Cover Image: ABCs of Calm

ABCs of Calm

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Member Reviews

This board book was simply lovely. One of the things the author did well was for each thing of calmness they also had the animal that matched the letter and what they came up with for x with a fox and the point of calm that they use just worked so well. This is a book I would put on my shelf both personally and my library because I think it was that well done

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This book was so cute and kind!
I enjoyed the pictures as did my youngest kiddo and the thoughtful words that went with each page!

We especially loved:

G is for Grateful. I have a full and thankful heart.
K is for Kindness. It makes the world go round.

If you're looking for a super cute ABC book filled with inspirational words and cute illustrations for your kids-- this is the book for you and your family!!!

Super adorable and will be reading again!

Recv'd a copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

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This book is sweet, rhymes, and has the cutest illustrations. Plus, every picture’s animal also begins with that letter, which makes it even better because you can add in an “A is for Antelope, B is for Bumble Bee” too! These ABCs will definitely be helpful when teaching young ones ways to deal with big feelings and harder to understand concepts like compassion and empathy.

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With interesting illustrations, one animal for each letter, that you can also quiz your children, this is an interesting book for kids to learn to love themselves.

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As a toddler mom, I love the ABCs of fill-in-the-blank books. I mostly appreciate the addition of out-of-the ordinary words like kindness and listen. Teaching these little ones concepts like this as early as possible is so helpful. Naming these and teaching them to learn how to calm themselves is key. Big feelings are hard!

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Loved this book! It was colorful, had fun rhyming, and the illustrations were bright and colorful. As an educator, it is something that I will read to young readers all the time! Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. I will definitely be telling my coworkers about this book to add to their collection!

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ABCs of Calm
Discover Mindfulness from A-Z
by: Rose Rossner and Brooke Backsen-Pediatric Occupational Therapist
SOURCEBOOKS Kids, Sourcebooks Wonderland
Children's Fiction
Pub date: July 05, 2022

This alphabet board book is designed to aid the development of social emotional skills in children. It introduces children to relaxation and mindfulness skills which help them relax. In addition, specific calming techniques for parents to use with their children are featured at the end of the book.

The pictures are engaging and presented in soothing shades and styles. Some of the vocabulary paired with the alphabet letters and pictures would not be on a level for young children to understand yet, but would serve as an introduction to higher level skills. Learning how to have positive sensory experiences in their lives and surroundings is so critical, and this book can really lay the foundation and enhance that for children.

I feel that children would benefit from having this sweet book read to them by the significant ones in their lives. At any age, we need peaceful time for reading, and ways to carryover that feeling into the more stressful times that we all face.

Thank you to Net Galley and SOURCEBOOKS Kids, Sourcebooks Wonderland
for the advance reader's copy and opportunity to provide my unbiased review.
#NetGalley #TheABCsofCalm #RoseRossner #SourcebooksKids #SourcebooksWonderland

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I absolutely loved this book. I have a story time for preschoolers and I plan to share it with them. The words had a great beat and were extremely clever. The illustrations were entertaining. This will be a big hit!

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Story: 10
Illustration: 10

I loved this book. Mindfulness is a big part of my curriculum, and I appreciate how accessible to children ABCs of Calm is. I am also very impressed that Rossner found mindfulness-related words for the whole alphabet!


** Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review. **

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I received an electronic ARC from SOURCEBOOKS Kids through NetGalley.
An alphabet journey through believing in yourself and learning to relax and calm down when stressed. Each page offers a letter and word along with a brief explanation for using that word. Informative text is included for adults at the end. The illustrations are welcoming and simple to support the text.
Terrific introduction to mindfulness for toddlers and preschoolers as well as a refresher for older readers.
An ideal baby gift.

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This will make a great read-aloud for parents and caregivers to help children learn to calm down. I can see it being used from toddlerhood through early elementary school in a variety of settings. The illustrations are clear and simple. The techniques are great for everyone, especially children. Highly recommended!

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I received an advance copy from NetGalley.

I really enjoyed this little book! I think teaching kids about mindfulness early is such a great idea. I loved the tips at the end.

I do wonder if some of the letters might be a bit complicated, and X must have been a hard one to come up with :)

The illustrations were super cute too!

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Absolutely loved this! Teaching kids mindfulness is key. I loved the animals correlating with the letters of the alphabet as well. My son enjoyed this book too!

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Such a cute little book! I am a school counselor who teaches yoga to first graders. I know they will enjoy the pastel colored pictures of animals and simplistic language in this ABC book. I'm sure it will also be meaningful to them to hear the familiar words that we use in our yoga and mindfulness times repeated in ABCs of Calm. I'd recommend this book for children up to age 7, especially as an introduction to yoga and mindfulness terminology.

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My dilemma:
I love this board book, but it is not written for children. It is not written in words they can understand, or using concepts they will grasp for many years (in some cases).

The illustrations are delightful, and I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to older children, teens, and adults as reminders of things they can do daily (or in emergencies) to relieve stress, reduce anxiety, and help those with depression, fear, or anger problems.

I suspect that the book was released with a reading age for babies and toddlers (up to age 3 years) because of the physical calming technique page at the end of the book. It provides instructions for helping children feel safe and calm. This makes sense because the book is written by an occupational therapist (and yoga instructor) who helps children develop and improve social and emotional skills.

My review:
This is an illustrated board book using cartoon-style animals to lead readers through the alphabet, with reminders about calming thoughts and techniques. Nothing more technical than being mindful (present and aware). However, several pages contain concepts children will not grasp at all.

Calm is essentially about happy equilibrium.
The rhyming in the text is slightly rough, but each page has a delightful animal (who's name corresponds with the letter), and a great reminder of things that can be done to reach and maintain calm.

The target audience and marketing for this book is confusing. Although the messages can certainly help babies and toddlers up to age 3 years (listed as the reading age), the language and comprehension used in the book is well over 5th grade (age 11) in my opinion.

I doubt that many adults can explain mindfulness to a young child in a way they understand.

As a book for babies and toddlers:
1/5 Stars Beautiful and cheerful illustrations that can help the much older child-to adult reader.

As a book for older children (comprehension appropriate):
5/5 Stars Beautiful and cheerful, great advice and reminders for daily or occasional calm.

Current rating:
2/5 Stars PLEASE reevaluate the reading level and target audience! I would LOVE to change my review!

Thanks to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the preview of this wonderful ebook pdf; the review is voluntary.

#SourcebooksKids #SourcebooksWonderland
#NetGalley #ABCsofCalm
#AlphabetBoardBook
#ChildrensFiction

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ABC’s of calm is a TREAT! For fans of ABC’s of yoga, Calm-Down Time, the Big Bright Feelings series, and all preschool teachers, you will LOVE this and will most certainly want to add it to your shelf. As a caregiver, I often realize that while reading these books, the message isn’t just for the kids. It’s helpful for all of us. It’s not just hard being2, 3, 4, or 5. It’s all hard. And this book is the reminder we all occasionally need.❤️

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fantastic book! Each letter provides the reader with a tool they can adopt to help them remain clam. In addition each letter includes an animal that starts with that letter showing how to do the tool. So fun and a great booknto read together with a child!

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I really love this book and the simple layout it has. I also love how each page has an animal on it to match the letter, and they're always doing something fun.

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With different animals, the ABC's help young readers to cope with stress. S is stretch, I pick a pose, and then I bend. A sweet sloth is showing you how. Each letter ties the animal too, so it gives parents a teaching moment in different realms. A great read for little ones and their parents.

A special thank you to Sourcebooks Kids and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review

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Amazing!! This was a really cute book!! A kids book of mindfulness and self love?! Yes please! We both loved it so much and have already read it multiple times! The messages for each letter are great and the pictures are inviting and adorable. My three year old was engaged the entire time and wanted to read it over and over! I am all for embracing emotions, feeling your feelings and learning ways to cope with the rich ones. This book does an amazing job helping kids understand different emotions and things they can do to help. This is definitely a book I would purchase and recommend to my other mom friends.

Thank you SourceBooks Kids for a digital copy of this book! This book is due for publication 7/5/22!

💙 Mommy (@that.bookmom) and Ronan (@thatbookkid) approved ✅

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