A therapeutic picture book · Ages 4 to 8
Big feelings are easier to talk about with Sammy beside you.
Written by a social worker and play therapist, Sammy's story gently helps children explore worry, change, comfort and home, and find the words to share how they feel.
Book One: The Frightened Spaniel. In rhyme, with a "Let's talk" question on every spread.
Look inside
Turn the pages of Sammy's story
Eight rhyming spreads follow one small dog from a cold, lonely yard to a warm and loving home.
How it helps
A story that opens conversations
Children often find it easier to talk about a character's feelings than their own. Sammy goes first, so they don't have to.
For parents and carers
A calm bedtime read for children facing change: a new home, a new school, a family moving through difficult times. The story reassures without ever frightening.
For social workers
A ready-made tool for direct work. Each spread ends with a gentle question, giving you a natural, low-pressure way into how a child is really feeling.
For schools and therapists
Ideal for one-to-one support and small group work on emotions, safety and belonging, with language pitched carefully for ages four to eight.
♥ Let's talk ♥
"How do you think Sammy feels here? Have you ever felt like that?"
Every spread carries a question like this one, written by a practising social worker and play therapist.
Get the book
Choose how you'd like to read it
Digital edition
£7
Instant PDF download
- All eight illustrated spreads
- Read on tablet or print at home
- Yours to keep forever
Paperback
£12.99
Printed picture book
- Beautiful landscape spreads
- A real book to cuddle up with
- Printed and posted in the UK
Practitioner pack
£35
For professionals
- Paperback plus PDF
- Facilitator's guide
- Printable activity sheets
About the author
Written from real practice
As a social worker and play therapist, Nicola Bond has spent years supporting children through change, worry and family upheaval.
Sammy the Spaniel and Friends grew out of that work with children who found their feelings too big for words, and through adopting a severely traumatised spaniel whose journey is reflected in the first story. It borrows a technique practitioners use every day: letting a character carry the feelings first, so a child can follow when they're ready.
Alongside her writing, Nicola is Co-Director of Alliot Bond Consultants, working with educator and training specialist Dan Alliot to provide independent social work consultancy, assessment, training and practice development for professionals and organisations supporting children and families.