Mindful Book Review By Eve: My Sister, Alicia May by Nancy Tupper Ling

In conjunction with the Multicultural Children’s Book Day event 2021, I was gifted My Sister, Alicia May Written by Nancy Tupper Ling; Illustrated by Shennen Bersani (Pleasant St. Press)

When I received this book to review for Multicultural Book Day 2020, I immediately wrote to the author to tell her what a sweet and wonderful book she had written. It just made me feel good and happy to read this story. It is so real, down-to-earth and full of kindness and just shows how a strong sense of being can open you up to a positive focus on life.This is the honest account through the eyes of one child whose older sister has Down Syndrome and she does a beautiful job of sharing her experiences with her and how she comes to a greater sense of self through their connection. We need more books like this, in every library, school and home just to show the pure beauty of the diversity of each life, each family-yet through all our uniqueness it too binds us together when we share our experiences and create a much broader and open sense of normal. The illustrations lovingly portray for us the life for these sisters-you can see their similarities in their faces and gestures. Life is life and it is not always easy but if you can be grateful and appreciative of your life you can spread this joy to others as well as being satisfied and at peace in your skin. I highly recommend this beautiful heartfelt story. 

I was gifted a copy of this book by the author. All opinions expressed are my own. 

#downsyndrome #downsyndromeawareness #readyourworld

2 Picture Books on Feelings, Friendship and How To Be True To Oneself

Gustavo The Shy Ghost by Flavia Z. Drago

Gustavo is shy, he is cautious, he is introverted, wary and shadowy. He is of course, a ghost; not one who likes to scare, but instead one who is painfully shy. With Day of The Dead appeal, this book can be enjoyed everyday! The gorgeous mute-toned hues of the illustrations pair perfectly with this simple tale of feeling invisible. The story is so relatable as we all may experience shyness at some point, but many suffer from this all the time. This book canhelp someone who feels too afraid and it shows a way to be brave by taking baby steps and using positive affirmation which may help to take a giant step. The overlying message is about being true to oneself and also about how having a passion for the arts can give you strength. People need to be accepted for who they are and they might find other friends who feel the same way. I mean, the young monster, Alma (which by the way means soul in Spanish) who Gustavo wants so badly to be friends with stays invisible throughout the whole story. 

Soon to be a Halloween favorite! 

Nana Says I Will Be Famous One Day by Ann Stott. Illustrated by Andrew Joyner

Some Grandmas are Nanas; Some Grandmas are Grammies. Some Grandmas are Bubbies. I am a Mimi. The one thing that ties us all together is our unconditional love for our grandchildren. We are all gaga for them! I know I am personally a Rootin’ Tootin’ Mimi who loves to play, take walks, and bake cupcakes whenever I have the chance! This book shows the beauty of the so necessary intergenerational friendship between an elderly person and a young child. It shows that age knows no bounds when it comes to love. This book shows that cats and dogs can get along, that it’s ok to be over the top in love and it is also important to be able to be taken care of and to know when someone needs your support. This is just how this relationship should be. Having grandparents in your life is a beautiful gift. Here is a great article about the necessity of grandparents in your child’s life. 

Thank you to Candlewick Press for these books. All opinions expressed are my own.

Mindful Book Reviews by Eve: This year the Easter Bunny is bringing some Egg-cellent books from Candlewick Press!

This year the Easter Bunny is bringing Egg-cellent books from Candlewick Press! 

Follow Me Flo! By Jarvis 

I just cannot get enough of the lively bright yellow Flo and her adorable facial expressions-those eyes really tell it all! All of the cartoon-like characters are so animated they practically jump right off the page. This story tells in a fun and relatable way the importance of listening to your parents, paying attention and that being responsible is very important yet it can be fun too. The story is a sweet sing-song style which can lead to many fun interpretations from opera to rap. This will keep the story lively and current and will encourage some fun out-loud sharing moments. Additionally, each page is sprinkled with tiny bugs that fly and hop and are just as cute as can be! Great book that is clear and will elicit some giggles while delivering a very serious message.

Hazel and Twig: The Lost Egg by Brenna Burns Yu

Hazel & Twig, along with their Umma and Appa (which mean Mom and Dad in Korean) live in an adorable diminutive world full of hopes and dreams. There is some scientific learning about different types of eggs and bird life, but mostly it is a sweet tale of sisterhood, kindness and cooperation. Each illustration is so delicately depicted that you are literally swept into their tiny world. I am thoroughly enchanted by each tiny flower stem. This is a delightful tale that gently explains that finders are not keepers, and sisters are your best friends! 

Thank you to Candlewick press for sending these books. All opinions expressed are my own.

 

Yoga and Mindfulness Games for the Holidays (plus 6/1-minute breathing activities to bring calming, peaceful energy)

Spending time with family and friends is a great time to practice mindfulness. Here are three games, plus 6/ 1-minute meditations you can do anywhere, anytime.

Mindful Jenga

What you’ll need:

• Jenga game
• Set of yoga, mindfulness, table talk…cards
• Family/Friends

How to play?

Set up the game. Shuffle all cards together. Turn pile upside down and place near the game.

1. Traditional rules of Jenga apply. Do not choose tiles from the top 3 tiers.
2. Choose a tile. Breathe in. Remove tile carefully. Breathe out.
3. Place tile on top of the tower.
4. Flip top card. Everyone completes the designated action. If a yoga pose is chosen, take a breath in and out in the pose. Do both sides, if needed.
   

   

   Card Deck Suggestions:

• A Therapeutic Treasure Deck of Grounding, Soothing, Coping and Regulating Cards by Dr. Karen Treisman
• A Therapeutic Treasure Deck of Sentence Completion and Feelings Cards by Dr. Karen Treisman
• Creative Yoga Games for Kids (Vol 1 & 2) by Yoga Education Resources
• Mindful Kids: 50 Activities For Calm, Focus & Peace  by Whitney Stewart
• The Go Yoga! Card Set: 50 Everyday Yoga Poses for Calm, Happy, Healthy Kids by Emma Hughes
• Yoga Pretzel Cards by Tara Gruber and Leah Kalish
• Yoga Warrior Cards: Radiant Child Yoga Games by Shakta Khalsa
• Another mindful activity: Make your own deck. Draw favorite yoga poses, “this or that’s”, etc.

 

Yoga Memory

What you’ll need:

• Yoga Memory Set (of course you can make you’r own too…which could be a totally other mindful activity. Everyone designs two yoga/mindfulness activity cards….. They can be similar pictures or  even two aspects of the same idea…which could lead to cross matching….oh! So many options)
• Family/Friends

How to play?

Mix-up tiles/cards. Set up game. Traditional memory has 36 matching pairs for a total of 72 tiles. Reducing the number of tiles used can make the game easier and more fun if needed for special adaptation. .

1. Traditional Memory rules apply.
2. When a pair is found, all participants practice the activity.
3. Breathe in and out in each pose. Do both sides of a 2-sided pose.

 

Found Object Mandala

A mandala is a series of concentric circles, beginning with a central concept, an then radiating out to the outer rim with repeating shapes, colors or designs.

What you’ll need:

• Nik-Naks, Bric-A Brac, screws, nuts and bolts, pins, jacks, toy cars, ABC blocks, sea glass, beach rocks, or head outside for a walk and collect leaves, acorns, stones….everything and anything that has multiples.
• A large open space, maybe covered with a table cloth.
• Friends/Family
  

  

  

  

How to play:

1. First, look around the space you are in and find mandalas, for example, a clock face, the ceiling sprinklers, window moldings, etc. Think of  mandalas outside, for example, the sun, a flower, a hubcap, etc.
2. Work as a team to build the mandala.
3. For fun, take photos throughout the process. This makes a nice flip book or picture video or even a nice picture for next years holiday card.

 

6/ 1-Minute Meditations:

1. Whistle Breathing: Whistling is breath and music combined that you create with the lips. It is very powerful because it relaxes inside and out. It creates inner balance.
   

   A. To do it on the inhalation: pucker your lips, concentrate on the third eye point, and inhale through the mouth making a high-pitched whistle. Exhale through the nose. Focus the third-eye point on the sound of the whistle on the inhalation and on the soft sound of the breath through the nose on the exhalation.

   B. To do it on the exhalation, reverse the procedure: inhale through the nose and exhale through the puckered lips with a whistle. Focus the eyes at the third eye point and focus the third-eye point on the sound of the whistle on the inhalation and on the soft sound of the breath through the nose on the exhalation.

2. Tongue Action Meditation A:  Stick your tongue: left, right, in, out. You will start to laugh!
3. Tongue Action meditation B: Roll your tongue on the inside of the mouth around the gum and lips (not the teeth) as if you are wiping peanut butter off from the inside of your mouth. Can switch directions 1/2 way through, if desired.
4. Kiss the air! Pucker up and kiss the air. Or possibly kiss the left palm and then the right, back and forth.
5. “Z” Stand: Balance on toes; bend knees slightly as if to start sitting down; arms out, parallel to the ground, palms facing down; Chin gently dropped; Eyes 9/10th’s closed; Breath-of-fire. Short sniff in and short puff out with the nose or circled lips. Focus on the navel point.
6. 4-Stroke Breathe: Emergency calming activity! Breathe in 4 strokes with the nose; Breathe out all in one stoke, to the count of 4,3,2,1. (the exhale can be through the nose or with the mouth).

 

 

Mindful Book Reviews By Eve: Halloween Picture Books from Candlewick Press

Where’s The Witch? Ingela P. Arrhenius

This is a very sweet, fun baby’s first activity book. It’s a guessing game with fun textural flaps and great introductory words about everyone’s favorite holiday…Halloween. The illustrations are adorable and are created with a bright, pleasing color palette. The “surprise” mirror at the end is crystal clear and the viewer’s image is well reflected-which I think is VERY important. Cuteness abounds!

Pick A Pumpkin by Patricia Toht; Ill. Jarvis

Really fun, quirky rhymes carry the reader from pumpkin patch to Jack O’ Lantern. Pick A Pumpkin offers the true nitty-gritty of the whole pumpkin carving process alongside a loving ode to the beauty and wonderfulness of family fall-time traditions. The adorable wide eyed children are presented in a gorgeous varied fall inspired palette and I love the multi-layering effects. A great book to read aloud as the rhyming just rolls of your tongue and

I highly recommend it and cannot wait to share it with my granddaughter!

Hide and Seek by Katie May Green

This book’s old world appeal is so charming and sets the mood perfectly for this fun and not too scary romp into the night for a game of hide and seek. The lavender-eyed beauties slip out of their picture frames one night and out into the garden for a night of fun and giggle inducing shenanigans. Each page offers the reader a chance to look for the twins and I love the onomatopoeia of the rain storm that sends them all scurrying back inside. The illustrations are beautifully detailed and with simple dark scratchy lines create a pleasant nighttime feel to this wonderful addition too the Halloween book tradition.

I highly recommend it and cannot wait to share it with my granddaughter!

Thank you to Candlewick Press for sending me these books. All opinions expressed are my own.

For more information about Accessible Yoga & Flamenco, please visit alwaysbedancing dot com

#bookreviews #children #picturebook #mindfulness #alwaysbedancing #evecostarelli #fiction #iameve #theaccidentalkundalini #peacemoji #influencer #halloween #holiday #tradition #pumpkin #whitch #ghost #jackolantern #Readaloud #diversity #juvenileliterature #candlewickpress #nosycrow #books #bookreview

Mindful Book Reviews By Eve: Mateo Finds His Wow A Story Of Wonder And Gratitude by Gabi Garcia

Mateo Finds His Wow A Story Of Wonder And Gratitude by Gabi Garcia (Illustrations by Charity Russell; Skinned Knee Pub.) 

Gabi Garcia has done it again! Mateo Finds His Wow is a beautifully worded and illustrated story about a child in a funk who, through simple mindful attention, discovers the “wow-ness” of life in the moment. Ms. Garcia’s books fill an important niche in children’s mindfulness books as her books are so well crafted and sincere that they fit the needs of both adult’s and children’s connection to the stories.

This book packs a ton of wow! Be prepared to be positively changed by this wonderful book of awareness, curiosity and the amazement of the little things in life. The book is accompanied by bright wall charts that are helpful reminders of how to find the ¡WOW! in life.

A special note about the lovely and beautifully detailed illustrations by Charity Russell. They match the story perfectly and I really love the eye catching and fun fonts. 3 Cheers!

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

For more information about me, please visit alwaysbedancing dot com

#bookreviews #children #picturebook #mindfulness #alwaysbedancing #evecostarelli #fiction #iameve #theaccidentalkundalini #peacemoji #gratitude #wow #influencer

 

Mindful Book Reviews By Eve: Roots And Wings: A handbook for parents and educators to promote positive change based on the principles of mindfulness by Alex Koster M.Ed.

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.

Mindful Book Reviews By Eve: 3 Books by Florenza Lee

3 Books by Florenza Lee:

Barry Bear’s Very Best: Learning To Say No To Negative Influences by Florenza Lee; Illustrated by Michelle Wynn

This book addresses the very heavy and real life topics of drugs, bullying and bad choices through the very positive eyes of a young bear who is of strong conviction and knows that striving to be the best he can be is the way to live a happy, satisfying life. He is a wonderful role model and because of the deepness of the topics, it can be shared with children as well as pre-teens and up as well. It is a very accessible story highlighting goodness in oneself.

 

The Tail Of Max The Mindless Dog: A Children’s Book on Mindfulness by Florenza Lee; Illustrated by Michelle Wynn

I really like how the main character, the mindless dog, is an analogy to the way our thoughts run rampant in our heads, like a dog mindlessly chasing its tail. Relentless and mind numbing. This book does a great job introducing deep belly breathing and the use of chanting to bring focus and calm. The chant is cute and memorable. I really like the straight forward approach of this book and it can be shared not only with children but pre-teens and up as well.

 

Welcome Home Daddy Love, Lexi: “Hi, I am…” Book Series by Florenza Lee; Illustrated by Maria Guevara

This is a very deep, reflective and richly detailed story of a very important topic. It is beautifully written with such love and compassion and I am sure speaks truly of this sacrifice of the whole military family unit. It was hard to read without tearing up. This story highlights the courage and strength of these families

This dynamic trio of straight forward help book are full of positive characters who face adversity but are able to remain true to themselves and use self-determination, courage and self-respect to fight against the odds. These are strong books and they need to be heard! These are especially good for addressing trauma and for learning how to be strong and courageous!

Thank you to Florenza Lee for sending me these books. All opinions expressed are my own.