Healing Breath

October 1, 2021
This guided meditation begins with a comforting note from the author validating climate anxiety and other concerns. According to this opening text, the purpose of the book is to help readers cope with worry "about the future of our planet," which will, in turn, "empower" them to take action. The meditation begins by asking readers to get comfortable and to notice their breathing. The author asks them to observe whether their breath is "short," "long," "deep," or "shallow." Next, the author compares readers' breathing to the push and pull of the ocean, an exercise that leads to a more complex visualization of different aspects of nature. Readers are asked to picture themselves on a beach, then floating over a coastline, a grassland, and a jungle. After moving up and up ever higher--so high, in fact, that they are on top of towering mountains--readers are asked to imagine the people on Earth, such as fishermen, herders, and farmers. Finally, readers descend back to the forests, fields, and deserts--then plunge into the center of the Earth, where it is calm and peaceful and possible to just breathe. The book's illustrations are striking and feature characters with diverse skin tones and hair textures, including one dark-skinned child who wears hijab. The words are lyrical and comforting, and the images that the meditation conjures are both kid friendly and relaxing. A poetic and beautifully illustrated meditation. (Picture book. 3-6)

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January 1, 2022

K-Gr 4-After successfully collaborating on Big Breath: A Guided Meditation for Kids, Meyer and Jacobs deliver another guided meditation for children in picture book form. A note to readers suggests that such meditation can offer a connection to the Earth and allows them to feel empowered when facing anxiety over the planet's future. After grounding readers in a starting position, Meyer guides them through their breath to a focus on the ocean, and then across the world, flying over landscapes and observing animals and people as they interact with the land. Throughout the journey, readers are gently encouraged toward mindfulness by noticing the qualities of the things around them. After the final landing, kids are asked to reflect on how they feel and to send love, peace, and energy out into the world. The text suggests that readers' eyes should remain closed during the meditation, as is common practice. However, for those who chose to read the book in a more traditional manner, the vibrant watercolor illustrations offer suggestions of where the imagination could wander. Three young participants, one Black, one white, and one with brown skin and wearing a hijab, float in and out of the illustrations among the vivid but soft nature scenes and swirls of color. VERDICT A worthwhile addition to any library serving young children, and particularly useful for classrooms seeking to build a mindfulness practice.-Clara Hendricks

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