Posts Tagged ‘Smiling Like Sunshine’

The Happiest Tree: A Yoga Story Childrens Book Review

Posted in Book Review, Yoga, tagged a yoga story, Book, Book Sharing Monday, Children, Children's literature, Kid Lit, Little Red Riding Hood, review, Smiling Like Sunshine, the happiest tree, Yoga on February 20, 2012 | 4 Comments »

It’s Book Sharing Monday from Smiling Like Sunshine! We read a lot of books in this family and I love hearing from other parents when they come across a book that their kids liked. So, I’m going to be adding weekly posts about books that my kids recommend. Feel free to share any you’ve come across that might be a nice complement to the one I’m reviewing
***
The Happiest Tree: A Yoga Story

This book tells the story of Meena as she learns to focus and believe in herself through her practice of yoga. It begins with Meena enjoying painting the sets for her school production of a “new and improved” version of Red Riding Hood, until she spills the paint and feels embarassed.

Then, she finds out that everyone has to perform in the play and is nervous because she feels clumsy. The adults who interact with Meena in the story are good listeners and are supportive, rather than being critical as Meena worries about tripping and stumbling.

Meena and her mother take a trip to the Indian grocery store, where she finds out from her Auntie that there is a children’s yoga class that her Auntie thinks might help Meena with her awkward feelings.

Meena gives it a go. She has trouble focusing in rehearsals and tends to make mistakes in and out of yoga class. But, after a few weeks of practice, she has a thought light up her mind,

I can change my body by how I feel inside. If I am quiet inside, my body will be still. That’s what yoga is really about.

On the night of the performance, Meena trips, stumbles and gets tangled up in her costume. But, she takes deep breaths, focuses and doesn’t let anything bother her. She decides to take what she learned in yoga class with her on the stage and enjoys the performance. She learns that no matter what, she can recreate this feeling for herself whenever she wants to.

The final page in the book shows a few of the key poses that Meena tries in her yoga class and recommends a few yoga books for children. I agree with the list, although the poses shown do not have any instructions on how to do the poses or breathing exercises, which would have been useful.

The illustrations are beautifully colored and the references to Indian culture add a nice flavor to the book. My kids didn’t know what matthi was. So, we went to an Indian grocery store and bought some as a treat. (if you don’t know what matthi is, I highly recommend getting some. It is delicious.)

I knew my 5.5yo son would enjoy this book since he’s into his kid’s yoga class right now and thought my 3.5yo son might, too, since he has been watching more kid’s yoga dvds lately. I was surprised that this book had interest for my 19mo son. But, he asks for this one often. He like to pretend to eat the food on the pages and do down dog when he sees the yoga class. This might not be a typical result for this age, though. My youngest is currently in a love affair with books (that I hope dearly lasts forever) and will read several picture books in a row with me before losing interest.

Activities:

Read “Little Red Riding Hood” and talk about the differences between the version they created in this book and the fairy tale. Make up your own endings-the more far-fetched the better.
Ask your kids to teach a “Red Riding Hood” yoga class to you. They can make up poses for each of the characters and run around the forest acting out the story. Put on your best wolf-face pose!
Get outside with some trees and practice tree poses. Is there wind blowing the trees around? Do they stand still and tall or droop and sway? Is there yummy fruit or cupcakes growing from your tree to pick? What can you observe about real trees then use your imagination about to create something new.
Try some movement exercises with feelings. What does mad look like in your body? Or joyful? Or shy? And so on. If your child doesn’t want to move their body, this would also be a great play dough or painting experiment.

Review of Little Yoga and Sleepy Little Yoga Books (touchstonez.com)
Namaste! Book Review (touchstonez.com)
Tiger, Tiger, Is It True? Book Review (touchstonez.com)
All Children’s Book Reviews on TouchstoneZ (touchstonez.com)
Babars Yoga for Elephants Childrens Book Review (touchstonez.com)
Mean Soup Children’s Book Review (touchstonez.com)

Have you read any good books lately? I’d love to hear from you.

Read Full Post »

Seeds of Change Book Review

Posted in Book Review, Peace, tagged Book, book-review, Children, children's book review, Children's literature, Green Belt Movement, Jen Cullerton Johnson, Kenya, Kenyan, NaBloPoMo, Nobel Peace Prize, Peace, Seeds of Change, Smiling Like Sunshine, Sonia Lynn Sadler, Tree, Wangari, Wangari Maathai on November 7, 2011 | 2 Comments »

It’s Book Sharing Monday from Smiling Like Sunshine! We read a lot of books in this family and I love hearing from other parents when they come across a book that their kids liked. So, I’m going to be adding weekly posts about books that my kids recommend. Feel free to share any you’ve come across that might be a nice complement to the one I’m reviewing
***

Seeds of Change: Wangari’s Gift to the World

by Jen Cullerton Johnson (Author), Sonia Lynn Sadler (Illustrator)

This gorgeously illustrated book tells the story of Wangari Maathai and how she created peace through her connection to the environment and her love of people. It begins when she is a little girl and her mother tells her about the mugumo tree. Her mother explains how the mugumo is a home to many creatures and how it relates to the memories of their ancestors. Wangari loves the mugumo and promises never to cut it down.

Wangari wants to go to school. But, girls rarely go to school in Kenya. Her brother begins teaching her at home until the two of them convince their parents to send her to school. When Wangari grows up, she goes to college in the US before returning to Kenya as an activist for the environment and for her home country. She watches as native trees are clear cut to make room for coffee plantations. She sees how it is destroying the land, the traditions, and the people of Kenya.

She begins a movement to plant trees. She travels from town to village, teaching others about how to plant trees and rebuild the ecosystem for the benefit of people and the environment. She is put in prison for a time, but upon her release she travels the world to share her passions for peace and speaking about the harm the deforestation is bringing to the Kenyan people. Eventually, Kenyans listen to her message and she returns to her homeland as minister of the environment. At the end of the book, Wangari receives the Noble Peace Prize.

My oldest son picked up this book from the library because he liked the cover. We had no idea what it was about. So, this was a wonderful surprise. The message is simple and inspiring. My sons were mad that the grown ups wouldn’t let girls learn just because they were girls. They keep coming back to this point over and over because my answer that some people think some boys are better at some things and some girls are better at other things doesn’t make sense to them. They understood the message of the book that anyone can do anything if given the chance.

They love the idea of planting trees and get downright angry at the deforestation. My 3yo said, “Don’t they know it’s stupid to cut down all the trees? They can’t breathe.” So, it’s natural to them that she is, as my 5yo said, “a good guy who gets a reward.” The harsh issue of being imprisoned is mentioned, but not in a way that broaches subjects I wasn’t prepared to talk about. I have already begun the dialogue with them that sometimes people make mistakes and put people in prison until they understand better. They know that prison is a place to keep bad guys until they become good again (or not) and that sometimes good guys are mistaken for bad guys and vice versa.

The subtitle of this book is, “Planting a Path to Peace” and it truly does show how Wangari did this. The message of empowerment and love are overwhelming in this book. It makes you feel good and I’m happy to read this every time we pull it off the shelf. The fact that this is based on a true story is something my kids really like. They ask me every time if Wangari really did those things or if they are made up. The artwork is brilliantly colorful, with bold lines. If you purchase this book, I suggest getting the library binding or hard cover version to enjoy the drawings.

Activities to create with this book:

Plant a tree (especially a fig tree like mugumo.) Or at least some seedlings. Let the kids start a garden inside or out and discuss how growing their own food contributes to their health, to their family unit, and to the environment.
Go on a nature walk and have your kids collect leaves from the various trees. Identify the leaves and glue them into a nature journal. Identify which, if any are native trees.
Identify on the map where Kenya is and where you live. Discuss the differences in climate. Draw pictures of what animals and plants live in your area and what animals and plants might live in Kenya (or if you’re in Kenya, then pick the US, where Wangari went to school) Talk about how different places can be, but we’re all people with families who care for one another and the earth.
Write a letter together about what the kids think about planting trees and what they like about trees. Mail or email it to the Billion Trees Campaign or to someone who represents you in your own government.
Pull out some butcher block paper or poster board and, using the bright colors in the book as inspiration, create a mural together of the mugumo tree and all the animals and people that enjoy living nearby it.
Cut figs open and examine them. They’re quite fascinating to look at, smell, touch, and eat. Record observations. Figs are also great for stamping.

All Children’s Book Reviews on TouchstoneZ (touchstonez.com)
Remembering Wangari Maathai: People Should Be “Active Participants” in Environmental Restoration (treehugger.com)
Remembering Nobel Prize Winner Wangari Maathai (npr.org)
Wangari Maathai, 1941-2011 (feministphilosophers.wordpress.com)

Have you read any good books lately? I’d love to hear from you.

Read Full Post »

The Three Questions Book Review

Posted in Book Review, tagged Book, book review, Children, children's book review, Children's literature, Giant panda, Jon J Muth, kidlit, Leo Tolstoy, NaBloPoMo, Nikolai Gogol, Smiling Like Sunshine, The Three Questions [Based on a story by Leo Tolstoy], Zen Shorts, Zen Ties on November 1, 2011 | 9 Comments »

The Three Questions [Based on a story by Leo Tolstoy]

The Three Questions

by Jon J. Muth

I vaguely remember reading the original Tolstoy short story in college and found it to be plodding and heavy-handed, but that was my rebellious, immature self. I did adore his novel-lengths works. If I ever decide to delve into Russian lit again, I may have a different reaction. But, I share this with you as it may color this review.

The Three Questions tells the story of a boy, named Nikolai, and his three questions,

When is the best time to do things?
Who is the most important one?
What is the right thing to do?

First, Nikolai asks his questions of his friends, Sonya the Heron, Gogol the Monkey, and Pushkin the Dog. Their answers are centered around their specific worldview and are dissatisfying for Nikolai. So, he climbs a mountain to ask the the wise old turtle, Leo. Nikolai ask his questions, but puts them aside as he sees Leo is struggling to dig in his garden. He takes over digging in the garden to help Leo.

Then, a storm blows in and Nikolai rushes to help an injured panda. He carries her from the woods to Leo’s house, where he warms her and tends her leg. When she wakes, she cries for her baby and Leo rushes back to the woods to bring the baby panda back to the warm safety of his mother. The pandas are happy and Leo has been helped.

Nikolai feels at peace, even though he has not found the answers to his three questions. Then, Leo points out that Nikolai’s actions gave him the answers to his questions on their own:

When is the best time to do things? Answer: Now.
Who is the most important one? Answer: The one you are with.
What is the right thing to do? Answer: To do good for the one you are with.

At the end, Leo says, “This is why we are here.”

I agree with the central message of this book and it sparked some interesting discussions with my sons about the three questions and what is the right thing to do. I found it interesting that the message Nat wanted driven home to me was that I would be doing the right thing by giving him everything he wants right now. We may disagree over the word “need” versus “want.” But, in essence, he is correct.

Having a yogini mother, they’ve heard about being present, that now is the only reality, and how relationships with others are our reasons for living lets say, a few times. They were familiar with the central themes enough that it held their interest a few times. But, it hasn’t been a highly requested book compared to the series by Muth with Stillwater.

When I checked this out from the library, I didn’t realize it was another Jon J. Muth book until the page with the panda illustration. I recognized his hand from the Zen Ties series with Stillwater the panda. Sadly, I found most of the illustrations in this book to be too washed out to impress my sons. They noticed the pops of color, such as the red kite and the darkness on the page with the storm in the forest.

I do think this book is worth checking out from the library to see whether your children will connect with it. I also suggest Jon Muth’s other books highly. My kids especially enjoyed Zen Ties which has a very similar message to this book (including the red motif.)

Activities to create with this book:

Spoken Arts Video has this PDF with activities and questions for the K-5 crowd based on their video version of the book. I think it’s a little advanced for the younger elementary-aged student, but the activities are inspired. We did the “line down the middle” activity and found it enjoyable. My kids were less interested in the other activities.
Look at the Richard Scary “Busy Town” books and discuss their jobs, relationships, and how they help (or don’t help) one another. My kids loved doing this. We made up stories together about the pictures with them providing huge imaginations and me gently steering back toward the three questions.
Discuss with your children the idea of people or animals who are in need. Brainstorm about different ways to help those less fortunate. Write down every idea, no matter how far-fetched or untenable. The point is to get them in the mode of thinking about what might help. Follow through on whatever cause is workable for your family (for us, it meant dropping off towels, blankets, and old medicines at the local animal shelter.)
Have a “Help Out” day when you ask your kids for help with all sorts of fun activities like creating huge bubbles in the sink or fingerpainting rocks. Be present with one another as you enjoy “helping out” in creating something tactile and fun.
Make a red kite like Nikolai’s in the book and go fly it!

All Children’s Book Reviews on TouchstoneZ (touchstonez.com)
The Three Questions and The Art of Now (candidness.wordpress.com)

Have you read any good books lately? I’d love to hear from you.

Read Full Post »

Tiger Tiger Is It True Book Review

Posted in Book Review, tagged Book, Byron Katie, Children, children's book review, kidlit, Smiling Like Sunshine, Tiger Tiger Is it True on October 24, 2011 | 5 Comments »

Cover of "Tiger-Tiger, Is It True?: Four ...

Cover via Amazon

Tiger-Tiger, Is It True? Four Questions to Make You Smile Again

by Byron Katie

I made the mistake of taking Nat with me to pick up a costume that I had found on Craigslist. I didn’t want to spend 40 minutes to drive home and back, when the person selling the costume was 5 minutes from where we were. He spent the next 4 days whining at me and telling me how unfair I was not to let him have the costume right away. He told me how mad and sad it made him. I tried to keep my patience as best I could while still gently explaining that I was working on not getting mad with him. I explained that I was glad that he was using his words to express his feelings and that I would listen.

We pulled out a few books to help talk about the difference between him and his feelings. We talked about how he could try to choose how to feel about something. It is hard to remember that nothing can “make” you feel a certain way when you are feeling overwhelmed.

“Tiger, Tiger, Is It True?” is the story of a Tiger cub who is having a rotten day. He thinks life is unfair as he has one thing after another happen to add to this feeling. He meets up with a turtle who asks him to question his suppositions about his feelings and other people “making” him feel alone, unheard, and undervalued. He listens to Tiger Tiger say things like, “Nobody cares about me.” and asks, “Are you certain this is true that NO ONE care about you?” Then gently guides Tiger Tiger to see that this is not completely true and in the process, diffuses the feelings of sadness and frustration.

My son got the message loud and clear. He then proceeded to tell me that he was choosing to stay frustrated about not getting his costume because he wanted it so much. I said that I understood his choice and I knew that he felt heard. I began suggesting that he think of way to compromise. He didn’t want to wait, yet couldn’t afford to buy the costume. We don’t pay our kids for doing things around the house. They get their weekly money because they are a part of the family. Everyone in our family contributes to household chores and everyone earns weekly money. My son suggested that he forego his allowance for the next month to help pay for the costume. To get the costume now, instead of waiting until he had enough money, he decided to be a “big helper.” Then, he would ask again if I felt he was ready for his costume.

He truly was a big helper and I did give him his costume later when he asked. It was interesting because he did not express that he was doing chores to “earn” his costume, but rather he was helping to show how seriously he took enjoying the costume. We talked about Tiger, Tiger and he said that being a big helper was like Tiger Tiger riding his bike with his best friends in the book. It felt good!

This book was written by Byron Katie, who wrote, among other books, the adult version of this “Tiger, Tiger” called: Loving What Is, Four Questions That Can Change Your Life. I highly recommend checking it out as well if you like the message in this children’s book. The idea that you can break the cycle of your thoughts has been extremely helpful to me in my journey to break PPD’s hold, as well as in every day life (especially in parenting.)

Activities to create with this book:

When a child is calmed from a tantrum or other difficult emotional period, grab some puppets or small toys and perform a show with your child in which you ask the turtle’s questions. Then flip it, so your child has a turn to ask some questions. You’ll be pleasantly surprised what comes out in this type of freeplay.
Get outside in the grass and do some Yoga, pretending to be animals: such as a tiger, turtle, zebra, rhinoceros. You can look up some Yoga poses or just use your imagination to pose your bodies like the animals. Think of the characteristics both physical and the ones exemplified in the book (for example, the turtle is slow and deliberate. The zebra is flighty and carefree.)
Go to the waterside and skip stones or toss rocks. Talk about the ripples and how they affect one another when they meet up. Talk about the state of the stone in and out of the water. Observe that even though the rock may be wet or dry, still or moving, seen or unseen, it remains a rock. It reacts to its environment but its nature isn’t changed by it.
Act out being frustrated and ask your child to be the one to calm you. Wail and moan. Stomp your feet. Talk about how unfair everything is. Wish for someone like turtle to help you choose to feel differently about these things.
Some tiger printables and activities to use with this book from Coloring.ws. I like doing the coloring pages side by side at times and telling our own version of the story together, taking turns with the events and allowing it to spin into a totally new tale.

Mean Soup Book Review (touchstonez.com)
Book Review: Namaste! (touchstonez.com)
Review of Little Yoga and Sleepy Little Yoga Books (touchstonez.com)
Books Blog and Buddha Bubbling Up (touchstonez.com)
Peaceful Piggy Meditation Book Review for Book Sharing Monday (touchstonez.com)
Zen Ties Children’s Book Review for Book Sharing Monday (touchstonez.com)

Have you read any good books lately? I’d love to hear from you.

Read Full Post »

Mean Soup Children’s Book Review

Posted in Book Review, tagged Book, book review, Child, Children, Children's Books, Children's literature, Emotion, Home, Horace, kidlit, Mean Soup, Parent, Sark, Smiling Like Sunshine, Soup, Tantrum on October 17, 2011 | 4 Comments »

Cover of Mean Soup

Mean Soup

by Betsey Everitt

One of the things I try to support with my children is that feelings are okay. Feelings are neither good nor bad. They just are. It is up to each person to decide how to be when they feel something.

I try to avoid phrases like, “That made me [feeling]” or “I am [this feeling]” in favor of phrases like, “I like/did not like [that action]” or “I feel [feeling].” It’s pretty ingrained in me to say the former and I have to practice the latter. But, it is an important difference in empowering my kids to manage their feelings as they are able. The point is that even when someone reacts to a feeling, there is nothing wrong with that. Every moment is another chance to choose how to react or not react to something. If the current moment is missed. There will be another one.

Since my children are children, I try to access the idea of feelings as being okay through roleplaying, imaginative play and games, empathy and modeling, just acting silly, and lots of reading. This book, Mean Soup, covers all of these areas nicely.

The little boy in this book, Horace, comes home after a bad day. He’s feeling so mean that he hisses at his mother then throws a temper tantrum. So, his mom puts a pot of water on the stove and proceeds to make soup. She tosses some salt over her shoulder then playacts anger into the pot, inviting an intrigued Horace to join her. Together they scream and act out their anger into the pot.

I pulled this book out when my 3 year old was really mad and we read it together. We hissed, screamed and blew dragon breath into the book to get all the mean out. It was a safe, playful place for him to handle the mean feelings that we threatening to overwhelm his preschooler mind. And I didn’t lose my patience with his emotional outburst.

My 5 year was entranced. So, we immediately read it again. And again. And again. This time with my 15 month old latched on and giggling at us all while we made mean sounds into the book. Mean Soup has turned out to be a go to favorite for my kids.

If I am ever at a loss to use play to handle big emotions, having this book on hand is going to be a useful tool. This is one I’m buying instead of borrowing from the library.

How to Really Love a Child

Activities to create with this book:

Make the soup described in the book (pot, water, salt, spoons, etc) and act out getting mad at the soup until everyone dissolves into giggles. This one never gets old with the kids. It is a powerful emotion diffuser!
Stomp around with a grumpy look on your face and state, “I am grumpy parent. I will never eat any soup someone makes for me. No matter how much a nice person tries to make me eat soup. I will not because I am grumpy!” Chances are, you’ll be presented with soup. You can then refuse to eat it even if spoon fed, restating how grumpy you are. Eventually, the child will be able to soften even the grumpiest parent with their Mean Soup.
When someone is grumpy, I get them in water (as mentioned in the Sark poem.) We made Mean Soup in the bathtub or the shower, using various toys as ingredients and utensils. As mentioned in a previous post, my kids used MeanPinkKangaroo in the soup and reveled in delight as they ate her.
Get out the crayons and draw a big pot then invite your kids to draw “Mean” ingredients or make giant scribbles all over the page.
Grab a tissue or a feather and see if you can use your dragon breath to see who can keep them in the air the longest.

Peaceful Piggy Meditation Book Review for Book Sharing Monday (touchstonez.com)
Zen Ties Children’s Book Review for Book Sharing Monday (touchstonez.com)
Book Review: Namaste! (touchstonez.com)
Review of Little Yoga and Sleepy Little Yoga Books (touchstonez.com)
Books Blog and Buddha Bubbling Up (touchstonez.com)

Have you read any good books lately? I’d love to hear from you.

Read Full Post »

Zen Ties Children’s Book Review for Book Sharing Monday

Posted in Book Review, tagged Book, book review, Book Sharing Monday, Buddhism, Children, Children's Books, Children's literature, Giant panda, homeschool, Jon J Muth, Kid Lit, Smiling Like Sunshine, Stillwater, Zen, Zen Ties on October 10, 2011 | 6 Comments »

Cover of Zen Ties

Zen Ties

by Jon J. Muth

I have to admit, I was surprised my kids like this one. I thought they might be bored part way through as the plot and message aren’t entirely obvious. There isn’t a lot of action or definition to the book.

But, I think that is what held their attention and got them excited to pull this off the shelf repeatedly.

The giant Panda, Stillwater, is waiting at the train station for his nephew, Koo, who will be visiting him for the summer. He greets him by saying, of course, “Hi, Koo!”

We find out that Koo enjoys speaking in haiku. I enjoyed exposing the kids to this form of poetry, which they have seen a few other times, but are still a bit baffled by it. We enjoyed talking about what the words mean. Nat (5yo) said that, “the words made pictures for me.”

The message of the book is how we are all interconnected and that all we need is a little open-mindedness to care for one another. It’s subtle, but powerfully done and, while my kids miss the nuances, they did get the message. Again, I was surprised that even my 3yo was able to say that it was important to care for our neighbors after reading this book.

Stillwater tells his friends, the neighborhood kids, that he would like them to accompany him and Koo on a visit to an older woman who lives down the street. At first, the kids are unhappy about this because Miss Whitaker yells at them to stay off her lawn. But, they help Stillwater prepare some soup to share. The children notice that Miss Whitaker isn’t mean, she is just alone and not feeling well.

The oldest boy has already spoken with Stillwater about being nervous about an upcoming spelling bee. It turns out that Miss Whitaker used to be an english teacher. She helps with the spelling bee preparations while the other kids clean, paint, and hang their art around her home.

By the end of the book, everyone has done something kind for the others, and they are all pictured around a table enjoying tea, and wearing red ties together (get it?)

I am describing the plot, but really how each person changes their perspective is shown in small ways through the art and words hinting, but never speaking them directly. I think part of the reason it works so well is that the author illustrated and wrote the book, which allows it to fully express the message he is communicating. It is a different approach than most children’s books. One that I think is quite effective, made even more so by the contrast to the other “message” books we read.

Zen Ties Panda Poses

My sons’ favorite part of the book has to be inside the covers, though. They love grabbing a small stuffed animal and reenacting each of the poses. Sometimes they say they’re doing jujitsu; sometimes it’s tai chi; sometimes yoga. I’m happy no matter what they call it.

Zen Ties Panda Poses

Activities to create with this book:

Create a zen garden: Gather a shallow bin or cake pan, some sand or rice, shells, small rocks, and fork. Place the shells and rocks on the sand/rice. Use the fork to slowly smooth and create patterns in the sand/rice around the objects. Then they can destroy the designs and begin again.
Recreate one of the pages in the book by tying a balloon to a rock so that it is at mouth height. Sit in front of the balloon as use your breath to move the balloon.
Have a tea party. Put on some red ties and, if you know how, make some real or imaginary apple tea. Practice serving one another and telling stories. Or have a spelling bee over tea.
We also had fun using flashcard words to create haikus. I traced the outline of the flashcards in haiku form on a piece of paper, then they placed any words they wanted in them. We read them and talked (mostly laughed) about what the poems meant.
Some panda printables and activities to use with this book from First School

Here is a short (under 3 minute) introduction to the book by the author, Jon J. Muth

Posted with WordPress on my BlackBerry while NAK in the dark (enjoy the typos

Book Review: Namaste! (touchstonez.com)
Review of Little Yoga and Sleepy Little Yoga Books (touchstonez.com)
Books Blog and Buddha Bubbling Up (touchstonez.com)
Peaceful Piggy Meditation Book Review for Book Sharing Monday (touchstonez.com)

Have you read any good books lately? I’d love to hear from you.

Read Full Post »

Peaceful Piggy Meditation Review for Book Sharing Monday

Posted in Book Review, Meditation, Yoga, tagged book review, Book Sharing Monday, Buddhism, children's book review, children's meditation, Kerry Lee MacLean, meditation, Peacful Piggy Meditation, Practices, Reading (process), Smiling Like Sunshine, Yoga on October 4, 2011 | 3 Comments »

Peaceful Piggy Meditation Book

Peaceful Piggy Meditation

By Kerry Lee MacClean

It’s no surprise that I really liked the main message in this book: No matter what life throws at you, you can find ways to feel calm yourself. I find myself saying too often to my kids that we don’t have time for something or rushing them out the door to get to an activity. I hope that they learn the practice of self-centering through meditation and Yoga. So, naturally, I show them by example, provide some tools to practice, and then back way off.

This book is one of those tools that they can choose to use. I’m planning to purchase the entire series by this author, including the follow up to this one where the Piggies practice Yoga.

The illustrations are bright, but soft enough to be calming and the phrasing of the sentences made it easy to read aloud. I could read this aloud upside down the first time through without any flubbing and spent more time discussing what the piggies were doing than I often can the first time through a book. The story was engaging enough that my kids paid attention and began encouraging the Piggies along. By the time the piggies began meditating, it was an easy transition and was worded in such a way as to encourage the little readers to try it for themselves.

There are several activities and notes on creating a meditation practice with your children, although I do think they are a bit overwhelming at first. Realistically it isn’t possible to begin a meditation practice for children at 10 minutes. I don’t know many adults who can do that as a beginner easily. Beginning with less than a minute of meditation and slowly working to longer periods by observing readiness is a goal that will keep it fun and light. Also, seated meditation is not necessarily the best way to start. Lying in bed with the lights dimmed at the end of the day might be a better option. Or if a child is very active, then moving meditation with yoga poses, a taped line or pattern to walk, or even balancing on one foot may work better.

The point is for the meditation to be enjoyable and something that the child, like the Piggies in this book look forward to as a time for personal connection.

The author’s website, Family Meditation, hasn’t been updated in years and has many dead links. But it does have a flash-powered ”Meditate with the Piggies” walk-through. My kids enjoyed clicking on the singing bowl.

Read Full Post »

Book Review: Sweet Briar Goes to Camp

Posted in Book Review, tagged book review, booksharing mondays, picture book review, Smiling Like Sunshine, Sweet Briar Goes to Camp, Young-adult fiction on June 27, 2011 | 2 Comments »

Book Review: Sweet Briar Goes to Camp

Sweet Briar Goes to Camp

My oldest son’s current favorite book is Sweet Briar Goes to Camp, written by Karma Wilson, illustrated by LeUyen Pham.

It’s about Sweet Briar, a young skunk, and her experiences at her first summer camp. Before Sweet Briar leaves for camp, she is worried about fitting in and making friends, but her parents reassure her. She does make friends and fits in well, but she notices a porcupine named Petal who is not fitting in. As the other animal children make jokes at Petal’s expense and exclude her from activities, Petal makes good-natured, if a bit self-deprecating jokes. She does notice what is happening, but is also comfortable enough in her skin to be different and not be angry at the others.

Sweet Briar acts with respect as she explores what it is like to picture herself in another person’s shoes. She doesn’t laugh with the others’ jokes. Instead, she observes Petal and decides she likes this happy porcupine. At the end of the book, the animals have craft time. Sweet Briar makes a pine cone version of Petal and gives it to her. When one of the others questions her, she says she likes Petal because “She has a nice smile, a pretty voice, she’s funny, and she makes me laugh.” Petal has made flowers for each of the girls and they become friends.

My sons summed it up: almost 5 year old son says, “Sweet Briar made everyone friends for what is on the insidey-ness.” My almost 3 year old said, “Skunk Briar was friends with everybody!”

I really like the messages of this book. Everyone can be accepted for who they are without compromising themselves. It’s okay to take a chance and like someone else, even when you have worries about being accepted. Even those who were making fun of Petal were accepted and forgiven without any shaming or blaming.

Related Posts: