I'm so glad I happened to stumble upon this in the library. This is a great starting place for something that I wish I saw more of in schools. Its not perfect, but I'm very impressed.

The book itself says it is aimed at 8-13 year olds. It talks about family death (specifically illness - cancer, but doesn't go into depth), contains one passing swear word 'taking the piss', and talks about big emotions like anger and grief.

I love that this book focuses on the emotions behind actions, explaining and reasoning why someone might lash out or act a certain way, but also neither condones nor judges the child's actions.

The book allows children to follow the process of resolving an issue, gives them a simple understanding of restorative justice, and how to communicate through an argument.
I love that is in an accessible format, and although it talks about emotions through the metaphor of a protective wall, never over complicates it too much.

It would be a perfect book for year 6 children, either as a tool for individuals who are considered to have repetitive challenging behaviour, or as a classroom tool to be read and inspected as a class to discuss how we never know everything about someone's life, and how communication is key to conflict resolution.

The book has a small back section for teachers/adults that is incredibly useful in providing a deeper explanation of the key points of restorative care, and could very easily be shared with a class and worked upon. It also signposts additional resources for deeper learning as well.

I would also like to note that the back section does a great job at pointing out that the initial reaction of the teachers who witnessed the outburst wasn't the best, but was very realistic - a typical punitive way that is commom in schools and society, and is exactly what leads to such high levels of exclusion.