Balloon Breath by Amanda Given
Amanda Given, an author, speech language pathologist, yogi, mother, mental health advocate, and child at heart, has given us a charming story with colorful and playful illustrations that will help any child, young or old, open up and learn to deal with their feelings, all by learning about Balloon Breath.
This obviously is an important topic for children and their parents or guardians. So much has been written about the difficulty of young children to understand and control their emotions, with strategies from learned scholars and therapists on how to cope. Yet sometimes, it’s the simplest of stories to which children can best connect, putting them in a position to learn and grow.
That’s why BALLOON BREATH does such an impressive job of helping children open up and deal with their feelings. The book, geared primarily to pre-schoolers in the 2-to-5 age range, is a simple tale in which Lonnie is frustrated with the behavior of his brother Curly, who has taken his blanket, and dominated the channels on the TV set to his own liking and without consideration of his brother. Lonnie feels like he is going to explode with anger.
Fortunately, his favorite babysitter Scarlett comes over and tries to instill happiness into the atmosphere with fun activities, by eating, pretending to be lions, going to the upbeat sunroom — anything to create a cheerful mood. Finally, Scarlett explains what she does when she gets mad: “Sit criss cross applesauce. Take a DEEP breath in. That’s it. Now exhale all the air out.”
The babysitter extends her ritual to what she calls Balloon Breath, allowing Lonnie to take deep breaths into a balloon and blow the mad thoughts right into it. “Let the air out of your balloon and say goodbye to all those yucky, icky thoughts,” Scarlett says. The exercise leaves Lonnie with nothing but happy thoughts. Scarlett has effectively saved the day.
A NEW FAVORITE OF YOUNG READERS
The author’s own 10-year personal journey with depression helped her find purpose in writing and teaching yoga/meditation to children. Amanda is a child at heart with a grownup soul. She has playful energy that is shared when she teaches children fun and creative yoga poses.
“I wrote my book to help children and their caregivers manage their big emotions,” says the author, whose story is complemented with marvelous illustrations by Polina Hrytskova. The book also includes fun and easy activity for parents, adult guardians, teachers and children to reinforce the message.
Reviewers say their children loved the book, found it easy to understand and couldn’t get enough of it.
“I have read this book a few times already to my preschool class (three year olds) and they love it! The illustrations are colorful, and the storyline is simple enough for little ones to follow. I also enjoy that this book has a little lesson plan/activity guide at the end of the book to extend the lesson,” says Amazon reviewer Brianna.
For a delightful book with a simple yet valuable message, pick up a copy of Balloon Breath for your children. As Given says, “Kindness is always inside of us. I hope Lonnie finds a happy, cozy and safe place in your heart. He’s always there to remind you to inhale and exhale.” Learn more at www.amandagiven.com
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