Now,
we are seeing an evolution take place. The science behind personalisation in
children’s books has proven it to fire up neural pathways in a child’s brain,
enabling them to better recall information encountered through personalised
content.
A study conducted by Dr. Natalia
Kucirkova, a Senior Research Fellow at the UCL Institute of Education UK, found that: ‘... children showed significantly better
knowledge about the words that were in the personalised sections of the books
than the words in the non-personalised sections.’ She concluded that, ‘Personalised books increase children’s
vocabulary more than those without personal information about the child ...
Books and digital stories to which children can add their own texts, sounds or
pictures engender the feelings of agency, empowerment and sense of ownership.’
New
Zealand company, My Big Moments, has taken this science one step further by
writing and publishing a series of personalised children’s books in
consultation with child development experts including, neuroscience educator,
Nathan Wallis from X-Factor Education, and registered play therapist, Abby Linn
from Creative Coping. The ideas and activities shared in their books are
designed to be an effective tool for helping children and their families cope
with the challenges, changes and milestones they face together.
‘Our intention is to create an
environment for growing wholehearted humans who live lives a little fuller, and
a world a little kinder. Through the magic of story time, parents can share
these beautiful and powerful resources with their children, opening important
conversations in an environment that is safe, secure, and full of love,’ says My Big Moments
designer and co-founder, Flicka Williams.
The concept for the personalised book
series was conceived by the two friends, Flicka Williams and Hannah Davison.
Both mothers of young children, they confided in one another the feelings of
isolation and being overwhelmed that parenthood sometimes brought with it.
Soon after the seed was planted for the
initial idea, Hannah Davison’s own children endured the 7.8 magnitude Kaikoura
earthquake in New Zealand’s South Island in November 2016. Only 10 km from the
epicentre, their home suffered extensive damage, forcing them to flee in the
middle of the night. As she guided her children through their trauma, it became
clear to Hannah that their book concept could provide a lifeline to parents
like herself through challenging times. After a discussion with Williams, the
My Big Moments project started in earnest.
‘Flicka
and I often talk about how to navigate the bumpy road of parenthood,’ says author and co-founder, Hannah Davison. ‘We aspire to raise our kids in a way that
prepares them for the complex world they’ve been born into. We want to help
other parents and caregivers find the right words in the right moments and make
that tricky job of parenting just a little bit easier.’
The series is aimed at children aged
between 2 - 7 years and deal with various topics including everyday milestones,
to the more unexpected challenges children might face. Their topics cover starting school, getting a new
sibling in the family, grief and loss, and, going to hospital. The focus of the
next book title is on building resilience and after that, they aim to tackle
the topic of divorce and separation.
‘By
using science and storytelling, we can give children language and practical
ideas they can use in their own specific situations. It’s all about helping
kids and their families develop resilience for handling the experiences that
will shape their lives,’ says Davison. ‘We see it as putting a rainbow in every cloud.’
Today, as the world spins more slowly
through an international lockdown, the two founders see this as the perfect
training ground to role-model what building resilience looks like to children.
Their current focus is to provide their audience with proven resources and
information and support every household to develop more qualities of
resilience.
‘In
a time that can feel so uncertain and overwhelming, it helps to see the
silver-linings that this situation can bring. I believe families can go through
an amazing personal evolution during the time we spend together now,’ says Williams.
By Hannah Davison, co-founder and
author at My Big Moments