Happy: A Beginner's Book of Mindfulness

by Nicola Edwards, Katie Hickey (Illustrator)

Overview

A perfect bedtime read, this picture book gently encourages children to explore the senses and discover their path to mindfulness.

"Mindfulness is all about connetion with ourselves and the world around us."

This poetically-written introduction to mindfulness touches upon the most important aspects of life--feeling, discovering, smelling, listening, and all the things that bring the world to life. With every soothing read and practice, children are better equipped to understand and control their own emotions...and diiscover an appreciation for the beautiful world around them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593121207
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	04/21/2020
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	970,777
File size:	93 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Nicola Edwards was raised by the seaside in beautiful Brighton. She loves reading, dancing, rhyming, and turquoise things. She now lives with her husband in East London and spends her days writing and editing children's books.

Katie Hickey is a freelance illustrator who graduated from Falmouth University in beautiful (and slightly soggy) Cornwall, England. Katie takes inspiration from her travels and surroundings to create characterful and atmosheric images. She uses a combination of hand-rendered print processes and digitial techniques to create her work.

Editorial Reviews

02/21/2020

PreS-Gr 2—Asked what makes them happy, most children will likely name familiar people and things around them: their parents, their dogs, and even ice cream and mud puddles. The book asks readers this very question as it takes them through aspects of mindfulness. Some of these concepts will be more familiar to children than others. For example, listening. Kids know that listening is important, but they don't really know why. This title is recommended for young children, though the ideas here seem more suitable for older children. As a lap book or a class read aloud, it is too much at one time. It could be useful for teachers who can use aspects of mindfulness on their own from time to time. Learning about listening, for example, would be useful to help children on a nature walk experience their surroundings more fully. Detailed, atmospheric illustrations show children in different environments. VERDICT Beautifully written and illustrated but not suitable for very young children.—Joan Kindig, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA

School Library Journal

2019-12-18
Young readers are encouraged to stop and "smell life's sweet roses" in order to find happiness.

Despite the saccharine opening, this title provides a mostly solid collection of mindfulness minipractices. Each spread features one sensory or emotional focal point, such as listening, feeling, and appreciating. Irregular lines of rhyming text set atop lush illustration provide context for how to practice; a question or statement encouraging reflection provides direct instruction. For example, five diverse children snuggle up near a fire in a room tinted red for the spread that focuses on love. The text prompts readers to consider that happiness grows from acts of kindness. The concluding question asks, "Have you given someone a smile or a hug today?" Though giving smiles and hugs isn't necessarily a mindfulness practice, it is a way to encourage kindness and compassion. Connection with the natural world is emphasized through the illustrations' idyllic rural setting. Though it falls into many of the same traps as others in the growing genre—conflating mindfulness with happiness, lumping multiple social-emotional learning strategies together under the name of "mindfulness," and romanticizing isolation from day-to-day city and suburban life—the overall utility of this book is strong.

A fine resource for sharing moments of mindfulness, empathy, and reflection with young children. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews