Mindful Me

February 1, 2018

Gr 3-7-A great guide for middle graders looking to incorporate mindfulness into their daily lives. The book presents mindfulness as a means of helping young people manage emotion, stress, anxiety, and concentration. Mindfulness and self-care strategies, which are referred to as "Mindful Me Practices," make up the majority of the book's content. This gives it a hands-on, practical perspective. Chapters are divided based on various different contexts for mindfulness, such as emotions, thoughts, actions, and how to be mindful in and out of one's home. Each section features various techniques presented with step-by-step directions, which often includes meditation and breathing exercises, as well as journal prompts for further reflection. Straightforward language and Peterson's kid-friendly drawings make an abstract topic accessible to late elementary and early middle school-aged readers. This volume can serve as a helpful resource to both students and caregivers. VERDICT A practical toolkit for processing emotions through mindfulness techniques and an excellent purchase for schools incorporating mindfulness into their curriculum.-Kathryn Justus, Renbrook School, West Hartford, CT

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2018
An earnest introduction to a secular mindfulness practice. After introducing basic vocabulary and definitions, Stewart explains meditation and breathing techniques using the metaphor of a toolbox. Seven more chapters provide detail about how to apply the tools to the inner self, emotions, thoughts, actions, heart, home, and outside. Some chapters include guided visualizations. Each includes broad journal prompts and encourages the use of the Mindful Me Activity Book (sold separately). The final chapter reminds readers that mindfulness is a practice that takes time and attention. Stewart is careful to not guarantee specific outcomes and leaves the choice of how and when to use the exercises open to readers. Still, repetition of similar points and her earnest tone sometimes come across as preachy. Older children may find the self-conscious, repeated use of the branding phrase "MINDFUL ME," instead of simply "mindfulness," patronizing. In the introduction, Stewart claims 12 benefits to mindfulness practice that "scientists and doctors have discovered" but cites no studies or sources to support this assertion. There is a nod to inclusion with illustrations showing a child in a wheelchair and another with glasses, as well as children with varying skin tones and hairstyles. However, middle-class assumptions and values permeate the situations used to explain the technique, as in the assumption that readers will have their own bedrooms, or indeed quiet rooms at all, to retreat to.Teachers may find this well-meaning guide useful, but it won't be top-of-mind for most children. (Nonfiction. 8-12)

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April 1, 2018
Grades 3-6 Starting with the premise that there are no easy fixes to life's problems, only changes one can make within oneself, the author of this mindfulness toolbox introduces tween readers to techniques for handling their lives with wisdom. The book offers pointers for using mindfulness techniques such as meditation, present-moment awareness, and journaling to manage the inner self, emotions, thoughts, actions, the heart, the home, and the outside (community). Although the book is organized by topic, it suggests that readers might find some areas more useful to themselves than others and recommends exploring the techniques that work best on an individual basis. It also stresses that learning mindfulness is a process and takes practice. The writing, though slightly didactic, is clear and avoids dropping trendy descriptors without explaining them. There is mention of a corresponding workbook, but this can be used on its own. Inclusive illustrations portray children of different ethnicities, genders, and physical abilities, reinforcing the idea that everyone can become a mindful me.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2018
This self-help book offers a "toolbox of mindfulness practices" with directions for meditation exercises, visualization techniques, and other strategies for handling emotions, stress, and negative thinking. Stewart's persistent "MINDFUL ME" branding is distracting, and her tone can be preachy. That said, her descriptions ("Meditation is like a personal pause button") and the black-and-white illustrations are both kid-friendly, and the topics (technology, social media) are timely.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)