Authors: Louise Hay and Kristina Tracy
Illustrator: Manuela Schwarz
Interest Level: Ages 4 and Up
From the Book Jacket: "Your thoughts create your life!" This is the message that Louise Hay has been teaching people throughout the world for more than 25 years. Now, children can learn and understand the powerful idea that they have control over their thoughts and words, and in turn, what happens in their life.
Within the pages of I Think, I Am! kids will find out the difference between negative thoughts and positive affirmations. Fun illustrations and simple text demonstrate how to make the change from negative thoughts and words to those that are positive. The happiness and confidence that come from this ability is something children ail carry with them their entire lives!
Why It's On My Bookshelf: This book has been a total game changer for me as a strong counseling technique. It has really taken some of my lessons to a whole new level and the response I'm seeing from kids is unbelievable. Teaching kids they have control over their thoughts is huge - it can change a hard day to an incredible day. I Think, I Am! does such a wonderful job of teaching kids what a positive affirmation is and how to challenge negative ones. There are 13 examples in the book like, "I can't believe I forgot my sweater. I always forget everything!" "I don't like my hair. I wish it were hers!" "If I don't do what they want, they will be mad at me." The situations are easy to relate to. I cannot recommend this book enough. Get it on your shelf immediately!
A Link to This Book:
Author: Carol E ReileyIllustrator: Jason PastranaInterest Level: Ages 3 and UpBook Website: GoBrain
From the Author: Most people assume that you’re born with a certain amount of intelligence, and that there’s no way to become smarter. But science shows that this is wrong. We now know that intelligence can be developed.
When discussing how to raise our kids, the growth mindset was the most important thing we wished to instill. I thought that this was an important story to share with the world.
Perhaps your children sometimes go “I can’t do that!” or “I give up!”. Well, if they say this often enough, they might start to believe it, thus limiting their ability to learn.
I want to show your children that they can learn to do anything. This way of thinking is called a “Growth Mindset.” I’m applying the latest research from developmental
psychology in a children’s book called “Making a Splash.” Which tells a story about two siblings, Lisa and Johnny, and how they differ in their attitudes towards learning.
The book contains a powerful message about the growth mindset, that will stay with your children. The fundamental message is that it’s not about how smart you are. It’s about how smart you can become. So, when your children are confronted with tough decisions, I hope the book’s message will encourage your children to view it as an opportunity to grow, and not be afraid to fail.
Why It's on My Bookshelf: Siblings Lisa and Johnny are both learning to swim. For Johnny it comes naturally and he doesn't have to work at it. Lisa has a more difficult time and becomes negative - Swimming is too hard, I CAN'T do this. Her coach teaches her the power of yet. You can't do this YET. When you practice hard, things get easier. That's how we learn.
Johnny takes the attitude that swimming is easy and he doesn't have to work at it. His thinking is - you've either got it or you don't. He doesn't challenge himself and decides it's silly to want to try anything harder - which puts him on the road to a fixed mindset. Lisa wants to get better so she chooses to take on challenges which are much harder - a growth mindset. Each of their decisions on how hard they worked impacts a day at the beach. Johnny is not able to go into the ocean but because Lisa worked so hard learning to swim she is able to go in no problem.
Could this be any more perfect for the start of the school year?! This is also the first picture book I have come across using the Growth Mindset model and language. It's so easy for children to just give up on something like Lisa did in the story. Negative self-talk and comparing yourself to others does a real number on confidence. I hope to use this awesome resource to help those kids this year. If you are a teacher, parent, school counselor or someone who wants to teach kids about the power behind Growth Mindset - use this great story. It has life long lessons that kids can apply immediately and you can reinforce. Yes for Growth Mindset!!!
GoBrain also lists some great mindset resources here.
A Link to This Book and Others You Might Find Helpful:
About This Book: Kids love yoga—and it’s great for them, so much so that the President’s Council has added the practice to the fitness activities in the annual President’s Challenge. For parents and caregivers looking for a fun and effective new routine for bedtime, innovative educator Mariam Gates presents Good Night Yoga, a playful yet wholly practical book for preparing for sleep.
This beautifully illustrated, full-color book tells the story of the natural world as it closes down for the night, while teaching children a simple flow of yoga postures inspired by their favorite characters from nature. Moving from “Sun Breath” to “Cloud Gathering” to “Ladybug & Butterfly” and more, readers learn techniques for self-soothing, relaxing the body and mind, focusing attention, and other skills that will support restful sleep and improve overall confidence and well-being.
Preview:
Why It's On My Bookshelf: We've been reading and doing these poses at home as we wind down for bed - absolutely love it! Illustrations are spot on and the different yoga postures are easy to do. I'd love to try and figure out how to incorporate this into the school setting. Maybe even just showing the kids in different positions would be a great way to introduce movement and breathing into the classroom. I'd love to see another book like this called 'Good Morning Yoga'! I highly recommend this one for your bookshelf at home and school.
A Link to This Book and Others You Might Find Helpful:
I get so excited when the holidays roll around. I can't wait to start blasting Christmas music, decorating our house, baking etc etc. Our daughter is just starting to understand the concept of Santa and of course PRESENTS. Let me tell you, it's really easy to get caught up in the gift frenzy with the littles. So when I thought about starting the Advent Calendar I wanted to use it as an opportunity to instill some values. I have seen the idea of a book Advent before and thought - what a great way to teach our daughter about the REAL spirit of the holidays....which is about kindness, generosity, love, and family.
The idea is to wrap twenty five books and open one a night with the calendar. Here is our Advent Calendar
. It is nothing fancy and totally reminds me of the one we had growing up. If you go on Pinterest you can find some spectacular DIY ones.
And then, get wrapping!!
I haven't decided if we will wrap them every year. I might keep them in a basket by the advent calendar next year. But since it's our first year - I wanted to make it fun. (it's a lot of wrapping folks, but goes quickly) I kept our list of books pretty secular. I just tried to find a good variety that our 3 year old daughter would understand and carry a message of kindness, giving, hope and love. I am so excited to read these to her. Hope you enjoy my list. Happy Holidays!The Wild Christmas Reindeer
by Jan BrettLittle Teeka thought she had to be firm with the reindeer to get them ready for Santa's important flight, but when her bossy yelling only got their antlers tangled up, she knew she had to try something different.
Mr. Willowby's Christmas tree is too tall, so he trims off the top and gives the top to the upstairs maid for her tree, and she finds it too tall, so she cuts off the top, which the gardener uses for his tree, but it is too tall . It's the story of how one tree becomes the perfect tree for many people, and animals, as it keeps getting clipped shorter and shorter and passed down to someone else.
Once there was a tree that stood in a field away from the other trees. It longed to be part of the forest—or part of anything at all. After many lonely years, its dream came true. And the little fir tree's life changed forever!
Long ago, a brave little girl named Anja wanted to be one of Santa's elves. So she leaves a note for her family and helps her elderly neighbor prepare for the holiday, then she straps on her skis, and heads out into the snowy landscape. From a red bird to a polar bear to a reindeer, a menagerie of winter animals help Anja make her way to Santa.
The mayor of Mouseville has announced a contest for the biggest snowman. Clayton and Desmond race against the clock to compete for the prize, but soon realize that they can only build so high! With a lot of snow and a super-strong friendship, the two mice discover that by working together they can build a monumental snowman.
By moonlight in the quiet forest, a young boy and his family decorate their favorite tree with popcorn, apples, tangerines, and sunflower-seed balls as a gift for the animals of the woods. This beautifully illustrated story of a family’s unusual tradition brings to life the true spirit of Christmas.
A young girl wanders through the snow on Christmas Eve, looking for a gift for a very special someone (her baby brother, we later learn). She happens upon a glowing toy shop, but before she can select a present, a mysterious old gentleman--Santa himself--scoops up everything in the store. All seems to be lost until Santa sends the perfect gift spinning from his sleigh, helping the girl find Christmas after all.
It may be Christmastime but on a small, forlorn farm the holiday season is best forgotten, along with painful memories of loved ones lost. Mother Nature has other plans, however, and a chance snowstorm brings together two unlikely hearts, one human and one beast, yet both yearning for comfort, companionship, and that most elusive gift of all, hope.
An overgrown pine is always being passed by for Christmas. The birds, deer and squirrel help make their special friend's wish come true.
The Grinch, whose heart is two sizes too small, hates Who-ville's holiday celebrations, and plans to steal all the presents to prevent Christmas from coming. To his amazement, Christmas comes anyway, and the Grinch discovers the true meaning of the holiday.
This beloved story stars Rudolph, a young reindeer with a glowing nose. When the other reindeer make fun of him, Rudolph runs away. But with the help of a misfit elf named Herbie and a prospector named Yukon Cornelius, Rudolph learns that you shouldn't run away from your problems.
In The Berenstain Bears and The Joy of Giving Brother and Sister Bear can’t wait for Christmas and all the presents they’ll open. But during the Christmas Eve pageant, something special happens! The Bear cubs learn a very valuable lesson about the joy of giving to others.
In a shabby New York flat, Della sobs as she counts the few coins she has saved to buy a Christmas present for her husband, Jim. A gift worthy of her devotion will require a great sacrifice: selling her long, beautiful hair. Jim, meanwhile, has made a sacrifice for Della that is no less difficult. As they exchange gifts on Christmas Eve, the discovery of what each has done fills them with despair, until they realize that the true gifts of Christmas can be found more readily in their humble apartment than in any fine store.
This is a holiday story close to Patricia Polacco's heart. Frankie was her grandmother's youngest brother, and every year she and her family remember this tale of a little boy who learned--and taught--an important lesson about giving, one Christmas long ago.
On Christmas Eve, 1927, in the prairie town of Hillsspring, Alberta, Canada, a young mother, Mary Jeppson, was getting her five small children ready for bed. Her heart was full of sorrow, for there was nothing to fill the stockings, and there would be only a little much for breakfast. But George Schow, their mailman, had a surprise in store. Could he brave the coming storm and bitter cold to deliver a Christmas miracle?
Little Trevor is determined to not leave ANYTHING off his Christmas list so he carries it with him everywhere he goes...for an entire year. This is a story of how greed can get away of what really matters at Christmas.
Ivy, Holly, and Mr. and Mrs. Jones all have one Christmas wish. Ivy, an orphan, wishes for a real home and sets out in search of the grandmother she's sure she can find. Holly, a doll, wishes for a child to bring her to life. And the Joneses wish more than anything for a son or daughter to share their holiday. Can all three wishes come true?
From icicles clinging to roofs and houses strung with colorful lights to visiting Santa and hunting for the perfect tree, this classic-in-the-making celebrates all of the holiday’s excitement. Evoking both winter’s changes to the world outside and well-loved traditions taking place within, here is a story to encourage readers to curl up with their loved ones and bask in the magic of the Christmas season.
Among the grand balsam firs and pines at the Christmas tree lot is a little hunched tree that is missing several branches. Still, no tree is more filled with the spirit of Christmas. As the weeks go by, many others are selected but still the little tree keeps up its hope of finding the perfect family. On Christmas Eve, now the last tree in the lot, a special visitor (Ho, Ho, Ho!) might just give the little tree what it wants most of all.
It's Christmas and the little Mouse is looking forward to opening the presents around the tree. But what about the Big Hungry Bear who lives on top of the hill? The little Mouse's brave and generous spirit reminds us that Christmas is for everyone, not just ourselves.
To protect his ears from the cold and snow, Mother Rabbit knits Little Rabbit a hat. He loves his hat so much, he and his mother make them for all of his friends.
It's Christmas Eve, and both Melrose and Croc are all alone in the city. They dream of a wonderful Christmas but feel sad when there is no one to share it with. It might have been their loneliest holiday ever, if not for a collision with fate. Could this be the beginning of a magical Christmas, and the start of a cherished friendship?
Roland can’t wait for Christmas Day, and when the morning finally arrives he races downstairs to see what is waiting for him. What he sees stops him in his tracks. Could that tiny present really be what he had waited all year for? It has to be the smallest gift he had ever seen! So Roland wishes for something bigger . . . and bigger . . . and bigger.
Presents with elegant wrapping paper, festive decorations, Christmas cookies with sprinkles—and who could forget the tree? After all, there is no such thing as too much tinsel. Ooh la la! This year, Nancy is especially excited about decorating the Christmas tree. She bought a brand-new sparkly tree topper with her own money and has been waiting for Christmas to come. But when things don't turn out the way Nancy planned, will Christmas still be splendiferous?
One snowy day an elderly woman, Sarah, watches children gathering at the bus stop. While they never seem to notice her, she notices them, especially one little boy who has no mittens. That night, Sarah knits the boy a pair of cozy mittens and places them on the blue spruce tree for him to discover. It soon becomes a game, with the children looking for new mittens on the mysterious tree every morning, and Sarah joyfully knitting new ones each night.
by Margaret Wise Brown
by Lori Evert
by Steven Kroll
by Eve Bunting
by Helen Ward
by Jane Monroe Donovan
by Colleen Moore
by Dr Seuss
by Rick Bunsen
by Jan Berenstain
by O. Henry
by Patricia Polacco
by Thomas Monson
by Gregg Spiridellis
by Rumor Godden
by Tom Brenner
by Stephen Krensky
by Don and Audrey Wood
by Kate Klise
by Emma Clark
by Peter H Reynolds
by Jane O'Connor
by Candace Christensen
