By Les Davey and Nicola Preston. Published by International Institute of Restorative Practices -- UK. ISBN-13: 978-0-9557211-0-6.

A Restorative Story: Mary Finds Some Money  is an easy-to-read storybook with illustrations geared to catch the attention of young children and communicate the value of building relationships and living in community.  It presents a situation familiar to most children and describes the actions and emotions of the main characters. Peppered with discussion throughout the narrative, the story provides tools for guiding children in thinking about the aspects of the stories and how to respond to the behaviour including a restorative encounter. A role-play allows for experiential learning as children have the opportunity to take on different roles from the story.

An implementation guide provides clear, practical application for individuals interested using restorative practices at home or in their organizations. Divided into three sections – before training, training, and after training – it outlines the steps needed to successfully introduce restorative practices in an organization. It contains recommendations for training programmes at all phases of the project. The guide ends with an outline of activities to be undertaken in strengthening implementations such as continuing data collection and analysis and consultation from all those involved in the process.

Among the resources provided in this training kit are a workbook for students and a resource CD containing the storybook in both PDF and digital slide formats, name cards for the role play, reflection sheets for the different groups involved in implementation, Student Restorative Question Sheets, and other resources from IIRP UK.

A Restorative Story: Mary Finds Some Money is available from the International Institute of Restorative Practices—UK for £19.99.

Nichole Harvey
October 2008