I’ve been reading this book lately, in honour of Mental Health Month. It explains to the reader how we can use our breath for more than just breathing; it can help us deal with anxiety, fear, insomnia, or when we’re feeling tired in the morning. It gives instructions for 4 specific breathing exercises that anyone can do. Many of the kids were following along as I was reading!
This is such a sweet little book! Poor Little Owl falls from their nest and is lost, but with the help of some forest friends, is reunited (after a few tries) with their mommy. The kids laughed when the squirrel tried finding the mommy owl, but kept picking completely random animals.
I actually found this book by reading another Chris Haughton book, Don’t Worry, Little Crab, which I had chosen for Mental Health Month.
I read this book to the kids at the start of December and it went well. Fox and Hare, two unlikely friends, have never experienced snow before. They go in search of it, asking other animals if the various different white things they see are snow. They grow too tired from their journey to return home, and, while hunkered down for the night, it starts to snow. They have a wonderful surprise when the awaken in the morning. Although I really like this book, I wish there was an extra page for when Fox and Hare wake up and see snow; I feel like the climax was a little lacking given how much time the two animals spent searching. Alas, it’s a really sweet book and will likely be one I read to classes again in the future.
I love this book! Basically a take on the “bull in a china shop” idiom, Clovis the bull takes over his Granny’s china shop. Although he finds himself much calmer running the tea shop than he did when he used to play football, some former opponents make fun of him for his new vocation. He uses various techniques to curb his anger at being bullied, such as breathing exercises and cuddling his cat, but when the bullies break his granny’s favourite tea cup Clovis finally loses his cool. The last second before charging into the antagonists, a tea bag dangling in his face reminds him of his granny’s words that broken things can be fixed. With these words in his heart, Clovis invites the bullies over for tea and they work together to clean up the china shop.
Aside from the play on the bull on the china shop idiom, I also really liked the concrete examples given for dealing with big feelings. I know from personal experience that cuddling my cat or dog makes me feel better, and I really want to try breathing exercises more! Although I can’t say I’d ever want to invite bullies over to my house to share a hot beverage, I suppose it is an option! Regardless, I really like this story and enjoyed reading it to my library classes today!
I’ve been reading this book to kids lately during library and it’s so sweet. It’s about how it’s OK to be OK at an activity; you don’t need to be exceptional at an activity in order to enjoy it. This basically sums up my life.
I discovered this book the other day in the library and it is so cute! Cat becomes good friends with Yarn, but when Girl turns Yarn into a sweater Cat is a little upset. After realizing how cold it is outside in the snow without wearing a sweater, Cat decides he can be friends with this new version of Yarn. It is such a cute read and the last picture of Cat is so adorable!
An EA recently returned this book to the library and I took a minute to read it and thought it was so cute! Poor little Worrysaurus is always worried but takes a minute to stop, think on his mother’s advice that if it isn’t a happy ending then it hasn’t ended yet, and hold some personal items close to help his worries pass. He feels much better and is able to carry on and enjoy his day with a new friend. I appreciate Rachel Bright gave some specific ways to help anxiety and I love the illustrations. When Worrysaurus is worried, the illustrations tend to be darker, and when he is feeling better, they are bright and colourful.
I’ve been reading this to classes this week and it is just so cute! A child makes a snowman but is surprised to see it looking a little different the next day. This leads the child to imagine all the different things snowmen might get up to at night. It’s such a cute book and the kids have enjoyed pointing out the funny things happening to different snowmen on the pages. I will definitely have to read it to my daughter to see what she thinks.
I love Nick Bland books and totally forgot all about this one! I read it today in honour of Halloween (although I guess it isn’t technically a Halloween book?) and the kids enjoyed it. Poor Marcel the monster is not very good at scaring kids until a child accidentally opens his lunch box to find a very unappetizing and, frankly, scary meal inside.
I’ve been reading this book to classes the last few days and it is really cute. It starts out like “The Night Before Christmas,” but is definitely a much creepier take to the Christmas version. Our creepy creatures are preparing their delicious feast of bugs, slugs, rotten eggs, and other not-so-yummy items to share with the trick-or-treaters, but for some reason, the kids are much too scared to share in the feast! As the kids run home, the creepy creatures continue on with their party and have a great Halloween night! The illustrations are very detailed and creepy (not super creepy, but probably too creepy for my 4-year-old) and I feel kids could spend a good chunk of time looking at them. It’s also a rhyming book, which is always my favourite!
Library Worm 