What will today bring is a picture book about a young child’s experience coping with disaster. This book is a great way for children to learn empathy for those facing civil disasters, to get inside the shoes of children displaced by natural disasters. This would be a very suitable story for classroom study when fundraising for communities in need following a natural disaster.
Author: Chrissi Nerantzi, Illustrator: Gail Spencer
Examples of Exercises to Complete Based on the Book:
1. Write about how you would feel if your town was struck by disaster, what are some of your fears and what would
you be most upset about.
2. Talk about some ways you can help others who are facing disaster
3. Discuss or implement some fund raising ideas.
4. Talk about the spend, save donate as a concept, and how donations can help those in need.
Text From What Will Today Bring – Coping with Disaster
Something is burning my eyelids.
I open my eyes and look around. Where am I? Sea, sun and hot sand. A beach?
What is all that noise?
How did I get here? Where are Mummy and Daddy? Where is Hope? The noise is getting louder and louder.
I want to go home.
I close my eyes and imagine.
It all came back to me.
Broken houses. Broken people.
Trying to swim, in the water, clinging on… a piece of wood. Mummy, Daddy? Hope?
What happened next?
I can’t remember.
Who are these people? Why do I not understand them? A little girl gives me her teddy.
I am holding on to teddy. With both hands.
I am looking around. And around.
Where is my Mummy? Daddy? Hope?
My eyes fill up, like the sea. They become the sea.
Where are we going?
I am in a room with pictures. Happy pictures. Mountains of toys. Clothes. Food.
Girls and boys with sad eyes.
Where are Mummy and Daddy? Hope? I still feel their warmth.
But they are not here.
I run out of the room.
I keep running and running.
No familiar faces. None.
People are crying, others laughing. “We made it,” they shout.
I hold on to teddy.
I hold on and look around. It is just me.
Nobody I know.
Nobody.
Suddenly a familiar voice reached my ear… I turned around.
My eyes lit up.
I run. With teddy. It was Hope.
My heart started beating again.
She squeezes me hard and doesn’t let go. We look out to the sea.
Hope shows me a picture.
We just sit there. In silence. With teddy. It got dark and then light again.
“What will today bring?” I ask Hope…
<End of Text from What Will Today Bring>
About the story and this book…
This open picture book was created to raise awareness of children in need and find ways to help them. Experiences in the family of the author and current traumatic situations in many parts of the world, triggered the writing of the story as a response, a personal voice that was united with the illustrator’s voice and became this picture book.
The pictures are part of the story and accompany the reader to immerse themselves into the story through creating opportunities to extend their interpretation of them and contribute to them. This is the rationale behind using this type of pictures. So feel free to add to the pictures, personalise them. And please share them back as we would love to see your versions.
We hope that our story will be translated into other languages and travel around the world. Please get in touch if you have any comments or suggestions and if you could help finance a possible publication of a printed version to raise money for children in need.
Thank you for engaging with our story and Dr Meriel Lland and Amy Turner for their help during the creative process.
Chrissi Nerantzi and Gail Spencer c.nerantzi@mmu.ac.uk and g.spencer@mmu.ac.uk
… an experiment, part of #creativeHE https://plus.google.com/communities/110898703741307769041
See more books from creative commons category
Free Kids Books that Help Model Good Behaviour - I know as a parent I am always looking for subtle ways to show my children good behaviour. A really great kids book tells a lesson while still entertaining us immensely. There are so many great books on our site that have an important message in them, in this post I’ve put together some of my favourite ...
Guardians of the Playground: How Parents Can Ensure Safe and Happy Day Care Experiences - Finding a daycare that feels like a home away from home is a milestone for many parents. It’s a place where children learn, play, and grow while forming bonds with caregivers and peers. However, ensuring that your little one is safe in this environment is just as important as fostering their joy and curiosity. By ...
Different Spiritual Concepts and How to Explain Them to Your Child - Teaching kids spirituality can be a truly unique, beautiful, and enlightening experience. Not only does it cultivate a sense of empathy and wonder, but it also fosters a better connection with the world they live in. The truth is that it doesn’t really matter if your family follows a range of faith traditions or is ...
How Do You Sleep? - A beautifully illustrated fun book about animals sleeping. Also suitable as an early reader with repetition and imagery to help children develop their reading and decoding skills. Sample Page from How Do You Sleep? More books are available from BookDash on FKB Or see more at https://www.bookdash.org Spread the love
Puppy Hears a Noise - Puppy hears a screeching sound, but what is it? A cute early reader with lots of repetition for word and sound recognition. Sample Page from Puppy Hears a Noise Download or read online the full free children’s book by selecting one of the buttons below the post. Author: Chandana Bandara Samarakoon, Illustrator: Isuri Dayaratne Publisher: ...
6 Tips for Helping Kids Understand Dog Behavior - Introducing children to dogs can be a rewarding experience, fostering empathy, responsibility, and confidence. However, to ensure a harmonious relationship, it’s essential that kids understand basic dog behavior. Dogs communicate differently from humans, and teaching children to recognize these signals can prevent misunderstandings and ensure the safety of both child and pet. Here are six ... Christmas Every Day – A journey into the Christmas spirit - Lily from Joyville wishes Christmas would come every day, Santa comes to help her find out about Christmas spirit and that the true meaning of Christmas can live in our hearts every day. Sample Page from Christmas Every Day Spread the love
Micropoems - Another wonderful collection of poems for children and young adults by Gabriel Rosenstock. This inspiring set of short and very short poems or “micropoems” are set to beautiful public domain artwork. Sample Pages from Micropoems Download or read online the full book by selecting one of ...
How to Discover Spiritual Communities That Align with Your Values - There are all types of religious communities, and you may notice FKB has recently been introducing a variety of religious children’s books, from Christian, to Hinduism, Jewish, and Buddhist to offer a variety of view points for learning and growth. Whichever religion you may be a part of it is essential to find the right ...
Festive Recyclable Arts and Crafts Guide – Planet Ark - A wonderful selection of recyclable crafts with a festive season theme, use them at school or at home for fun filled days. Sample Page fromFestiveRecyclable Arts and Crafts Guide Download the full book by selecting one of the buttons below the post. See more about recycling at https://planetark.org and https://recyclingnearyou.com.au/ Spread the love
Sponsored Links:
Note – if you sign up through these links, it doesn’t cost you any extra, but FKB receives a small donation, which helps us move towards our aim of
FREE Hardcopies!
All our posts are checked by Grammarly, the FREE online grammar checker (We still receive a donation even if you only sign up for the free account :-):
This site is hosted by Bluehost:
Leave a comment (it won’t be public) if you want help getting your own website cost-effectively.
This story and pıctures are very perfect. Thank you for this story’s illustrator. God bless you. We love all children.