophy we can all get behind! A quirky, original and brilliantly presented story of how we adults aren't always quite as grown up as we pretend to be. READING ZONE TEACHER REVIEW: This book is more like a letter from the author to children. The pictures are entertaining and there isn't a lot of text to this book, but there is a 'lesson' to be learned about enjoying being a child because it makes being an adult more fun. This is a nice book to give as a gift; I'm not certain that it has a place to be used in the classroom, other than as a story to be enjoyed - and those stories are just as important. IT'S ALL ABOUT STORIES REVIEW: A book for kids about what it's like to be an adult by Henry Blackshaw. I was drawn to the illustrations in this picture book, each one of an adult and their inner child, as well as the overarching message that looking after your inner child and listening to them, makes being an adult so much more fun.

Henry Blackshaw is an artist living and working in Melbourne. Having graduated from BA Fine Art at Chelsea, his captivating silk paintings have been exhibited at Islington Arts Factory and at venues in Australia. This is his first book.