Cover Image: Mop Rides the Waves of Life

Mop Rides the Waves of Life

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Member Reviews

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was cute. The story was okay if not wholly original. But I loved the art, especially mop's hair.

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Surfing Your Emotions

This is a simple yet colorfully Illustrated book that is meant to help children handle difficult emotions better. First, we see our young main character, Mop, as he is doing one of his favorite activities, surfing. Over the next week, he has some difficulties at school with handling his emotions when things happen that bother him. His mother then takes him out surfing and tells him that he can surf through life like he rides the waves. First, she recommends that he focus on his breathing, thinking of it like waves coming in and out. Then she suggests that difficult emotions are like a bad wave—specific ones nicely shown in the illustration as curls in the wave—that you should just let pass by. Happy emotions can be ridden like a good wave. Later when Mop has an embarrassing moment in class, he is able to pull up this metaphor to help him react better. The book ends with all the kids apologizing and being kind to each other. If you have a child who tends to act out negative emotions, this might teach a good lesson through the metaphor or at least open up a discussion about what can often be a tricky topic for parents and children.

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Children's picture book about a young boy who likes to surf and has some trouble with kids at school. His mom, who's into meditation, teaches him the concept of emotions being like waves on the ocean and he uses this in his next troubling encounter. This potentially complex topic was explained in a simple, graspable way that kids could actually put to use themselves. More mindfulness, less reactivity — good message. And the artwork was perfect, not too busy but containing enough to be interesting.

Thank you to Netgalley, Parallax Press and Jaimal Yogis for an advanced copy of this book. #MopRidestheWavesofLife #NetGalley

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Publishers Synopsis:

If only life could be like surfing! Having “funny” hair and being embarrassed in school is hard, but when little surfer Mop studies the lessons of the waves—breathing, letting the bad waves go by, and riding the good ones—he learns how to bring the mindfulness and joy of surfing into his whole life.

Celebrated San Francisco surfer-journalist-dad Jaimal Yogis teaches 4-8 year olds timeless beach wisdom with the story of Mop, a sensitive and fun-loving kid who just wants to be in the ocean.

Going to school and navigating classmates can be hard—but all that goes away when little surfer Mop paddles out in the waves. With a few tips from his clever mom, Mop studies the wisdom of the water and learns to bring it into his life on land: taking deep breaths, letting the tough waves pass, and riding the good ones all the way. With newfound awareness and courage, Mop heads back to land—and school—to surf the waves of life.

With stylish full-color beachy illustrations from cover to cover.


Review:

Initially I was wondering why there was such a specific age range that this book was aimed at. Not because it’s a bad thing, I actually prefer it as a review, but it caught my eye because I don’t see it often. But after reading the book I understand completely. The entire book is based on a metaphor, and younger children will not understand this concept.

I love this book! I grew up surfing with dad, so this book is absolutely perfect for little Aussie kids! It teaches kids the important lesson about learning and growing in life and navigating the crazy obstacles (waves) in life that range from emotions, to bullying.

Um five gold stars to the illustrator for the diversity of the school children! YASS YASS YASS! Additionally, the waves represented as fear, anger and sadness are genius. I don’t remember what it was like as a child but that is a perfect summation of life as an adult.

The book is perfect, the illustrations are perfect. I want copies for all the little Aussie surfers in my life. Brilliant!

My sincerest thanks to Netgalley and Parallax Press for a copy of this book in exchange for my review.

5/5 Stars

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Meet Mop. Mop loves to surf. Spending time in the waves is Mop’s favorite activity, and though he likes school okay, too, his week isn’t going so hot. He loses his temper with a friend, gets teased in class, and even runs out of his favorite cereal. When it’s time to hit the waves on Thursday, his mom explains that he can surf in life just like he surfs in the waves. Mop doesn’t think there’s much to that, but when she explains the waves as feelings and emotions (that are perfectly normal to have), that you can surf through them by breathing through the feelings and being present in the moment. Once the moment passes, you still may feel those things, but you’ve made it through them just like the waves. When Mop tries it on Friday, he’s amazed at how different his world and emotions seem.

There are so many great kids books out now that I wish were available when I was little and not learning to deal with my emotions. There are concepts in this book that it’s taken me almost 34 years and therapy to understand and start practicing. I think this book will help kids get a great start on mindfulness, and in the long run, it will help them be better developed and mentally healthy.

Other things I loved about this book include the art. I love that all of the kids’ heads are huge, that way, Mop’s hair doesn’t look as out of place, even though it gets made fun of a little bit. I love the late 60s animation vibe I got from all of the art work. Simple line drawings with vibrant color and detailed facial features. It’s a good look, for sure. Great summer vibes, and any time is a good time to start learning about mindfulness.

This one comes out at the end of June, just in time for summer beach trips! Keep an eye out for it at your favorite book store or request it from your local library.

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I received an electronic ARC from Parallax Press through NetGalley.
Mop loves surfing and appreciates the power and changes that come with this sport. He's happy on the water. However, at school, Mop has some tough times and acts out of his negative emotions before thinking - pushes a friend, knocks down some blocks, etc. His mom explains that life can be like surfing. Emotions are like waves that we can ride or let carry us under. She offers the tip to breathe deeply and let the wave go before acting and responding.
Clever analogy for younger readers and an excellent explanation of how emotions flow through us. Illustrations are detailed and fun to see.

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It is a book about dealing with your emotions. Mop likes to surf. His mom teaches him how feelings are like waves and let the stormy waves (angry, sadness) pass and wait for the happy waves to come. Illustrations were good.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the eARC

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Mop Rides the Waves of Life is a lovely story about mindfulness and a little boy who likes to surf!

Mop loves to surf, a lot! Our friend is having issues with feeling bad and insecure, so he turns to mindfulness to feel better. If he learned to surf life then he'd be able to enjoy life more, just like how he enjoys surfing. He learns how to be mindful, breathing mindfully and relaxing. Then life's big waves aren't so tough.

I think this is an important and good way to introduce mindfulness to younger folks. Learning how to deal with life's tough situations is key to a healthy mind! And I think a book like this is just the way to do it - simple, fun pictures and easy to understand.

The illustrations are soft, simple and lovely. The colour tones are very friendly and welcoming, and I have to say I really connected with them! I think it fit the story very well.

Three out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Parallax Press for sending me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest reviews.

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I thought this was a sweet book and very relevant for parenting my three-year-old child at the moment. This book provides a great learning opportunity for children to learn mindfulness, how our behaviors affect others and about self-reflection. Children in the targeted age range of 4 to 8 years old are dealing with a lot of big emotions and this gives them a visual opportunity to see how those emotions can play out via surfing waves. I love that Mop’s mom used something he loves to teach him about the emotions he experiences. This could even help parents adjust the techniques to suit their children’s interest; for example, cars on a hilly road.

My favorite part of the story is Mop’s hair. Absolutely adorable!!

Thank you to Netgalley, Parallax Press and Jaimal Yogis for an advanced copy of this book. #MopRidestheWavesofLife #NetGalley

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I thought this was a cute book and would be a great way to help children understand their feelings and how to deal with them when certain things don’t go the way they want them to. I really liked the illustrations too.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my review.

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Delightful book about learning to ride the emotional wave that is life!!

This book is a wonderful tale about a girl who feels good one minute, and then perhaps upset or sad the next. She is taught that emotions are like a wave you surf, and she is taught mindfulness techniques.

This is for age 2 to perhaps 6 or so, for the presentation style. It would allow discussing emotions from an early age, and would allow introduction of meditation if a parent desired. The art style is simple digital, adequate and perhaps called for so that the message of riding a wave remains clear, uncluttered by other visual elements. I loved this book.

Recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and to Parallax Press for an ARC for review. Honest opinion given. I would absolutely buy this book as a gift, and would have read it to my young one assuredly.

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Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title.

The illustrations are very simple, yet catching. The story and message is kept simple message.

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Thanks to NetGalley and Parallax Press for this free ARC in return for my honest review. Cannot say this is one of my favorites. I find the illustrations childish (of course this is aimed for 4-8 year olds), but they did little to enhance the story which is about your emotions and getting them under control and not to lash out when something does not go your way, There are a lot of books out there on this very topic and this is sort of a middle of the pack read.

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Excellent story that many school-aged children will be able to grasp and relate to. It opens the floor for conversations about behavior, respect, and self reflection, which is always a good learning opportunity. I think the character illustrations are adorable. I love Mop's hair. Background illustrations could be more detailed and engaging.

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The illustrations are appealingly simple and, during the surfing segments, compliment the text very well. However, it all becomes a little disjointed during the scenes at school. This feels like a children’s book for adults, rather than children. Using the imagery of surfing as a metaphor for mindfulness is an interesting technique, although it may be lost on those of us in more landlocked environments. I’d recommend it as a tool for parents or teachers of children with behavioral issues, but I don’t see it being particularly enjoyable or memorable to younger readers.

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A beautifully illustrated picture book designed to introduce children to mindfulness. This is a book that could certainly help parents and children discuss how to best deal with negative emotions as the main character Mop learns how to deal with the ups and downs of everyday life. Very cute and unique.

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Mop is the nickname of a young surfer dude who has some issues with his fellow kids. Written by Yogis, and illustrated charmingly by Allen, the short book tells in a straight-forward way of how Mop learned to be more mindful of his behavior and his reactions to the behavior of others.

I've said this before many times and I feel compelled to say it again here: I honestly cannot for the life of me understand why any publisher would want to release a picture book in a Kindle version, not even just for review. If there's one thing that Amazon's crappy Kindle conversion process does with utter reliability, it's that it totally mangles anything that's not plain vanilla text. This is one of many reasons I refuse to do business with Amazon. The Kindle version of this was mangled. Even on an iPad, the images and text were out of sync, although the images, amazingly, were at least not sliced in half like they had been in an earlier children's book I reviewed, but still, in this case, parts of the text were omitted altogether in Amazon's crappy Kindle app.

Fortunately in both Adobe Digital Editions and in Bluefire Reader, they appeared fine, and with the correct text next to the picture it related to! So I was able to follow Mop to school, watch him play four square (whatever that is! I'd never heard of it!) with his friend and get into an argument during which he pushed his friend into the sand box. One has to wonder where the teacher supervision as during this time! But his anger issues are not improved by his giving vent to them, so during a surfing trip with his mom - which was a nice touch - he learns a valuable live lesson, and he turns his life around before it gets out of control.

I've read a couple of (grown-up) mindfulness books myself recently and so I can understand where this is coming from and get with it. It's a good idea and a useful tool for managing potentially difficult or troubled children, and I commend this as a worthy read.

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I love sweet Mop and his hair! I liked that the mother took something that Mop likes to do and turned it into a learning experience for live. He seemed to take in the information faster and used it in several different situations at school. I think many parents could use this technique with something special to their children. I like the simple but pretty artwork.
While there are some editing errors within the writing that need to be fixed, I overall liked this story. I think it would be a good book for children going through changes or early school age children with differing opinions from their friends.

I was given this ebook to read from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Really loved this story. Great pictures and an easy read. I can use a few areas for social-emotional learning sessions. The only thing is I may have to explain surfing to my younger students as we live some where there isn’t anywhere to surf 😊

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Not sure if some of the message was lost in translation on the digital version but the flow of the content is a bit choppy. I like the concept of the book, teaching about managing emotions. But I prefer some of the others to this particular book.

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