A Pawn’s Journey Across the Chessboard – Christel Minne Hardback – SKU 9789464201888 – 56 pages Teaser Someday I’ll Be a Queen – PICTURE BOOK Teaser Someday I’ll Be a Queen – Toolbox How is this book now different from other chess books for young children? Well, it starts as a fairy tale about a King, a Dragon and a young Girl with a dream. Author Christel Minne: “A young girl is the main character because by doing so, I want to encourage girls and make it clear that this game is also for them.” The history of the game of chess is incorporated as you get acquainted with the characters. The picture book is very inviting with plenty of funny and beautiful drawings. There is a lot to discover! For the youngest preschoolers it is best to tell the story in your own words, but the older preschoolers fully enjoy the rhyming story. Every chess rule can be found in an attractive drawing. An important didactic choice of the author. Just like the choice for the story in rhyme form, preschoolers love repetition, this is a handy tool when memorizing the chess rules. Playing chess with a group / Playing chess with one child – Christel Minne Paperback – SKU 9789464201895 – 48 pages This toolbox full of tips and games accompanies the picture book, Someday I’ll Be a Queen, which incorporates all the rules of chess. Teachers, parents, grandparents, and chess coaches learn how to build it up step by step. The message is, have fun! Enjoy the book and the game together. Take your time. Don’t go through the book all at once but learn piece to piece after which you rehearse the chess piece. We work with small groups of 6 to 8 children for a maximum of 30 minutes at a time. With the four-year-olds, I explain about the king and after that, we play four different games. During the last game, before they learn to move the rook, I put a car on the chess board. Every toddler knows not to stand in the street when a car approaches. So they have to move their king to safety each time. Actually, they are already lifting check without realizing it. The hardest thing for experienced and trained chess players is to apply the game in such a way that you think at the toddler’s level. Make it very simple. Don’t overwhelm them with too many rules at once. Tackle it playfully using the language of their environment.
