Ask young children what they want to be when they grow up and you will get a long list of varied answers including footballers, actors, train drivers, ballerinas, a famous YouTube or TikTok star, or rich and famous etc… and I guarantee at least one strange answer will come up, like a sparkly unicorn or Tarzan as well as some brilliant factual answers like well, I’m seven, so I want to be eight or the best I’ve heard – myself. Whilst most are valid answers, most people don’t grow up to be what they dreamt of as children (there are very few rich and famous footballers or sparkly unicorns). But one excellent aspiration to want to be and one that we can all achieve, is to be a good person.
Wigu Publishing have a series of books exploring the topic of When I Grow Up I Want To Be… They are a series of children’s books covering different professions and life lessons as told through the eyes of the children in the stories and one of the books explores being a Good Person, which I have just finished reading.
When I Grow Up I Want To Be… a Good Person! is the story of Blake and Brendan, two brothers, who have to attend the funeral of a neighbour. They really don’t want to attend for a variety of reasons; it will be sad, boring, dead people are scary and there might even be ghosts! But their parents know best and insist that they are all going as a family to pay their respects to a very good man who touched the lives of everyone he came into contact with.
Their neighbour, Mr Becket, was a kind and decent person, a good person. The funeral service is a testament to that with all his friends and family, as sad as they were, telling their stories of how he helped them and others and improved people’s lives. Blake and Brendan, along with the readers of this book will learn lessons of what is like to be a good person, how respecting and helping others is very rewarding and all the ways a good person makes a difference in other people’s lives, even long after they’re gone.
When I Grow Up I Want To Be… a Good Person! is very good story with an excellent underlying moral message. It is a story that is easily read and digest, introducing children to the concepts of being kind, considerate of others, what it means to be a good person in general and how the kind and caring things you do to help out others can have a massive impact for other people and will be remembered long after you are gone, and touches on the difficult subject of dealing with death and funerals.
The story is written with a large font, making it very easy to read and the colourful illustrations enhance the story. This is a book that children will enjoy, whilst learning about good morals and compassion, all without being preached at or spoken down to.
This is a good story with an excellent underlying message of good morals and being a good person. Growing up to be a good person is no bad thing and is definitely something that we all inspire our kids to be. Whilst being rich or famous might be a good thing, being a good person is a great thing.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £6.99 (paperback)
Available to buy from Amazon here.
