Published Books

follow the links by clicking on the pictures

‘Bubblegum Guy’ is a story about a boy born with a piece of bubblegum in his mouth. Every time he gets angry it explodes and covers people in gum… It was written for therapeutic group-work with children. First published in 1997 by Bloomsbury, but no longer in original print.It is now part of a self-help workbook ‘The Bubblegum Guy, How to deal with how you feel’. 

The book 'Therapeutic Groupwork with Children' is a hands on book, with over 40 group activities and a clear rationale how to run the groups. It introduces an invaluable technique ‘Reflective Guidance’ to help children in a respectful manner to learn to control themselves. Published by Speechmark 2000.

'The Bubblegum Guy, How to deal with how you feel' is a self-help workbook for children aged 9 to 14 and their parents. With the Bubblegum Guy story come 15 individual activities, teaching children and parents the essentials of anger management. It comes with a CD that allows you to print off the worksheets. It has clear guidelines for parents, how to use the book at home, and for teachers, how to use the book at school with the whole class and/or individual children. Punblished by Lucky Duck / Sage 2005.

'Positive Self-Identity for the Successful Teenage Learner'is a programme of work for secondary schools to encourage the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL). It offers secondary schools a structure to guide both teachers and teenagers through an important journey of discovery. Fifteen chapters based on a story of a group of teenagers seraching for an understanding of themselves through their own experiences provide you with individual, group, trust and video feedback activities. Published by Optimus Education 2010.

In preparation for publication

Pot the Poo!

A workbook tor run groups to help children with soiling problems.

Home Published Books

email me at joost@drost.co.uk if you are interested in the following books

Jeremy's Song

This is the moving story of the Old Man in the book of TheBubble Gum Guy.

He tells about how he lost his parent and family as a child and started to run away from the pain and grief. He discovers the world around him, he doesn't know how to cope with his feelings and is unable to hold on to anything. He only starts to find himself when he lands in jail.

A fast flowing, fairy like tale which plays with your own emotions, with your senses and will touch you where you don't expect it.

The Giant's Desk

The desk of the giant is huge. In one of the drawers lives a herd of elephants. He squeezes them to clean his eyes, because the giant is so tall that he walks with his head in the clouds. The youngest elephant is very brave and never gives up. He discovers that the giant cannot hear their screams and decides to clean his ears too. The giant and the little elephant become friends. The little elephant is curious about the other drawers and never gives up. Drawer by drawer he learns the cruel truth about the giant. The giant collects special stamps; he flattens the world, nobody is safe. He wants to be part of the world but he is too big. He chooses not to know how destructive he is, he rather sticks his head in the clouds. The little elephant tries to help him, tries to confront him but in the end he even gets squashed. Only then the giant finds the strength to face it all and is still able to turn things around.

A tale about friendship, loyalty and isolation, about cowardice and bravery.

This story will be published by Hinton House Publishers in 2011 with accompanying activities under the title 'Promoting Friendship, Emotional and Scoial Skills in Children: The Giant's Desk.

UIT JE IN DE KLEUREN

Express yourself in the Colours         In Dutch

This is the story of a fourteen year old, Anna, a daddies girl, who doesn't care when her mother abandons the two of them. But her father is devastated, turns to drink and doesn't leave his couch anymore. Their home deteriorates quickly. Anna manages to convince her father that they need help and they respond to an advert of a colour-consult'aunt', who promises something really different. The advice of this colour-full lady has far-reaching consequences for Anna.
Express yourself in colours!
In a last attempt to reach her father, Anna instead becomes the unwilling prophet of a protest-movement in her school. While she lost all her sense of direction in life, everybody follows her every move. Meanwhile the 'Aunt' becomes her best friend but also her rival as her father falls in love with the aunt.
Anna grows throughout the story, from an innocent daddies girl to a mature young woman, who makes her own decisions. The tables turn; under all the loving attention of her father the aunt becomes depressed and this time it is Anna who pulls her trough, literally through mud and sea.

An intriguing story, told from the inside, growing from confusion and desperation to engagement and hope. It pictures people inside and outside, how they slowly develop and change, meeting each other, shaping each other like driftwood. Sharing moments in life and never be the same again.

Moral Morons

A young boy has had enough, as he is forgotten about by his parents and blames every grown up in the world. He decides to protest and sends empty sandwich bags to all the Moral Morons in the world, putting all the 'queen' -stamps upside down. This makes him thirsty but a frog jumps into the very first beer he wants to drink. He tries to rescue the drunken frog and takes him home. But in all his well-meant attempts he wrecks the kitchen, while the frog escapes. He discovers that making his own decisions isn't always easy, but he remains determined. He also discovers his Mum kissing a stranger and decides that everybody has forgotten about him and he might as well run away. However that would never get him noticed and therefore he feels that squatting the garden shed would be a better form of protest. The frog joins him and becomes his guide.

He locks himself in the shed but nobody misses him. The only way out is down a well which leads to his fathers air raid shelter, infested with millions of frogs and mice. The boy struggles with being forgotten and feels the end is near but instead he and all the frogs erupt out onto the streets of London, where they cause further chaos. He decides to look for his father who works under the Big Ben. He gets his own view of parliament and discovers that his all important father is the cleaner to the Prime Minister. They make up. Together they set out to find the highest Moron of them all, the lady on the stamp. When the boy in the end finally meets the Queen, it is quite different from what he expected and they make friends in a very sincere moment.