One of my students told me recently how “clingy” her child had become in the pandemic and I totally understood how she felt.

To be clingy[kling-i:] (adj.) = to be emotionally dependent, insecure, staying very close to someone
To cling/clung/clung to someone = to stay very close to someone/something

Examples:
1. My daughter has become so clingy. She follows me everywhere.
2. She has just broken up with her boyfriend as he was too clingy. He never gave her any space.

If your young child has become clingy and you are worried about the return to school or nursery and the changes that there will be, I totally recommend The Koala Who Could. Kevin the Koala 🐨 clings to his tree and refuses to move, but when he eventually does, he discovers a new and exciting world! 🤩🌎

The message of the story is so positive – we can’t control change but we can control how we manage it – and the rhyming in the story feels totally natural and not at all forced. In fact, if you want to read it in English to your child, it’s a great way to practise your pronunciation and intonation skills! You can even listen to a native speaker reading the story on YouTube first: The Koala Who Could. Try it. My clingy koala 🐨 loves it! 😊