Mindfulness

Children’s Picture Book Review – I Hear You, Forest

 

 

I HEAR YOU, FOREST

Written by Kallie George

Illustrated by Carmen Mok

(Greystone Kids; $17.95; Ages 3-7)

 

I Hear You Forest cover

 

When a child walks through the forest and hears its majestic sounds, we’re reminded by author Kallie George that the forest needs to be heard in I Hear You, Forest, with breathtaking illustrations by Carmen Mok .

As a new mom, George knows the importance of helping babies and toddlers juggle their emotions. And the simple words, “I hear you” let them know they are heard and they are respected. The story takes the reader on a walk, guided by the child protagonist, stopping to hear what the forest has to say while feeling George’s love of nature in the gentle prose. The full-page green palette, surrounded by yellow flowers and tiny birds, serenades the dark-haired girl taking time to metaphorically stop and smell the roses (although there are no roses just tall trees and happy wildlife).

 

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Interior spread from I Hear You, Forest written by Kallie George and illustrated by Carmen Mok, Greystone Kids ©2021.

 

The young girl in the red jumpsuit lays motionless on the forest ground with yellow birds flying overhead, and white rabbits hopping happily across the grass. “Creak, creak. I hear you, Trees, stretching skyward. Are you trying to tickle clouds?”

 

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Interior spread from I Hear You, Forest written by Kallie George and illustrated by Carmen Mok, Greystone Kids ©2021.

 

The words are simple but the message is strong, as Mok’s art shows her stopping to notice the nature around her. She is living in the present moment. Such a wonderful message to learn at a young age. What child hasn’t done this on a sunny day? Peaking behind the green leaves, the girl spies a nest with eggs. “So that’s where Robin hides her eggs.”

Interacting with her new forest friends, the child holds a blinking contest with a frog and sings along with the soft blue stream. Mok’s illustrations bring the reader into the story as if they too were sitting on a forest floor. Her face takes in the smells of nature standing under a squirrel-packed tree limb. “Nibble, nibble. I hear you, Squirrels, tasting treasures. Is it time to stop and snack?”

Through each lush and atmospheric page turn, we meet new animals and feel the empathy the child experiences for the beauty and marvel that surrounds her. Holding her mother’s hand, the girl simply says “I (heart) you, Forest.” As she turns, she witnesses the animals watching them walk away.

Sitting in my backyard as I write, listening to the birds singing nearby, I feel just what the young girl felt. It’s powerful, rewarding, and relaxing, too. I encourage parents to read this book to their children and then take them on a stroll through their local park or forest. You’ll truly enjoy the outdoors when you stop, listen and learn. I’m pleased to know this is the first in a series of books and look forward to reading the other books that follow because “The forest has lots to say … if you listen.” 

  • Reviewed by Ronda Einbinder

 

 

#nature #interconnectedness #communication #empathy #imagination #awareness

 

 

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Picture Book Review – Mop Rides The Waves of Life

MOP RIDES THE WAVES OF LIFE:

A Story of Mindfulness and Surfing

Written by Jaimal Yogis

Illustrated by Matthew Allen

(Plum Blossom; $16.95, Ages 5-8)

 

Mop Rides The Waves cvr

 

Mop loves to surf the ocean waves but when life doesn’t go the way he wants it to go, Mom tells him “he’s a great surfer but needs to learn to surf life” in Mop Rides The Waves of Life, written by Jaimal Yogis, author of numerous books and an avid surfer, with illustrations by surfer and artist, Matthew Allen.

This book of mindfulness takes the reader through a week in the life of Mop, a boy with an adorable head of hair that resembles a mop. Allen’s illustrations of not only Mop’s full head of hair, but the hair of all the characters (Mom’s long hair is pulled back and his friend Sammy’s hair is shaved on the sides with short natural hair on the top of his head) provide a great feel for the personalities of each character.

 

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Interior spread from Mop Rides The Waves of Life written by Jaimal Yogis with illustrations by Matthew Allen, Plum Blossom Books ©2020.

 

Mop is having a great weekend. He “loves to wait for just the right wave … TO RIDE!” But on Monday, Mop returns to school and his frustration at teasing and other issues gets the best of him. He reacts rather than ignores. The rest of the week remains status quo. The colorful watercolor art, so right for a book about surfing and life, perfectly captures the anger on Mop’s face when things don’t go as expected. And Allen’s drawing of the boy sitting alone in the classroom with an open book pretty much explains it all to readers who may have also experienced missing recess at one time.

Things aren’t much better at home when Mom makes him clean the van on Wednesday “And on Thursday we ran out of my favorite cereal. It was officially a BAD week.” That’s when Mom decides to take Mop surfing after school. Sitting on the sand in easy sitting pose wearing yoga attire, Mom teaches Mop how to surf life. “You start by feeling your breath go in and out like the tides. Breathing mindfully helps you notice the emotional waves inside.”

Readers see the words Fear, Anger, and Sadness written inside the waves as Mop sits on his yellow surfboard. Life’s ups and downs are as natural as the ocean’s waves explains his mother. Mop then recalls his Mom’s words of wisdom as he glides under the waves and flips his board. He deals with it. He’s learned from his mother’s powerful surfing metaphors that “falling is the best way to learn.”

 

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Interior spread from Mop Rides The Waves of Life written by Jaimal Yogis with illustrations by Matthew Allen, Plum Blossom Books ©2020.

 

Happily, the end of Mop’s school week improves as he takes these tools into his life away from the ocean. He even apologizes to those friends that he became angry with. And when those angry feelings pop up again in math class, Mop focuses on his breathing, “in and out like the tides. I remembered angry waves are natural.”

Young readers see how Mop reacts to frustrating situations and how they, too, can learn to surf life with calmness and soothing breaths. This charming picture book, with its economy of words and original take on teaching mindfulness to kids, is a helpful and enjoyable read for all the Mops out there. Don’t we all occasionally have trouble getting along with others, or just going with the flow? Kids learn that even if they aren’t familiar with surfing, they can still study the lessons of the waves by bringing mindfulness and the joys of surfing to life. I am passing my copy over to my surfing brother-in-law who teaches elementary school.

  • Reviewed by Ronda Einbinder

 

 

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Picture Book Review – Unicorn Yoga

UNICORN YOGA

Written by Gina Cascone & Bryony Williams Sheppard

Illustrated by Jennifer Sattler

(Sleeping Bear Press; $16.99; Ages 4-8)

 

Unicorn Yoga cover

 

 

Breathe in. Breathe out. Every “body” could use a bit of yoga in their lives and what better way to introduce this mind-and-body practice to children than through the eyes of unicorns. Unicorn Yoga, written by mother-daughter writing team Gina Cascone and Bryony Williams Sheppard and illustrated by Jennifer Sattler, presents a Unicorn Yogi guiding two eager students through a ten-pose class.

The white colored, pink-tressed Unicorn Yogi, with the big purple eyes, sits in Easy Pose. She guides the focused blue unicorn, and mischievous pink unicorn who seems to have her own ideas on how the pose should look. “We begin by sitting on our mats, crisscross applesauce. In Easy Pose, we are mindful and centered. Om,” Unicorn Yogi explains. The term crisscross applesauce has been used for years to get children to sit still, but that isn’t always easy for the pink unicorn.

 

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Interior artwork from Unicorn Yoga written by Gina Cascone and Bryony Williams Sheppard with illustrations by Jennifer Sattler, Sleeping Bear Press ©2020.

 

Sattler uses her vivid imagination to bring huge grins and giggles to the young reader in her art. Check out the blue unicorn contemplating how delicious the mouse running by looks, while the others are focused on Cat Pose; or how the pink unicorn lets out a bit of ummm … gas when “her tail is high in the air as energy rushed through her body in Downward-Facing Dog.” This made me laugh because it’s a well known effect of this pose in yoga classes. She sweetly says “excuse me” so all is quickly forgiven.

The authors take the reader to Forward-Fold Pose and explain, “any way you do it, you are strengthening your legs in a Forward-Fold pose.” And any way you do it is right, as the teacher demonstrates with a rounded spine and forehead reaching towards her toes, as blue unicorn does her best to bend forward and our favorite pink unicorn does a pose that looks more like the pose Happy Baby laying on her back. Sattler paints a bite out of the mat in this drawing, so I think our pink unicorn friend was a bit hungry in class as well. Other poses demonstrated include Plank Pose, and Relaxation Pose “where it’s finally time to take our rest” (otherwise known as nap time for our pink unicorn who curls herself up in fetal position).

 

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Interior artwork from Unicorn Yoga written by Gina Cascone and Bryony Williams Sheppard with illustrations by Jennifer Sattler, Sleeping Bear Press ©2020.

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Sattler writes Breathe in Breathe out on the bottom of each page to remind the reader about the importance of breath before movement in every yoga practice. The backmatter explains how yoga is good for everybody and every body—even unicorns. Cascone and Sheppard introduce two types of breathing exercises that both adults and children can practice to help calm the body and mind. They also explain the importance of “practice, practice, practice and that the most beautiful pose always comes with a smile.”

This new picture book is a great introduction to the practice of yoga and a fun read for the whole family. With yoga and mindfulness being taught more and more in schools across the country, Unicorn Yoga is a wonderful and helpful book to demonstrate some basic poses, while not taking it so seriously as our pink unicorn shows us. As a yoga instructor myself, I found this book to be an easy explanation to this centuries old tradition, and hope it will encourage students to begin their own daily practice. Namaste (the light in me recognizes and honors the light in you).

•Review by Ronda Einbinder

 

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Kids Book Review – Daniel’s Good Day by Micha Archer

DANIEL’S GOOD DAY
Written and Illustrated by Micha Archer
(Nancy Paulsen Books; $16.99, Ages 3-6)

 

Daniel's Good Day Book Cvr

 

The people where Daniel lives always say, “Have a good day!,” but Daniel wonders what is a good day? The curious young boy strolls through his neighborhood to find out and discovers a wonderful world full of answers as varied as his neighbors. Micha Archer’s signature award-winning collage illustrations return in Daniel’s Good Day, a story about finding happiness while living in the present moment, and the perfect companion to Daniel Finds a Poem.

 

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Interior illustration from Daniel’s Good Day written and illustrated by Micha Archer, Nancy Paulsen Books ©2019.

 

Daniel is a friendly child who takes a walk from his home to his grandmother’s house where passing neighbors wave and say, “Have a good day!” with smiles on their faces. We see a man walking his dog; a woman painting a house; and sanitation workers emptying neighbors trash cans into their trash truck.

 

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Interior illustrations from Daniel’s Good Day written and illustrated by Micha Archer, Nancy Paulsen Books ©2019.

 

We are first introduced to Mrs. Sanchez, an atypical scene teaching kids that both women and men can take on any job, who is hanging on a ladder while painting the outside of a home. “What makes a good day for you?” he asks. “When skies are clear so I can paint,” she tells him.

 

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Interior illustrations from Daniel’s Good Day written and illustrated by Micha Archer, Nancy Paulsen Books ©2019.

 

As Daniel continues on his route to Grandma’s house, he meets Emma who is flying a kite wishing for a steady wind, and a bus driver who just desires “a please and a thank you.”

 

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Interior illustration from Daniel’s Good Day written and illustrated by Micha Archer, Nancy Paulsen Books ©2019.

 

Turning page after page, I discovered that each person craved happiness for the action they were doing in the present moment. The neighbors’ answers did not involve what they wanted from the past or want in the future. The gardener was focused on her flowers, so craved bees, and the mail carrier was happy seeing dogs wagging their tails as he delivered the mail.

When Daniel arrives at Grandma’s house her day is made complete by him giving her a hug. The sweetness in the story is with the ending when Daniel tells his Mom what a good day is by repeating all the things the neighbors told him, written in a poetic stance to entertain the listener.

 

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Interior illustration from Daniel’s Good Day written and illustrated by Micha Archer, Nancy Paulsen Books ©2019.

 

Archer’s oil and collage artwork introduces the reader to Daniel who independently embarks on a quest for an answer through a diverse cozy small town.  The lush artwork depicts blossoming trees and people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, drawing in the listener who will be captivated by the many colors.

The simple yet meaningful sentences teach youngsters about all the wonderful and diverse people they are surrounded by in their community, while reminding the adult reader that happiness can be found in the moment, and that kindness can be given by looking up at people (not down at cell phones) and reminding them to Have a good day!

  • Reviewed by Ronda Einbinder

 

For another review by Ronda, click here.

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