Mindful Book Reviews By Eve: Alphabreaths

Adorable, diverse illustrations connected to beautiful simple breathing prompts. From A-Z, easy to follow breathing prompts, each one aimed to elicit a calming response. This book is a great one for young children and it can be used more widely- any teacher could offer up one of these breathing practices at the beginning of each class. Students can encouraged to note the ones they like the best to keep in their tool boxes of practices they know help them to feel good, calm and in-control. Calming breaths can be used to bring focus and attention in a classroom as well as a home or office but are also great to combine with a yoga pose! Great accessible ideas to incorporate into today’s mindful classroom. 

Fun, accessible introduction to the power of the breath!

Here’s a link to a YouTube video showing kids in a classroom participating.

Thank you to the author for sending me a copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

#childrensbook #bookreview #breath #breathing #mindfulness #calming

Mindful Book Reviews By Eve: 21 Mindfulness & Yoga Books and Card Decks For Kids

21 Mindfulness & Yoga Books and Card Decks For Kids

1. 7 Little Monkeys by Joannie Woodward (no review just a book I like and use)
2. 19 Books About Mindfulness and a Deck Of Cards Too 
3. A Therapeutic Treasure Deck of Grounding, Soothing, Coping and Regulating Cards by Dr. Karen Treisman 
4. A Therapeutic Treasure Deck of Sentence Completion and Feelings Cards by Dr. Karen Treisman 
5. Be Good To Your Body: Learning Yoga by Roz Fulcher (no review just a coloring/activity book I like and use)
6. Dear Girl by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (no review just a book I like and use)
7. Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberly (no review just a book I like and use)
8. I Can Do Hard Things by Gabi Garcia 
9. Julián is A Mermaid by Jessica Love 
10. Little Gurus: A Yoga Discovery Book by Illustration Olaf Hajek (no review just a book I like and use)
11. Mindful Kids Cards: 50 Mindfulness Activities For Kindness, Focus and Calm by Whitney Stewart 
12. Mindfully Me 3-Pack (Mindfully Me Series) by Louise Shanagher and Rose Finerty 
13. My Daddy Is A Pretzel by Baron Baptise (no review just a book I like and use)
14. My Top 20 Books About And For Kids Yoga
15. Silence by Leminiscates (no review just a book I like and use)
16. Stay Cool at School by Lori Lite 
17. Thank you, Me by Elena Reznikova 
18. The Kindness Quilt by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace (no review just a book I like and use)
19. The Tiptoeing Tiger By Philippa Leathers 
20. Winston Wallaby Can’t Stop Jumping: what to do about hyperactivity in children including those with ADHD, SPD and ASD by K.I. Al-Ghani and Joy Beaney 
21. Yoga Book Of Feelings by Mary Humphrey (no review just a book I like and use)

Mindful Book Reviews By Eve: It’s Always There; A children’s meditation book for mindfulness, calm and happiness by Lou Lou Rose

It’s Always There A children’s meditation book for mindfulness, calm and happiness by Lou Lou Rose (including Magic Word cards)

This is truly one of the best children’s mindfulness books that I have come across. The book is full of thoughts that pique the interest and understanding the art of mindfulness is easily accessible for children and is written into lovely, flowing rhyming sequences. The artwork is adorable. I love the textured painting juxtaposed onto photographic backgrounds and sprinkled with computer-generated flowers. It’s completely endearing! The additional Magic Word cards are beautiful affirmations for calm, clear thinking, positive feelings of self love and are perfect addition to this wonderful book. I really enjoyed this book and I know I will use it in my kids classes. It is fun, educational and practical. I highly recommend it! 

Please check out https://www.louiseshanagher.com/loulourose : Lou Lou Rose is the creative partnership of children’s therapist Louise Shanagher and visual artist Rose Finerty. Lou Lou Rose aim to nurture and promote positive mental health for children through a series of books, videos, affirmation cards and by holding creative workshops in preschools, schools, festivals and community groups.

Last Minute Yoga Gifts For that special Little Yogi In Your Life!

 

• Gift Certificate for Yoga or Flamenco lessons with Eve Costarelli (Contact Eve/ AdamAnt_Eve@hotmail.com for information and rates)
• ABC for Me: ABC Yoga! by Christiane Engel
• Babar’s Yoga For Elephants by Laurent de Brunhoff
• Chi Universe Kids Mat
  

  

  
• Hoberman Sphere
• Little Gurus – A Yoga Discovery Book by Olaf Hajek (gorgeous pictures, no words; great for imaginative yoga fun)
• The Go Yogi! Card Set by Emma Hughes & John Smisson

• Listening To My Body by Gabi Garcia
• Listening To My Heart: A Story of Kindness and Self-Compassion by Gabi Garcia
• Meditation Is An Open Sky: Mindfulness For Kids by Whitney Stewart

• Memory Yoga Action Game by Thinkfun
• Mindful Cards by Whitney Stewart
• My Daddy is a Pretzel by Baron Baptiste and Sophie Fatus

• My Yoga Workbook: A Winter Yoga Journey by Lara Hocheiser
• Seahorses magical Sun Sequence: how all children (and sea creatures) can use yoga to feel positive, confident and completely included by Michael Chissick
• Yoga Pretzels Cards by Leah Kalish and Sophie Fatus
• You Are a Lion! And Other Fun Yoga Poses by Taeeun Yoo
  

  

  

  

Mindful Book Reviews By Eve: Watkins Publishing Round-Up

• How To Teach Meditation to Children:Help kids deal with shyness and anxiety and be more focused, creative and self-confident by David Fontana & Ingrid Slack
• The Calm Buddha At Bedtime: Tales of wisdom, compassion and mindfulness to read with your child by Dharmachari Nagaraja
• The Mindful Mandala Coloring Book by Lisa Tenzin-Dolma

How To Teach Meditation to Children:Help kids deal with shyness and anxiety and be more focused, creative and self-confident by David Fontana & Ingrid Slack

This is a great one-stop-book to learn how and why to bring meditation to children, whether they be your own or your students. This book very clearly lays out meditations for different age groups from 5-8 year old children to 15+, late adolescents and for different needs, such as creativity, relaxation and body awareness. The author has come up with fun and creative, and easy to follow, meditations with follow up exercises for home, daily life and school. One of the ones that immediately caught my eye was exercise #4 in the chapter about meditations for mindfulness. The exercise is about taking a familiar object and showing it upside down and having the kids draw it from this odd angle. The exercise is about perspective and focus and creativity. I use this exercise in my yoga class-which is just meditation in motion, and we turn yoga poses on their heels or backs or bellies and then recreate the poses from a different perspective. We can rename them and bring new qualities of them to light when they are taken from a different angle or a chair or are holding onto a cane. Our attention becomes more focused, our minds more creative as we experience gravity from another angle.

I really enjoyed this book and recommend it for it’s unique and creative meditation ideas. I highly recommend this accessible book and strongly agree with the author about having a practice of your own as a necessary element in the desire to bring this to children.

The Calm Buddha At Bedtime: Tales of wisdom, compassion and mindfulness to read with your child by Dharmachari Nagaraja

This is a lovely collection of read aloud stories on instilling wisdom, compassion and mindfulness into ours and our children’s lives and by using the age old art of story telling, these stories make it very easy to bring these qualities to children. The short tale with morals empower children to take these teachings into the world by learning about patience, honesty and trust.

At the back of the book, there is a section of very sweet and simple mindful meditation scripts that can be used to enhance the teachings of the stories. The index makes it very easy to find themes that work in with what you are teaching.

This is a wonderful book that opens the hearts and minds of all who share them. I highly recommend these calming and enlightening stories.

The Mindful Mandala Coloring Book by Lisa Tenzin-Dolma

This is a lovely coloring book with beautifully detailed and delicately drawn mandalas. The book is separated into three sections: Buddhist mandalas, Celtic mandalas and Healing mandalas and at the beginning of each section, a few colored examples are given. Included with each mandala are a description of that specific mandala, simple step-by-step instructions for its contemplation, a recommended color palette and a meaningful quote. Also, for added creativity and self-reflection, at the end of each section are blank mandala templates for you to create your own, personalized mandalas.

This is a wonderful book that is packed with information for contemplation and quiet-time self- reflection. It it the first coloring book that I have seen with all the elements of a mindful practice included in one place. Coloring is a great way to bring about contemplation, meditation and healing. This book is beautifully laid out. I am looking forward to choosing a mandala to color and contemplate! Namaste!

Thank you to Watkins Publishing for these books. All opinions expressed are my own.

Mindful Book Reviews by Eve: Mindful Kids: 50 Mindfulness Activities for Kindness, Focus and Calm (Cards) by Whitney Stewart & Mina Braun

Along comes a new, beautifully crafted, set of mindfulness cards for kids!

Right off the back, I fell in love with illustrator Mina Braun’s adorable drawings and appreciated their fostering of diversity. It is so important to show that every child will be able to access the mindful activities on these cards. The color palette is cheery and each picture is full of captivating details and creative patterns.

Whitney Stewart has made mindfulness easily accessible by everyone. The simple step-by-step instructions make it possible for teachers and families to use the cards anytime during the day when a mini mindful moment is needed. The cards are varied and offer entrance into mindfulness through breathing exercises, mental focus, yoga and movement activities, self-reflection, laughter, relaxing and renewing, waking up and motivating, games and kindness. So much kindness!

Above all, these cards promote 1. Loving Kindness 2. Compassion 3. Empathetic Joy 4. Equanimity-helping to cultivate kindness to self, to the known and to the unknown.

I highly recommend these cards. I know they will become a staple in my own tool kit for working with youth and bringing mindfulness into my and their lives. They should be in every classroom, library and in any space that involves youth. Younger children will need help reading them but older kids will be able to engage with them on their own.

Thank you to Barefoot Books & Whitney Stewart for sending me these beautiful cards. All opinions expressed are my own.

Would you like me to read and review for you?

Please contact me at AdamAnt_Eve@hotmail.com.

My Top 20 Books About and For Kids Yoga

Below are listed my top 20 books that I have found most useful in my youth yoga teaching career. Some are for kids; some are for grownups and teachers; all are filled with useful knowledge and tried and true activities.

1. 100 Yoga Activities for Children by Shobana R. Vinay
2. Angry Octopus Color Me Happy, Color Me Calm: A Self-Help Kid’s Coloring Book for Overcoming Anxiety, Anger, Worry, and Stress By Lori Lite
3. Be Good To Your Body: Learning Yoga (Dover Children Activity Book) by Roz Fulcher
4. Breathe Yoga For Teens by Mary Kaye Chryssicas
5. Classroom Yoga Breaks by Louise Goldberg
6. Creative Yoga Games for Children (Volumes 1 & 2) by Edna Reinhardt
7. Creative Yoga Practice For Children by Yael Calhoun
8. Fly Like A Butterfly by Shakta Kaur Khalsa
9. Go Yogi! By Emma Hughes
10. I Love Yoga! By Mary Kaye Chryssicas
11. Little Gurus: A Yoga Discovery Book by Illustration Olaf Hajek
12. My Daddy Is A Pretzel by Baron Baptise
13. Storytime Yoga: The Treasure in Your Heart – Stories and Yoga for Peaceful Children by Sydney Solis
14. Yoga Book Of Feelings by Mary Humphrey
15. Yoga Calm Educating Heart, Mind and Body by Lynea & James Gillen
16. Yoga For Children by Mary Stewart
17. Yoga Kids by Marsha Wenig
18. Yoga Planet Cards by Tara Gruber
19. Yoga Pretzel Cards by Tara Gruber
20. Yoga Therapy for Children with Autism and Special Needs by Louise Goldberg