Imagine

Author: John Lennon (words), Jean Jullien (illustrations)

Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children’s Books

32 pages, £6.99, paperback

ISBN: 9781847808967

When a parcel arrived at school, the children in Ladybird and Bumblebee classes needed no prompting to accurately predict what would be inside and what we needed to do. Eddie said “It’s a new book to review and it’s come from London.”

Of course, he was right and this set all the children into a great discussion about which book it could be and what the other books were called that we had reviewed.

Imagine is the story of one little pigeon that sets off to spread the word of peace around the world. We teachers instantly recognised the title and John Lennon as the author, so we were keen to see how the famous song had been used to reach a younger audience. With a host of strong recommendations on the back, and royalties from every copy going to Amnesty International, we had high hopes for this book.

Each page has simple, clear and engaging illustrations that, on second and third reading, reveal more and more subtle messages about inclusion, friendship and difference.

Because of the illustrations, the children have enjoyed looking at the book in their independent time, prompting lots of talk about how the birds follow the pigeon.

The children were all interested in the front-cover picture, and lots of them had ideas about the pigeon and where it might be flying. Aliena suggested: “It’s a pigeon who wants to live somewhere else, so it’s flying away.” Oliver said: “The pigeon wants to see the world and so it’s flying to all the countries.”

We talked about the title and what it meant to imagine; Penny explained that “imagining is like dreaming or thinking” and Aidan said “imagining is like thinking about a place when you are not really there”. We decided that this book would make us all imagine things and we agreed that we wouldn’t all imagine the same things. The children liked the notion that they could all have their own ideas.

This picture book would suit children of all ages and this means that some of the concepts are quite complex for young children, but a key element that those in our early years foundation stage classes drew out was the idea of people living in peace. Joey said: “I think peace means quiet and calm.”

Engaging imaginations

The children talked about how it would feel to live calmly and quietly, and discussed times at school that make them feel calm. They were in agreement that our morning activities, which they complete while music plays, make them feel peaceful. Zac explained: “When it’s calm at school, I can concentrate and think about things that help me learn.”

Other children picked up on the birds joining each other, even though they aren’t the same sort of bird. They spotted the different colours and beak shapes. We spent a long time talking about times when they play with children who might be different to them; they talked about children from other schools who are friends and those who like different games.

The text invites children to imagine life without possessions, which they found hard to think about, but they all thought that having no toys or presents would be difficult and agreed that they would prefer to have toys, but to share what they did have. A later page invites the children to think about people sharing the world, which they all had views about. Oliver said “I share toys with my brother” and Lucy explained that she shares cuddles with people at home. We talked about whether it’s better to have something special just for you or whether sharing something is always nicer.

The final illustration shows the pigeon with its new friends. The children decided that the bird had been looking for friends who were different to him, so they all felt the story had ended very well.

When I asked them, eight of the 14 who first read it said they thought the other children should read it and that older pupils in the school would enjoy it. Elizabeth said the book was “fantastic” and Callum enjoyed all the imagining that the book made him do.

The sensitively addressed themes are relevant to young children and encourage them to think about bigger concepts. There is a lot more we will do with this book and I think that the more the children read it, the more they will see, discuss and begin to understand it. It’s certainly a thought-provoking book that I would recommend for any primary school library.

Matt Perrett is an early years leader and teacher at Moorlands Schools Federation in Bath

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