This is a wonderfully helpful book that is passionately written from deep in the soul of the author. Alex Koster openly shares her knowledge on how a mindful approach to life can bring about positive family, community and societal change in this increasingly digital, impersonal, self-absorbed age. The simple but effective strategies and techniques she offers give parents and educators the mindfulness tools they will need to “put their air masks on first” and then be able to help their children become confident, happy, compassionate adults.
The main message I took away from this book is that by living a more aware, kind and joyful life, life itself will be more enjoyable. Therefore, I will be a more loving and lovable person who is then confident, happy, and compassionate enough to help my children and for those who I care for. Sounds like a win-win to me!
I highly recommend this wonderful book. It’s heart centered approach is just what is needed to diffuse the stress of today.
Thank you to the author for sending me this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
Waffles And Pancakes (series) by Cindy Springsteen
A lesson in friendship (Friendship matters more than material things)
A lesson in bullying (The cause and effect of bullying)
A lesson in the true meaning of Christmas (A heart-warming story about love and friendship)
A lesson in being different (Don’t judge a book by its cover)
The Waffles And Pancakes series are well written stories that teach valuable lessons on friendship, bullying, the true meaning of Christmas and on being different with each one helping the reader dig deeper into the true meaning of character, courage and consciousness. The stories pay careful attention to explaining the lesson with clear examples and descriptive passages that empower the reader to be kind, compassionate and respectful.
These books are great to read aloud to younger children, but I feel their real magic lies in older children who can read on their own; this is an important niche. These heart-felt lessons are respectful to the intelligence of the reader and should be available in libraries, schools and therapists offices. These books are great tools for social emotional learning!
Thank you to the author for sending me these books. All opinions expressed are my own.
Who doesn’t love Peppa? She is a sweet and caring pink piglet who is constantly surrounded by a menagerie of diverse animal friends and family members who show us a slice of life with humor, empathy and appreciation for the small things.
In Peppa Pig and the Career Day, the adult’s in the neighborhood come to school to share about their careers, ranging from everyday workers to artists to specialists, and there is even a sea captain (who everyone needs in their neighborhood!). The wide variety of jobs and careers offer a great outlay of possible aspirations for kids to explore in creative play and then possible what they might become as they grow older.
In Peppa Pig and the Silly Sniffles, offers a sneak peak into the funny ways that kids play and how easily they switch between creative play scenarios. Here they enact a scene when one of the friends is sick and has to go to the doctor’s office and they discover, even though they cannot cure the sniffles, they can make their friend feel much better just by being good friends.
Both books come with a awesome coloring poster that is hidden on the back of the book jacket.
These are lovely hardcover books and will make great gifts this holidays season! I know my granddaughter is going to love them! I highly recommend Peppa Pig: the stories offer great diversity in character and educate about self-esteem, empathy, compassion and acceptance. A wonderful entry into the beauty of all the varied people in this world! They belong in every preschool, home and library! Hooray for Peppa! She’s awesome!
¡Olé Namaste! Eve Costarelli
Thank you to Candlewick Press for sending me these books. All opinions expressed are my own.
For more information about my accessible mindfulness/yoga/dance program, please visit alwaysbedancing dot com.
Today, I read Julián Is A Mermaid by Jessica Love (Candlewick) in my kids yoga classes today. The children range from age 2 1/2-almost 6 and one of their favorite activities is the Calming Rock meditation time. Each child gets a pile of colored glass rocks: some large and flat, some chunky, some blue, some green, some clear, some red, orange and yellow. They know that once the quiet music goes on, it is time to settle down and take on quiet bodies, mouths and minds. It is time to let their imaginations free and make designs or pictures or just enjoy the beautiful colors and textures of their rocks. After a full class practicing the skills of movement and stillness, I brought the rocks out, turned on some quiet music and the kids settled into the routine. I told them that I would be reading them a story and that some of the pages had words and pictures and some of the pages were only pictures. I explained that I would hold the book up and they had the choice to just listen, or they could look up and see the pictures as I would quietly alert them if the page had no words so they could see the pictures as I moved them slowly by.
I told them it was a story about mermaids and we immediately got into a discussion of other things that live in the sea and about the water and the waves. We decided our rocks reminded us of the ocean and we imagined a wave rolling in and messing up the sand beneath and then calming so the water becomes clear again. I started reading the beautiful simple prose and loved the peppering of a few Spanish words such as abuela grandmother mijo my dear; this is very endearing and has a feeling of love and safety. The children calmly listened to me and played with their rocks, and most eyes lifted as I passed the book by. I would watch their eyes take in the sequences of pictures and the special look that would come into their eyes when they got the story. To say I love this book is not enough. The message is one of hope, acceptance and authenticity and is accessible to the very young as well as the old. I am meeting with a local GSA today at a middle school and this book will be part of their yoga/mindfulness class as well. I cannot recommend this book enough. It should be in every school, every library, every home. It is a beautifully crafted message of love and the illustrations are fantastically expressive. This is a home run for this debut author-illustrator.
Even with young children as young as this, discussions happened around accepting other languages styles, choices, ways of being; accepting ourselves and that each individual person is really the only one who knows themselves and for them to nurture and love their inner self (of course I used a fun analogy of a tiny them inside themselves driving around them around like a giant ship.) I explained that even when that ship goes to school or is at home or is with friends, that the inner core them was always the same and they could feel safe, strong and grounded in that knowledge of who they really are. I was able to tell them that their really is a Mermaid Parade that happens in New York where everyone dresses like mermaids and parades together to the sea. https://www.coneyisland.com/programs/mermaid-parade
Always Be Dancing 