Reviews

Lockdown Looms: Reggie’s Birthday Party will support and educate children about what they have been through throughout the pandemic. This is a beautiful story written with accessible vocabulary which brings the story of the pandemic to life and is accompanied with fabulous bright and vibrant illustrations.

The charming and uplifting tale of Reggie, struggling with online learning, food shortages, annoying siblings and all the other pandemic challenges. Covid-lit – a new genre! Banji Alexander gets Reggie’s 8 year old perspective perfectly.

Both my kids enjoyed this book. Loved that the book is specifically designed to help children understand and process everything they have lived through during the pandemic. Really helpful conversation starter! Gorgeous colourful illustrations on every page, great read for all ages.

Children at The Mead at Hilperton Primary School have been enjoying Banji Alexander’s Lockdown Looms. Aaron: ‘I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys funny books. It’s also a really optimistic book because although Reggie starts off feeling sad…things turn out more positively by the end!’

“This book is hilarious – especially when he meets Boris in the supermarket”. A boy in my class loved Lockdown Looms and there is a waiting list for others to read it!

Congratulations Banji Alexander on the publication and TV appearances. You’ve written an important and thought-provoking text.

Congratulations on the publication of your book. A strong message! It showcases the lengths that teachers are going to in supporting children across the world!

Poignant and lots that we can cover in class to do with pandemic. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to read your book.

Lovely book by Banji Alexander. Perfect for these times! I know a year 5 boy who couldn’t put it down! 

I was lucky enough to get my hands on this fantastic book by Banji Alexander. Great characters and plot. Grab a copy if you can!

A topical and funny story that highlights many of the aspects experienced by families in lockdown. The graphic style illustrations are sure to appeal and there’s a great cast of characters familiar to many children.

Lockdown Looms captures so clearly the pandemic experiences of so many children…a reflective tale. It is a story that children will find fascinating and interesting, and will help them to think through these strange days, when we haven’t always had what we wanted, and haven’t always been as close to each other as we would have liked. It is an entertaining tale that can help our children to think about what really matters, and who really matters, in their young lives.

Lockdown Looms: Reggie’s Birthday Party helps to give tweens insight into life in the pandemic and the thoughts and feelings of someone of a similar age. Helping them understand that they aren’t alone in feeling upset, cheated and overwhelmed by everything. Tigger really enjoyed this book and it was one that we read together, discussing the different parts of life in lockdown that were covered such as pasta and toilet paper [panic buying], and home-schooling. A beautiful book and a fantastic conversation starter between parents and children as well as a chance to reflect on the pandemic and all the challenges we have overcome.

This is an engaging and amusing tale, told through the eyes of Reggie, for whom the idea of having to celebrate his eighth birthday during lockdown restrictions is catastrophic. Factual events are interwoven into Reggie’s daily life as the effects of the pandemic offer no hope for Reggie’s celebrations, until a chance encounter with Morris Bronson, the prime minister. An absorbing and uplifting story with the important themes of patience, forbearance and kindness knitted cleverly into the narrative, by an author who knows his audience well, it is both entertaining and touching. The story is brought to life by vibrant illustrations throughout and everyone, but children in particular, will relate to Reggie’s frustration as hope fades for his longed-for party.  Adult readers will appreciate the irony of the location of the eventual party in the conclusion of the story.