Grab Some Sticks Audio Stories – Details, episodes & analysis

Story number 30 is here and it’s a special one for National Family Day 🫶🏽

It’s called:

'Where Am I From?’ Written by Jade Amez.

@whereamifrombook

Illustrated by Meg Rafferty.

Jade Amez’s story is inspired by her adoption journey and the many ways people are connected. She believes it’s important to show children that love and belonging don’t have just one shape - you don’t have to look alike to share a home, a bond, or a story.

Jade:

'Growing up, I rarely saw children’s books that reflected the adoptee experience or mixed families. So, sharing my own story became not only a way to address this societal need but also a deeply personal healing journey. This book is a conversation starter - a way to talk about family, differences, identity, complex emotions and racial sensitivity. I hope my book helps expand the understanding of what ‘family' and ‘home' can truly mean and encourages every reader to feel a sense of belonging’

Her debut book celebrates the beauty of mixed, blended and multi-cultural families, assuring young readers that there is no shame in their unique family structure. Her book gently encourages conversations about cultural diversity and self-discovery, while beautifully illustrating the reality that families are wonderfully diverse. 

Jade's story offers readers the opportunity to cultivate empathy, reflect on their personal narratives, deepen their understanding of adoption, and ultimately embrace their identity - not letting where you're born or where you live define you.

Thank you Jade for writing this emotive story ❤️

Where can you buy this book?

www.whereamifrombook.com

✨ Story number 29 is here, and it’s a noisy one! 🇭🇰✨

It’s called:

Sounds of Hong Kong with Tommy & Lily

Written by Liudmila Rijk Baksheeva

Illustrated by Kitty N. Wong.

This book truly captures the essence of Hong Kong and all the unique daily sounds we hear! From bustling streets to tranquil moments, this book is a celebration of everything that makes, #homekong so special 🥰🇭🇰 My children loved pressing the buttons and smiling at the familiar sounds 😃

It’s perfect for little ones who call this vibrant city home or anyone who wants to share its charm with their loved ones.

Featuring adorable, hand-painted illustrations by the talented Hong Kong artist Kitty N. Wong this book is a feast for both the eyes and ears!

Perfect for young explorers, little hands (it’s a board book) nostalgic souls, and fans of Hong Kong’s unique charm 😃

Liudmila:

“This book holds a special place in my heart, as it was inspired by my children, George and Isabella! Born in Hong Kong, they’ve grown up surrounded by the city's unique sounds. They always loved mimicking these sounds in their own adorable way, and they even call this book the ‘Ga Yao’ book because of its first sound—how cute is that?! 🥰”

Where to purchase?

Liudmila is offering this book for a special promotional price of 150 HKD for all our listeners! Send me a message to get the link🎉

You can also find it at:

📚 Bookazine,

📚 The Lion Rock Press,

📚 Seeds Children’s Bookstore,

🛒 Etsy.

Don’t miss out on this special book that brings Hong Kong’s vibrant culture and sounds to life! 🌟🇭🇰

Story number 22 is here! Continuing on with the last instalment from, “The Adventures of Henry the Field Mouse”. Henry meets a new furry friend on the riverbank who challenges him to a race! Written by Jo Coker. Illustrated by Barbara Richards. Edited and published by Sue Dockstader. I have really enjoyed reading from this series of stories and I hope you’ve enjoyed listening to them 🐭 ☺️   Jo and Sue are continuing to offer to the podcast listeners a 15% discount from their Etsy shop! Use the code: HENRY15 or simply go straight to the following link to receive 15% off: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HenryFieldMouse?coupon=HENRY15   To follow the continuing mother/daughter/granddaughter publishing adventures: www.adventuresofhenryfieldmouse.com @henryfieldmouse You can also head over to https://www.adventuresofhenryfieldmouse.com/storytime for more chapters read by the author, as previously broadcast on Cotswolds Radio, and look for the colouring pages to download for your little adventurers to create their own Henry field mouse! We hope you enjoy this next adventure 😊 🇭🇰 🇬🇧 🐁 Like/subscribe/review ☺️ Instagram page: https://instagram.com/grabsomesticks?igshid=gcvsbmv1h4dy Facebook: @grabsomesticks For messages, drawings and videos, Send to: grabsomesticks@hotmail.com Thank you 🙂

I’m back everyone with story number 21! Continuing on with the tales from, “The Adventures of Henry the Field Mouse” I will be reading the excerpt where Henry and his hedgehog friend Bertie stroll around at night and Henry sees something peculiar in the water… Written by Jo Coker. Illustrated by Barbara Richards. Edited and published by Sue Dockstader. Octogenarian author Jo enjoyed another new adventure recently when she was interviewed by her local radio station for their book club show on @Cotswoldsradio- proving again, you are never too old to try something new! And as if that wasn’t enough excitement, Jo’s granddaughter (who the books were originally written for) flew in from Germany to join her Grandma as she shared her stories with little adventurers at the Northleach Heritage Craft Fair last week.   Jo and Sue would like to offer our podcast listeners a 15% discount from their Etsy shop! Use the code: HENRY15 or simply go straight to the following link to receive 15% off: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HenryFieldMouse?coupon=HENRY15   To follow the continuing mother/daughter/granddaughter publishing adventures: www.adventuresofhenryfieldmouse.com @henryfieldmouse We hope you enjoy this next adventure 😊 🇭🇰 🇬🇧 🐁 🦔 Like/subscribe/review ☺️ Instagram page: https://instagram.com/grabsomesticks?igshid=gcvsbmv1h4dy Facebook: @grabsomesticks For messages, drawings and videos, Send to: grabsomesticks@hotmail.com Thank you 🙂

Story number 20 is here! (We have reached 20 stories!😱) Our next story tells the tale of an inquisitive field mouse called Henry who has a prickly encounter with Bertie the hedgehog, who is snoring in a compost heap! This story is part of a series written by a grandma wanting to keep in touch with her grandchildren before the days of email and video chat. (You can see the letters she wrote them when you swipe left ⬅️☺️) It’s called: “The Adventures of Henry the Field Mouse” written by Jo Coker. Illustrated by Barbara Richards. Edited and published by Sue Dockstader.   Jo Coker: “When my grandchildren moved to Hong Kong, I wanted them to stay interested in the English countryside, so I started writing stories for them about an imaginary mouse living under my garden shed! Little did I know my daughter would keep my flimsy airmail pages and publish them into a beautifully illustrated book 20 years later- so now little adventurers everywhere can read about the antics of Henry the Field Mouse! Henry meets lots of different animals on his escapades, so I hope that my simple tales of adventure in an English back garden will encourage little ones to pull on their wellies and go outside to explore the countryside. My original stories stretched to two books once the pictures were added, then after being persuaded a trilogy would be nice, I wrote another set of stories at age 85. Working with my daughter (who now lives in the US) to get the third book published was a wonderful way to keep busy and connected during this past awful year of lockdown and isolation.”      To buy the books: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HenryFieldMouse or take trip to the beautiful Cotswolds town of Northleach and pick up a copy at the Post Office or the Black Cat Café.   To follow the continuing mother/daughter/granddaughter publishing adventures: www.adventuresofhenryfieldmouse.com @henryfieldmouse Thank you Sue for getting in touch and I love how we have that HK connection! 🇭🇰 🇬🇧 🐁 🦔 Like/subscribe/review ☺️ Instagram page: https://instagram.com/grabsomesticks?igshid=gcvsbmv1h4dy Facebook: @grabsomesticks For messages, drawings and videos, Send to: grabsomesticks@hotmail.com Thank you 🙂

In the U.K. it was an incredibly joyous feeling when the country came together for the Euros. For me, what was even better was experiencing it all from my hometown of Wembley. The home of football. Nothing beats the feeling of unity. Our England football team did us proud. There are some players that are inspirational both on and off the pitch and I have nothing but admiration for them. So it comes with great sadness that after a penalty shoot out in the final game, our three lions were subject to abuse. Abuse not about their football skills but about the colour of their skin. If we had won, the comments on social media would have been celebratory and joyous but it wasn’t. The true feelings of some hateful individuals came out and I won’t call them England fans because they’re not. True England fans felt incredibly let down by the aftermath of this hate and this shameful behaviour needs to stop. Here’s a poem written by Adaeze Obasuyi @rooted_branch that sums up the feelings of last week. Rashford, Sancho and Saka. We stand by you. You did us proud ❤️🙌🏾❤️ This poem is more suited to older children/adult audience.

Story number 18 is here! We are continuing our series of stories from you! The #youngwriter and this week, we have a young girl named Sasha (8 years old) who wrote a story called: “Dog Adopted” 🐶 Sasha: “My name is Sasha, I'm 8 years old and I live in Pinner with my mum, dad and Sister. I enjoy running, reading, and riding my bike! I like dogs and decided to write a story about one!” Thank you Sasha! I’m sure everyone will love your story ☺️ I love the cover art too! @eternalkitchenltd Like/subscribe/review ☺️ Instagram page: https://instagram.com/grabsomesticks?igshid=gcvsbmv1h4dy Facebook: @grabsomesticks For messages, drawings and videos, Send to: grabsomesticks@hotmail.com Thank you 🙂

Story number 17 is here ❤️ Sometimes in life, an event occurs that makes you pause and think. To stop. To stop with the swiftness of life and to simply appreciate the everyday joys. To not sweat over the small stuff and to really make you appreciate how short life really is. With this is mind, I felt like it was fate that led me to Chelsey Gomez’s story. Her story is called: “Stickers On Her Bald Head” @ohyouresotough @ohyouresotough_designs Chelsey Gomez: “I have lost my hair twice to chemotherapy and cancer. My daughter was very young while I was battling cancer. I introduced the concept of my soon to be bald head to my daughter with a promise. I promised she could put stickers all over my head after my hair fell out! I hope this story helps other parents talk to their children about cancer and hair loss in a fun way. No scary terms like radiation or chemotherapy - just a gentle and silly story that kids can relate to.” Thank you @ohyouresotough for your bravery and I hope this story helps not just children but adults also. Check out her awesome illustrations too 😍 The book is available to purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B095Q848XS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Subscribe to her YouTube channel 🥰 https://youtube.com/c/ohyouresotough0 Check out her Etsy shop for cancer support gift items: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Ohyouresotough Chelsey had also written a guided journal for adult cancer patients: https://www.amazon.com/Cancer-Hole-Patients-Humorous-Survivors/dp/B08SGZ7S1P/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&qid=1624320469&refinements=p_27%3AChelsey+Gomez&s=books&sr=1-2&text=Chelsey+Gomez https://linktr.ee/Ohyouresotough Instagram page: https://instagram.com/grabsomesticks?igshid=gcvsbmv1h4dy Facebook: @grabsomesticks For messages, drawings and videos, Send to: grabsomesticks@hotmail.com Thank you x

Story number 16 is here! We are continuing our series of stories from you! The #youngwriter and this week, we have a young girl named Flossie (six years old) who wrote a story called: “The Magic Mermaid” Flossie: “My name’s Flossie, I’m 6-years-old and I live in Huddersfield. I love listening to your podcast and I was excited to hear you might like to read one of my stories.  I enjoy going on day-outs with my family, box-modelling and crafts and riding my bike. I love being busy and go to Gymnastics, Swimming and Drama Clubs, and I’m a Rainbow too.     I love reading so I decided to write this story so I could read it to my little sister Frankie. I am going to keep a copy of it in my memory box to look back at when I’m older. I like going to the seaside and I always look out for mermaids. Once I thought I saw a mermaid waving at me (although it might have been an octopus) so I decided to write this story about what might happen if someone actually met one. I think magic is really cool and I imagine that mermaids have some kind of magical powers so I used this idea in my story too.” Mermaids are certainly a popular theme! Thank you Flossie! I’m sure everyone will love your story 😃 🌊🧜‍♀️ @mumawaywithme Like/subscribe/review ☺️ Instagram page: https://instagram.com/grabsomesticks?igshid=gcvsbmv1h4dy Facebook: @grabsomesticks For messages, drawings and videos, Send to: grabsomesticks@hotmail.com Thank you 🙂

Story number 15 is here and it’s a bit different to the norm because we have our first guest #youngwriter and podcaster! ❤️💜❤️💜 📖✍️ ❤️💜❤️💜 Introducing the super talented - Eesha (11 years old) 😃 "Hi everyone, it’s Eesha. I am so glad to be on today’s episode of: “Grab Some Sticks”. I wrote the story because I love mythical creatures and I thought that I should write a story about it and how dreams really do come true. Also, please send some pictures of some of your favourite scenes that happen throughout the story” 😃 Thank you Eesha! The beautiful cover art was drawn by her cousin Aarya (six years old) @shrubberiescakehouse 🙂 If you want to have a go writing your own story - send me a message ☺️📖 ✍️ Like/subscribe/review ☺️ Instagram page: https://instagram.com/grabsomesticks?igshid=gcvsbmv1h4dy Facebook: @grabsomesticks For messages, drawings and videos, Send to: grabsomesticks@hotmail.com Thank you 🙂 x