Working with children who suffer with their mental health, this children’s book around mindfulness immediately resonated with me, as I love any resources that support children with their wellbeing. Imagine Eating Lemons is the latest book I have come across when it comes to raising awareness around mindfulness within children’s literature so I was super keen to give it a read and see what my children thought!
The children’s book is written by Jason Rhodes and Richard Dearing. Imagine Eating Lemons was inspired by Jason’s own struggles with anxiety and therefore the story has some life experience behind it, with the brilliant aspect of introducing children to mindfulness in a relaxed and fun way. His vision was to educate the younger generation with simple tools on how to soothe and support anxiety and feelings of extreme worry, enabling children to become more in-tune with their feelings and emotions. Having come across the tool of mindfulness himself, this led to the creation of this wonderful children’s book.
Immediately, this children’s wellbeing story book looks fun and inviting with a bright front cover and edgy font. The book is a great size as any books that are too small tends to not grab a child’s attention. The front cover also easily displays that the book is an introduction to mindfulness which may guide the parents of the reader in understanding the tools and messages within the book.
The story follows Chester’s journey as he gains a clearer understanding of his thoughts and feelings through the practice of mindfulness. Throughout the story, Chester faces several scenarios that many children would relate to, such as starting a new school/class. After each scenario, the story shares what Chester does to calm his thoughts, including deep breathing and grounding to help his thoughts and slow down his busy mind.
The story book uses playful rhyme to engage the reader and vibrant images throughout the book. And what I loved the most was the repetitive message throughout that read:
‘So he….slowly takes a deep breath in….and wiggles his toes…he feels his tingly fingertips and tickling nose. He sits and listens quietly. Whats noises can he hear?….’
Often stories that have repetitive rhymes encourages the reader to read along too! Not only is this fun to do, but is also a great way of the children to learn the concept of mindfulness!
Overall, I think this is a wonderful book to add to our reading list. Not only is it a fun and engaging book for children aged 3-8 years old, its also sharing the lovely tools and tips on mindfulness and how children can incorporate this into their lives to better support their wellbeing. My 5 and 8 year old enjoy sitting and reading this book with me and it has encouraged question time too, asking how we can all do things in our life to support our mental health. Whilst it is such a shame that children even have to worry about their mental health, in todays world it is ever so present and children’s story books like this are a great way of supporting the younger generation when it comes to their wellbeing.
As for the title? Imagine eating lemons – give it a try!
Imagine Eating Lemons is available to purchase from Amazon.
We are giving away 1 lucky reader the chance to win a copy of Imagine Eating Lemons. Please enter via the Rafflecoper link below. Open to UK entrants only. Competition ends Friday 15th July 2022 at midnight.
Thanks for reading xxx
Hi and welcome to The Willow Tree. I’m Michelle, also known as Shel and I am a mama to three beautiful crazy kids – I have two handsome boys and a wild and wonderful girl.
I really wanted a concrete place to share my love for travel, in particular Disney and offer my readers a chance to gain some knowledge around what we love to do as a family of 5.
I share our family adventures which include days out, travel advice and tips, holiday reviews, restaurant visits and of course, our love for Disney, including Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney World.
Life is about creating memories, and here we are sharing them with you
xoxo
Hi Michelle. I just came across this artical. I wanted to quickly message to say thank you so much for taking the time to write this and share your experience. I’m really happy to hear your children enjoyed the story too.
If you think their school would be open to hearing about the book feel free to pass on my information. I do school visits to share mindfulness exercises.
Your website is lovely. Keep doing what you’re doing and Thank you again.
Jason
Thank you so much – it was a pleasure to review your book!