From the Publisher
Noteworthy in its inclusive approach…. Empowers readers to decide who they want to become and gives them tools for figuring that out. —Kirkus Reviews
—Kirkus Reviews
"Many of the exercises, including meditation, naming heroes, and environmental awareness, have strong curricular tie-ins or connect to SEL goals. A must-purchase for library or classroom collections promoting self-knowledge and mindfulness for middle-grade students."—School Library Journal
School Library Journal
06/01/2021
Gr 4–6—Finding mindfulness texts appropriate for middle-grade readers and the adults in their lives can be a struggle, but Chopra has filled the chasm with this latest installment in her series, which includes Just Breathe and Just Feel. Beautifully laid out and with a focus on diversity in both the realistic illustrations depicting children and adults of different backgrounds and abilities, as well as the inclusive language in the text, Chopra succeeds in unflinchingly acknowledging the benefits and challenges of feeling different. Chapters introducing key concepts are interspersed with mindfulness exercises designed to calm, to promote self-knowledge, and to focus energy on positive thoughts like gratitude. With a focus on helping middle-grade children understand who they are, and by extension respect and understand others, Chopra untangles and names the feelings commonly experienced by this age group while also offering coping strategies. Many of the exercises, including meditation, naming heroes, and environmental awareness, have strong curricular tie-ins or connect to SEL goals. An afterword by the author's father, Deepak Chopra, as well as a bibliography, is aimed at the adult audience serving this age group. VERDICT A must-purchase for library or classroom collections promoting self-knowledge and mindfulness for middle-grade students.—Courtney Lewis, St. Catherine's Sch., Richmond, VA
Kirkus Reviews
2021-01-27
An approachable guide for building social-emotional growth and mindfulness skills in kids and young teens.
Broken into four parts—“Who Am I?”; “What Do I Want?”; “How Can I Serve?”; and “What Am I Grateful For?”—this book offers tools for youth to better understand themselves and to put themselves in charge of what kind of people they want to be. Each section provides an accessible variety of centering activities that require minimal time and supplies, such as breathing exercises, connecting with one’s name, learning about religions, dream journaling, setting intentions, and discovering what brings them joy, to name a few. Each activity comes with guidelines on “time needed” and “location” to perform it along with necessary materials, if any; many are delightfully open-ended: “As long as you want, and over and over again!” Noteworthy in its inclusive approach, this recognizes a variety of experiences and how one’s life is influenced by family, race, religion, nationality, and socio-economic status as well as if the reader is a person with a disability and/or is transgender, homeless, or in foster care. In a section on dealing with disappointment, it acknowledges systemic racism and inequity. Full-page illustrations in cool and calming tones depict peaceful-looking children demonstrating the activities, consciously presenting a racial-, cultural-, and ability-diverse range of youth.
Empowers readers to decide who they want to become and gives them tools for figuring that out. (afterword, resources) (Nonfiction. 9-13)
