Christopher Willard

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 show more 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. show less

This book helps children to identify their feelings and then gives them a rhyme (accompanied by an exhortation to breathe deeply) to recite when they are experiencing strong negative emotions such as anger or sadness.

While this book has an inspirational message and I think could potentially be helpful in teaching kids some positive thinking and techniques, it struck me as more didactic than its picture book format would suggest. Still, it's not a bad book to share in a classroom setting or show more especially in a one-on-one situation.

The illustrations do feature a diverse set of children, which is important. show less

Note that in the back the author credits real children with inventing these breaths!

Some are similar to each other. But there's enough variety, and enough ones that I didn't know nor ever thought of, that I wish I owned a copy of this. And since anyone who ever feels stress or pain should have controlled breathing in their repertoire, and since this is easy, cute, & accessible, I recommend it to everyone, hence the five star rating.

This alphabet picture book helps children learn about calming themselves with mindful breathing by using creative techniques from A to Z. For instance, B is for a butterfly breath in which you gently move your arms like wings during in and out breaths while J is for a joint breath done in unison with a friend or family member. Just reading this book is soothing, but actually stopping to do the breaths as described, with slow in and out breaths while making a wish or thinking of someone for show more whom you are grateful, is a gift in itself. This is definitely good for sharing as a lapsit read or even asking your child (or students) to do one breath a day together until you get through the whole alphabet. I'm not sure that it would work as well for a group readaloud (e.g., storytime), but it might work depending on the audience. show less