Christopher Willard

Breathing Makes it Better is intended to help children aged 3–6 learn to work with difficult emotions using mindfulness, awareness, and breathing, and inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh and his teachings on breath awareness. As its subtitle states, it is “a book for sad days, mad days, glad days, and all the feelings in-between.” The book takes readers through various challenging situations—“when trouble lurks around every corner,” “when the world feels strange and lonely,” “when life seems unfair and beyond your control”—and in each case reminds readers to “stop and take a breath.” With each situation, the authors also go a step beyond breath and offer an affirmative guided practice, for example, imagining that you’re a tree blowing in the wind, paired with an imaginative illustration. Children of various ethnicities will see themselves represented in the illustrations in Breathing Makes it Better.… (more)

While I wondered if mixing ABCs with breathing skills would really win young readers over, this book surprised me and proved that it can...and even be a ton of fun along the way.

This is the companion book to Alphabreaths: The ABCs of Mindful Breathing, a book I have not read. But that isn't an issue, since this one is very much a book all on its own. These pages center around the idea of making kids more aware of their breathing and offers fun techniques. Starting with 'A' (Astronaut Breath), various breathing and movements are connected with scenes and emotions in a fun and imaginative way. Each one of these encourages young listeners to do the movements themselves. From backhoes to bridges to dinosaurs and more, young listeners learn to breath in certain ways and play along. It's simply fun and will have young listeners very engaged.

The text, while only carrying a short paragraph, is appropriate for those, who are very sure of their words, and is best used as a read-aloud. It is written in a way the age group can understand and will recognize what is happening. It flows smoothly and offers the opportunity for pause between each letter, so listeners can join in and do each motion.

The illustrations made me smile. I, honestly, wasn't expecting these to be as well done as they are and had fun simply flipping through. The scenes are gentle, yet pack joy and imagination. The characters are friendly, diverse, and invite listeners to play. It's a warming read and stays positive the entire way through. Each scenes is easy to recognize and will be familiar to young listeners.

This is a fun read which will have listeners working right along with each letter and breath. I can recommend it to groups as well as individuals. I received a DRC and was impressed at how well done this is.… (more)

This is a high concept. Looking for the spaces between things. Mostly the book is asking the reader questions or to do things, mainly looking for spaces. The spaces between a jump and a land, the space between a clap, the space between the trees. I think for this book to truly be the lesson it wants to be, you have to have an adult who believes and sees the world like this. I like the story, but feel I can do nothing with it. I wouldn’t use it for storytime, and while I know it is to help in the concept of Mindfulness, it just seems too vague.… (more)