It's all about stories!: Books about... feelings, mindfulness and wellbeing

Upside down books have sent me some lovely new picture books. Upside Down (@TriggerPub, www.triggerpublishing.com) publishes fiction and non-fiction books for children which encourage conversation around mental health and wellbeing. Their titles promote positivity, emotional intelligence and mindfulness for children, whilst being beautiful, age-appropriate and, most of all…enjoyable! I highly recommend all these, or a look at their website or a browse in the local library. We've really enjoyed all these books, and they will form a regular part of our story-sharing.

Puppy in my head, a book about mindfulness by Elise Gravel

ABC of feelings by Bonnie Lui

Tomorrow I'll be brave by Jessica Hische

Breathe like a bear by Kira Willey

Puppy in my head is a lovely picture book by award-winning author Elise Gravel, about the puppy in the little girl's head, which is sometimes quiet, curious and excited. But sometimes he can't calm down if he is too excited, scared or upset, and his feelings control him. The little girl breathes in and out slowly and mindfully and the puppy falls asleep. Sometimes when he's over-excited a walk will do, or talking to someone. She shows us how we all have our own, different, puppies in our heads, and we can all calm them down using mindfulness and breathing. Beautifully illustrated, simply explained with few words, and brilliant for sharing with very young children to help encourage talk about feelings, and to encourage mindful breathing. (Find Elise Gravel online here - http://elisegravel.com/)

abc of feelings is a beautifully illustrated first picture book of feelings, each one illustrated on a whole page with a short explanation - "C is for curious - curious is seeking answers to all your questions". It explores the whole range of feelings from ANXIOUS to ZANY. The mantra is - the earlier the better - if we talk about feelings with our youngest children, help them to understand and verbalise their feelings, they will develop emotional intelligence and self-awareness. Such a wonderful book for talking about feelings, perhaps picking out one or two to talk about over a few bedtimes, or when the feeling arises. (Find Bonnie Lui online here - https://www.bonnielui.com/)

Breathe like a bear by Kira Willey (https://kirawilley.com/) and illustrated by Anni Betts (http://www.annibetts.com/) is a book of "30 mindful moments for kids to feel calm and focused anytime, anywhere". It's a simple introductory guide to mindfulness and meditation for very young children (recommended ages 4-8, but I'd go younger and older with the age range). It's a collection of illustrated mindfulness practices to calm and focus the mind which can be done anywhere and can be used by families and teachers to help to embed a "fun and consistent mindfulness practice". Here's a short extract - Candle Breath - "Imagine you're holding a candle. Take a long breath in and slooowly blow the air out towards your candle..." The US author Kira Willey is a children's music artist and yoga teacher who kid's yoga and mindfulness classes have won awards ( ). Anni Betts the illustrator is based in the UK, and her cheerful, vibrant work has been used in magazines, advertising and greetings cards.

Tomorrow I'll be brave by Jessica Hische (http://jessicahische.is/) takes us on a wonderful journey encouraging us to be adventurous, strong, smart, curious, creative, confident and brave, while at the same time reassuring us that if we haven't been all of these today, there is always tomorrow. I love the typography - the words are the illustration, they bare all different, each one spread across two pages to give the greatest impact to the reader. "It doesn't matter if I win, as long as I have fun!"

Thanks to Upside down books for review copies of the above. Find Upside Down books online here - http://www.triggerpublishing.com/product-category/upside-down/

We've been reading all sorts of picture books lately, but one thing in common with all of them is that we can use them as a basis to introduce the language of feelings and emotions. We might want to look at a specific picture book because we want to talk about a specific feeling, such as "abc of feelings", but we could be looking at any picture book, and bring in the language around emotions, empathy and feelings. Fiction and non fiction picture books can encourage conversation around mental health and well being - so as well as using the language of feelings and emotions, we can help them develop self regulation skills; understanding and managing their own feelings and behaviour, being able to calm themselves, control; impulses and refocus attention. Here are a few of my favourite picture books from my collection to encourage talk about feelings -

We get outside every day - it's the best thing for instant well-being. We give the trees a hug and say "Thank you for our oxygen". We have little running races. We look for the birds and the squirrels. We roll around in the leaves. We throw the leaves over our heads. And we laugh, and smile, real belly laughs of happiness.