Wise(ish) Words for Amy with The Book For Everyone: Review/Competition

The world around us is changing at lightning speed, especially for children, and Christmas is a time when I become particularly aware of it. While I’m desperately trying to grab hold of Christmas traditions, more and more families spend the run-up to Christmas and big parts of their daily lives together but worlds apart. While baking Christmas cookies and decorating your Christmas tree were once Christmas traditions families would enjoy together, many of today’s children experience them on a screen only. Children aged 5-16 spend an average of 6.5h a day in front of a screen, a third of those between the ages of 11 to 15 a victim of cyberbullying and many of us leave them be because we have forgotten how to have real conversations.

What are today’s teens and tweens interested in? Do they still have the same worries we had back when we had their age and does the advice that we were given as teenagers stand the test of time?

3 Wise Words

Maybe, yes maybe our advice is more important than ever in a time of more screen and less human time. The people behind the Book of Everyone believe it is, which is why they have teamed up with award-winning photographer David Boni to take a series of portraits of inspirational people who all work with children. They were asked ‘What are your 3 wise words for kids this Christmas?’ and the answers bring beautiful and contrasting insights into the truths we hold dear for our next generation.

ITV This Morning’s Dr Ranj Singh is among the 30 people pictured. He holds up a blackboard showing the phrase ‘Always Be Kind’ and backs it up by saying “I can offer treatments and medicines and therapies, but the thing that makes the biggest difference is giving people time and compassion. Anyone can do it.”

The photo series, which you can see in full on Book for Everyone website, was created in collaboration with WellChild with the aim to raise money for sick children this Christmas. Cat Jones, a WellChild nurse, chose ‘You are enough’ as her three wise words because “Social media is making kids strive to be more perfect, more beautiful, more of everything. It stops them enjoying being themselves. The obsession with getting likes on social media doesn’t actually mean anything.”

Others supporting the ‘Three Wise Words For Kids’ campaign are a children’s law barrister, a video game developer, a teaching assistant for severely disabled children, a health visitor, a boxing coach, a special needs tutor, an athletics coach, a paediatrician, a childminder, and a global children’s charity worker – all people who hear firsthand young people’s hopes, fears, and dreams.

Wise(ish) Words 

Do you have a little more than three wise words that you’d like to pass onto your children? You’re in luck. The ‘3 Wise Words For Kids’ campaign accompanies the launch of The Book of Everyone’s latest personalised book: Wise(ish) Words – a book that allows anyone to combine all their tidbits of advice in 50 colourful pages and place them under the tree this Christmas. £1 from every book sold will be donated to WellChild, the national charity for sick children who gives seriously ill children the chance to thrive at home with their families.

Join the campaign on social media by uploading a selfie holding up your ‘3 Wise Words for Kids’ using the hashtag #3WiseWords or create your very own book on the Book for Everyone website.  The world won’t get better by itself, but we can all help by passing on a little wisdom to the next generation.

Amy’s own book of Wise(ish) Words 

I was lucky enough to create my very own book of Wise(ish) Words for Amy and it couldn’t have been easier. Once you’re on the website, you can choose between three different designs and a couple of quotes to start with. They range from heartfelt to cheeky and give you a great starting point for your own masterpiece.

You can personalise each page, add your own quotes and words of wisdom, remove those that might not be as suitable your recipient and step by step create something completely unique. I found the whole process incredibly exciting and as I’m a big sucker for personalised gifts, this will definitely not be the last book that I have created.

Also, can I just highlight the exceptional customer service I received? I couldn’t believe that I had the finished product in my letterbox within just a couple of days of creating it. I mean, even the most basic personalised products usually take a week or so to arrive but this book is literally personalised from front to back and it arrived in less than 7 days. It’s got an individual cover, my very own introduction and so many more little touches that make it a truly unique gift, so that’s really impressive, right?

Amy fell in love with it as soon as I gave her the beautiful gift package it arrived in. It’s bright, bold and colourful and totally up her street. While she’s not able to read everything yet, it was a great conversation starter as it initiated chats about hopes, dreams and fears and if one single book can do that, it’s quite the powerful little gift.

If you would like to win your own book of Wise(ish) Words, simply fill in the Rafflecopter form below, following the instructions provided. The competition closes on Wednesday 13th December, so that you’ll be able to create your own book just in time for Christmas. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway