When trying to fit in leaves you in a spin.

Cartwheels are the coveted skill that many kids dream of accomplishing and once mastered its the best playtime activity. 

However in Turning Cartwheels by Amy Adeney, the reader delves into not only cartwheel accomplishment but the groups that can be formed at schools with unintentional exclusiveness. 

Emma wants to get into the cartwheel club so every evening she practices so that every Monday, when tryouts are on, she can make it in. This club, run by a group of girls only allows members if they can do cartwheels with straight legs and once in, need to follow strict rules on what they can and can’t do.

Emma eventually makes it in after hard work and perseverance but once in she starts to feel hopeless at just about everything, as each day she is told she has to do something that she has never done before.

Feeling low, rather than continuing to put herself through this she has the self belief and strength to come up with her own club – one that anyone can join.

Turning cartwheels is an excellent book to read to school aged children to start a discussion on how to be more inclusive of everyone despite their differences in abilities. It praises perseverance and courage and shines a light on the all too common issue of groups at school.

Illustrations by Amy Calautti are lots of fun and add further storytelling to this picture book with lots of other characters to watch along the way.

Great for teachers to use to promote positive self esteem, self awareness, group skills, cooperation and awareness of others.