Official Website of Savanna Therapeutic Stories
Our Stories
See all our Amazon published stories here
The Changing Savanna Trilogy
Written by Talya Bruck, co edited by Patricia Ojehonmon and illustrated by Erin Cooper
Hetty's In Lockdown Again
A story to help children and young people navigate the tricky time of Covid-19 through the metaphor of the pesky illness on the Savanna. Meet Silo the lion cub, Hetty the hedgehog, Peter the panther, Gerry the giraffe and El the wise elephant as they explore this time together.
The Changing Savanna
Peter the panther approaches the watering hole carefully as things continue to change on the Savanna with the pesky sickness. See how El the wise elephant helps the young ones process the tricky time.
The Return
Things on the Savanna are continuing to change as the young ones return to school, however school looks different. See how Mrs Springbok the headteacher and Mr Hippo one of the teachers helps the little ones.
Other Stories
Silo's Sadness
Talulah's Rules
Co-authored by Talya Bruck, Stella Mo and Rachel Ryan, illustrated by Erin Cooper.
A story to help autistic children and young people, their families, friends, educators and therapists to understand the ways autistic people may think and the difficulties and challenges they may experience.
Tiana's Tale
Co-authored by Talya Bruck & Patricia Ojehonmon with guest illustrator Shaydon Tracey
A story about a young zebra and her experience of racism.
See More
Silo's Roar
A story about..
One little lion cub's big feelings of worry and disappointment. El the wise elephant of the Savanna is again on hand to help Silo think about what might be happening to him. Why is he worrying and what can he do, are some of the questions to be answered.
Written by Talya Bruck & guest illustrated by Scarlett Altarace-Sherman
Charity Book Launch for 'Here We Go Again! A Story About Bullying' by Dr Gail Sinitsky & Talya Bruck, illustrated by Paul Banks
HUGE SUCCESS
Dympna Cunnane CEO of OurTime Charity was there...
Kindly Sponsored by UK Therapy Rooms
Thank you to Queenswell Federation
A wonderful charity supporting families where a parent has a mental health difficulty.
We wish to thank UK Therapy Rooms for their very kind sponsorship and support in this charity book launch.
We'd like to thank our generous friends at Queenswell Federation for hosting our charity book launch.
Stay up-to-date on all the latest news.
IN DISCUSSION WITH ANIKA GUPTA OUR ILLUSTRATOR...
"THE OPPORTUNITY TO ILLUSTRATE THIS BOOK HAS OPENED UP MANY DOORS FOR ME. IT HAS BEEN A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE DURING WHICH I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO FULLY USE MY ART TO CREATE IMPACT - SOMETHING I WISH TO PURSUE IN THE FUTURE WITH ARCHITECTURE. IT HAS BEEN A SPECIAL PROCESS THAT HAS HELPED ME BUILD MY SKILLS AND PORTFOLIO AND SEE MY ART GROW."
Other helpful Websites
To guide and help
It can sometimes be hard to find support and advice. Here are some helpful websites to give you some guidance.
RocketEd Educational Psychology and SEND Consultancy
This practice, founded by Hannah Lethbridge, provides psychological services for children and young people (aged 0-16). They advise and support parents and carers and collaborate with the educational settings in which children and young people learn. You can contact them on www.RocketEd.co.uk
Young and Mighty - nurturing mighty kids
These cards developed by Dr Gail Sinitsky a child psychologist are brilliant. They help children in promoting happiness and calm, they also increase self-esteem. The cards are divided into three sections breathing techniques, creative activities and movement exercises. You can obtain them from www.youngandmighty.com
Book Therapy - Bibliotherapy
Bijal Shah is a bibliotherapist, counsellor, author and poet. She is the founder of Book Therapy, which offers individual, couple’s and group bibliotherapy sessions, literary curation and personalised reading services as well as bibliotherapy training.
Bibliotherapy is an art therapy that
uses books as a therapeutic medium in the treatment of mental or psychological disorders.
Bijal’s book recommendations have featured in the Guardian, BBC Culture, Marie Claire, NBC News, Reader's Digest, Asian Voice and various other publications. She is a member of the International Federation of Library Associations and the American Library Association. She is also the author of the non-fiction book, "The Happiness Mindset”, which has received more than 50 reviews on Amazon with a 5 star rating.
Bijal has also completed a post-graduate professional accountancy qualification and a Bachelors of Science in Mathematics from the University of Warwick, after attending Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls. She is a mother of two and currently resides in Hampstead, London with her husband.
About Us
Storytellers at Heart
Savanna Therapeutic Stories was established at the beginning of Covid 19 2020 in the call to offer support, understanding and meaning within an unprecedented time. The stories aim to help families, educators and therapists support young people through the use of metaphor.
The four Savanna friends Silo, Peter, Hetty and Gerry along with El the wise elephant navigate this tricky time exploring the themes of change, the unknown, friendship, loss and much more.
The original stories Hetty's in Lockdown, Things are Changing on the Savanna and The Returning were written by Talya Bruck.
During the second lockdown the stories were re written and co-edited with Patricia Ojehonmon - Dramatherapist. All the stories have been beautifully illustrated by Erin Cooper.
Talya Bruck is a South African Dramatherapist, Clinical Supervisor & Systemic Practitioner who lives in London. She has been working with children, young people and their families for over 20 years. Currently she works for CAMHS, has a private supervision practice and works on a Kidstime multi-family group workshop supporting parents and their children to understand parental mental health/illness and the effects on the family system, helping children and young people to understand that parental mental health/illness is not their fault. She has a strong belief in the power of story, the creating and telling. Helping children, young people and families to have meaningful conversations that matter, conversations that allow for people to understand themselves and each other.
"Writing is the geometry of the soul"