ellalouise99 's review for:

Jake and Lily by Jerry Spinelli

4.0

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This book is about twins Jake and Lilly as they grow up from six years old to 11. The story follows the journey many twins experience of becoming individuals. I didn’t love the book however, I saw it’s potential to be used with twins. I’ve seen twins where one needs the other a lot less than their sibling needs them and the emotional difficulties this creates. This book would be perfect to recommend to or read with a child who is struggling with the feelings of ‘losing’ their twin as this is how Lilly feels throughout the book. A twin who is feeling like this may learn how to deal with their feelings from the story and know that it is normal to feel that way. Alongside the twin’s journey there is a focus on bullying, this is the part of the book I didn’t particularly like. Although they make friends at the end there is an emphasis on the boy who was bullied being different and the main bully doesn’t change his ways. There didn’t seem to be a strong message or anything to learn from the bullying that took place. I would however still recommend this book to year 5 or year 6 twins who feel like their sibling doesn’t need them anymore as it is important for them to understand they won’t always be together before they move to secondary school.