The Tiger Who Sleeps Under My Chair Dark Cloud

her brother James in Victorian London. Emma is being kept hidden away in the attic and James is becoming worryingly obsessed with a stuffed tiger at the museum. Then we meet Rosie and her classmate Jude, who live in Devon. Rosie too has become worryingly fascinated with tigers. Not only that, but she has been missing for four days and four nights when Jude finds her behaving strangely, wearing a tiger-striped scarf. Like the threads in the scarf or the spiral of an ammonite fossil, the two timelines spin closer and closer, until at last we discover how they are connected.

This story explores mental

Recognising children’s mental health struggles

The changes were subtle at first. My young daughter had started a French immersion programme at a new school. She was nervous, everything was new, we thought she’d settle in.

Instead of that happening, things got worse. She withdrew, she had irrational fears, but worst of all, she stopped smiling. My previously happy kid was replaced by someone we hardly recognised. It felt like she was slipping away.

It’s something that happens to many families when children experience mental health struggles. Luckily for us, we realized she was having a negative reaction to a new prescription allergy medication, so she stopped the medication and we got her psychological help.

Slowly, over about a year, she came back to us. But that dark cloud left a very long shadow over our whole family. Part of writing this book was my way of processing that experience, of giving language to what I saw as a parent.

Asking kids, or even adults, illness through a family. I hope readers will find it an inspiring and hopeful book which celebrates the importance of empathy and diverse experiences.

HANNAH FOLEY Author www.hannah-foley.co.uk

to describe how they’re feeling can be difficult. Putting complex emotions into words is challenging. I wanted to use language that evoked images in this book so young readers and parents could see what I saw, in the hopes that it would give them tools to recognise these feelings in themselves and in their loved ones.

Penny Neville-Lee’s beautiful illustrations are the perfect pairing for this story about a young girl struggling with depression. While the cloud in this book has no silver lining, it does offer readers the most important message: hope.

ANNA LAZOWSKI Author www.annalazowskibooks.com

TURN TO PAGES 50-53 to read about positive psychology at Surbiton High School

Dulwich Prep London provides an outstanding Values-led education for boys aged 3 to 13 with a co -educational nursery.

We offer a wide range of opportunities to nurture independent thinkers who go on to be thoughtful citizens of the world, equipped with a strong moral compass and the ability to adapt to our rapidly changing environment.

Our Early Years site is home to our Nursery and Reception classes. They are housed in an award -winning building with five acres of woodland and playing fields. We are now offering tours for 2024 entry at 9.15am every Thursday (term-time). We look forward to meeting you soon.

Contact our Admissions team on 020 8766 5525 or email admissions@dulwichpreplondon.org