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.
Mindful Book Reviews By Eve: Stay Cool at School by Lori Lite*; Illustrated by Richard Watson
I love how mindfulness in schools is becoming the norm and that more and more teachers and school districts are interested in bringing mindfulness and self-help strategies into their school communities. In my opinion, the younger we can start this the better, as empowering our young children with strategies to deal with big emotions, can only be a win-win for the children themselves and the greater community at large.
Lori Lite is in the top of the tier of people offering easily accessible ways to bring mindfulness into the classroom. Her most recent book Stay Cool at School is an adorable and extremely important book for teachers of young children (ages 3-9) who want to help their students identify big emotions and offer them tools to cope. Since coping is a practice, the more this is encourages, the more likely the students will be able to access their wisdom at times of high emotions.
In the story, the two adorable dream monkeys, Jumpy & Sunny help the young child in the story to identify the big emotions experienced, from anger to over-excitement to embarrassment and joy. In each instance, they offer up various breathing strategies that anyone can do, without anyone else even noticing, to increase a sense of calm, self-control and to encourage a positive outlook.
The illustrations are very cute and I love the fun color palette. The scenarios and emotions are well articulated and this book can be enjoyed over and over again.
I highly recommend this book to families and school communities alike. Libraries should have a section for mindfulness books specifically aimed at children. I know I am going to embrace this book and share it with the children I have the opportunity to work with through my children’s yoga program. Its fun and engaging nature make it an easy fit as a gateway into mindfulness for young children.
*A special note: Stay Cool at School is only available through Scholastic Book Clubs. Contact your child’s teacher for their order/login with the teacher’s information to their club and/or their 5 digit class code. More information here http://bit.ly/LLStayCool
For more information about Always Be Dancing: Yoga & Flamenco for Every/Body, my mindfulness/yoga/dance program, please visit: alwaysbedancing(dot)wordpress(dot)com.
¡Olé Namaste! Eve Costarelli
Thank you to Lori Lite for sending me a copy of this book. All opinions stated are my own.
In conjunction with the Multicultural Children’s Book Day, I received several wonderful, diverse books, from both Second Story Press and Star Bright Books. I really appreciate that both companies have shared missions to include a strong representation of underserved communities. Special shout out to the #readyourworld community for spreading this mission across the planet.
Dynamic Women Dancersby Anne Dublin
This book will help your child (or you) fall madly in love with dance. These women were risk takers, self-determined, creative forces in movement. The book offers a great variety of dance styles with dancers I both knew about and those I had never heard of before. I was able to expand my knowledge. This is a great mid-grade non-fiction book about dance. The author, Anne Sokolow, takes great pride in revealing unique details and a strong history for each dancer. This book is a marvelous jewel!
Emily Includedby Kathleen McDonnell
This is a wonderful book! It is not just the earnest tale of a brave and determined young girl but it is an honest and openhearted story about a young girl with cerebral palsy that allows us to witness her feelings, experience her disability first hand and also how to become supportive, communicative allies. Not everyone knows how to act with people who are bound to wheel chairs or with other physical, developmental or learning restrictions but through the telling of her tale, Emily, shows us how to be respect, act with compassion and just allow that everyone is part of what makes life natural. This is the groundbreaking story of a family determined to fight for equality and justice, not just for themselves, but for all people with disabilities. Their message is heard loud and clear, “Inclusion benefits everybody.”
Papa Gave Me A Stickby Janice Levy; Illustrated by Simone Shin
Love this book! So cute and sweet! The illustrations are totally charming. I love the similarity in the boy’s and his father’s faces. That really pulls you into the story. The color palette is soft and subtly textured and very beautiful. Very, very nice!
The story takes you through a series of mindful and kind hearted events that lead to its happy ending. I love this book and its positive message about the beauty of imagination, creativity and the belief in the unknown.
Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2017 (1/27/18) is in its 5th year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into A Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. Our mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in home and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents and educators.
Current Sponsors: MCBD 2018 is honored to have some amazing Sponsors on board.
We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also works tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.
Papa Gave Me A Stick by Janice Levy; Illustrated by Simone Shin
I Am Uniquely Eve 