Do you feel that kids should be taught meditation and relaxation?   Raising a child is hard and we both know the struggles.  Perhaps it's their anxiety, restlessness, need for perfection, insecurities, or difficulty in winding down or getting calm.  Believe me, I know this all too well, having a daughter that regularly worries and has anxiety.  I take the opportunity to find as many books as I can to help her.  Here are10 books in English and Spanish on how to help our kids and guide them towards mindfulness and to help them keep the calm.

10 Books in English and Spanish that Focus Mindfulness and Relaxation for Kids

1. Find Your Calm: A Mindful Approach To Relieve Anxiety And Grow Your Bravery or in Spanish Encuentra Tu Calma: Un Enfoque Consciente Para Aliviar La Ansiedad Y Crecer Tu Valentía

I love this book because it's bilingual and at the back of the book there is a guide for parents to engage and ask children questions about acceptance, listening, kindness, cooperation, and understanding self and others, so important when learning about  relationships.

 

 

 

Concept:

Anxiety is not just a cognitive experience. When children feel anxious, their bodies respond physically to a perceived threat. They need to feel a sense of safety before being able to figure out what to do next.

Your child can follow along and learn as the young narrator practices strategies that keep the anxiety from taking over.

Find Your Calm is a wonderfully accessible book that teaches children how to tap into their sense of safety when anxiety sends a false alarm, so they can find their calm. It includes simple grounding activities and coping tools for them to practice.

Parents and educators can find free downloadable resources to accompany this book at gabigarciabooks.com.

Book Info:

Page Number: 34 Pages

Type of Books: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback

Language: English, Spanish

2. Listening with My Heart or in Spanish Escuchando con mi Corazón

This is a book we read when my daughter is having a hard time in school and tends to be hard on herself.  I love it because many books teach about being kind to others but this one teaches kids to be kind to themselves, self love.

 

Concept:

Kindness matters! Especially to ourselves.

We talk to kids a lot about how to be friends to others, but not much about how to be friends to themselves. Yet self-acceptance and positive self-talk help them build emotional resilience, happiness and well-being.

When Esperanza finds a heart shaped rock, she sees it as a reminder to spread kindness and love in the world. But when the school play doesn’t go the way she’d hoped, will she remember to show it to herself?

Listening with my heart reminds us of the importance of being friends to ourselves. It also touches on the universal themes of friendship, empathy and kindness. Includes mindfulness and self-compassion activities.

A wonderful addition to any home or school library! Free resources to accompany this book can be found at http://bit.ly/gabigarciabooksheart.

Book Info:

Page Number: 32 Pages

Type of Books: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback

Language: English, Spanish

Reading Age: 4 to 8 years old

3.  Listening to My Body or in Spanish Escuchando a Mi Cuerpo

A follow up book to Listening with my heart, this is another great book that helps kids navigate what they are feeing inside their bodies as emotions take over.  This is a great book to have with children that tend to be explosive or have a hard time self regulating as you help them identify those emotions that many times they themselves can't understand.  The best part of this book is that it has actual exercises that kids can do.

Concept:

Big emotions can be overwhelming!

Help your child build on their capacity to engage more mindfully, self-regulate, and develop emotional resilience.

Listening to my Body is an engaging and interactive book that guides children through the practice of naming their feelings and the physical sensations that accompany them.

From wiggly and squirmy to rested and still, Listening to My Body helps children develop a sensations vocabulary so that they can express what they are experiencing.

Includes kid-friendly mindfulness activities woven throughout the book to reinforce the teachings.

Listening to My Body is a wonderful social-emotional tool for parents, counselors and teachers! FREE resources to accompany this book can be found at http://bit.ly/gabigarciabooks.

Book Info:

Page Number: 34 Pages

Type of Books: Kindle, Paperback, Hardcover

Language: English, Spanish

Reading Age: 8 to 12 years old

4. Breathe Like a Bear or in Spanish Escuchando a Mi Cuerpo

This is a great book that I bought for my daughter but I think it's a bit too advanced for her emotionally right now (she is 6).  The recommended ages are 4-8 so you will have to gauge your child's maturity level.  I love the images and recommended exercises to help them breathe and relax.  

Concept: 

Breathe Like a Bear is a beautifully illustrated collection of mindfulness exercises designed to teach kids techniques for managing their bodies, breath, and emotions. Best of all, these 30 simple, short breathing practices and movements can be performed anytime, anywhere: in the car to the grocery store, during heavy homework nights at home, or even at a child’s desk at school.

Based on Kira Willey’s Parents’ Choice GOLD Award-winning CD, Mindful Moments for Kids, this one-of-a-kind book is sure to help kids find calm, gain focus, and feel energized during the day, and encourage families to establish a fun and consistent mindfulness practice, whether at home or on the go.

Book Info:

Page Number: 96 Pages

Type of Books: Kindle, Audiobook, Hardcover, Paperback, Audio CD

Language: English, Spanish

Reading Age: 4 to 8 years old

5.  The Friend I Need or in Spanish La Amistad Que Necesito

Another great book that focuses on self love and being kind to oneself.  As an adult, I know that the conversations that we have with ourselves determine our outlook on life and how we see ourselves in it.  Empowering children from an early stage with powerful, self loving conversations and acts will only empower them as adults and thus break many negative cycles you may have grown up with.

Concept:

“I’ve spent lots of time learning how to be a friend to others, but what does it mean to be a friend to myself?”

The Friend I Need helps children answer that question.

It’s tough being a kid sometimes. The pressures they feel are real. Unfortunately, so is the negative self-talk that can sometimes follow when children don’t get things right the first time (or the fifth) or when emotions are strong. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Most children have probably spent time in school or at home learning how to be good friends to others, but what about being good friends to themselves?

The Friend I Need offers a reminder to children that they can be kind, encouraging, and supportive to themselves. A wonderful addition to your home or school social-emotional library to help nurture your child’s emotional resilience and well-being!

Book Info:

Page Number: 34 Pages

Type of Books: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback

Language: English, Spanish

Reading Age: 6 to 10 years old

 

6.  Sitting Still Like a Frog or in Spanish Tranquilos y atentos como una rana

Though I haven't tried this book or audio companion it is on my to buy list for a later age as it provides tools for both parents and children to do together.

Concept:

Sitting Still Like a Frog: Mindfulness Exercises for Kids (and Their Parents)

Simple mindfulness practices to help your child (ages 5-12) deal with anxiety, improve concentration, and handle difficult emotions—with a 60-minute audio CD of guided exercises read by Myla Kabat-Zinn

Mindfulness—the quality of attention that combines full awareness with acceptance of each moment, just as it is—is gaining broad acceptance among mental health professionals as an adjunct to treatment. This little book is a very appealing introduction to mindfulness meditation for children and their parents. In a simple and accessible way, it describes what mindfulness is and how mindfulness-based practices can help children calm down, become more focused, fall asleep more easily, alleviate worry, manage anger, and generally become more patient and aware. The book contains eleven practices that focus on just these scenarios, along with short examples and anecdotes throughout.

Book Info:

Page Number: 112 Pages

Type of Books: Kindle, Audiobook, Paperback

Language: English, Spanish

Reading Age:5  to 12 years old

 

7.  Rachel's Day in the Garden or in Spanish Julieta y un día en el jardín

I love practicing yoga.  Finding books that encourage my daughter to be present and that start introducing yoga to her are great especially when I know she will greatly benefit from it as an adult.  This is a really cute book.

I

Concept:

IPNE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2015 & WINNER CHILDREN'S BOOK 2015

Experience the benefits of yoga while learning about the signs of spring!

Join Rachel as she and her adorable puppy look for signs of spring in the garden. Crawl like a caterpillar, buzz like a bee, and flutter like a butterfly. Discover spring, explore movement, and learn the colors of the rainbow.

The storybook includes a list of kids yoga poses and a parent-teacher guide.

Kids Yoga Stories introduce you to engaging characters who will get your child laughing, moving, and creating. Reading is good for the mind AND body! The story links several yoga poses in a specific sequence to create a coherent and meaningful story.

This spring yoga story for ages 3 to 6 is more than a storybook, but it’s also a unique experience for children.

Book Info:

Page Number: 34 Pages

Type of Books: Kindle, Paperback

Language: English, Spanish

Reading Age: 4 to 8 years old

 

8. Y tú, ¿cómo estás?

When I picked this book up at the bookstore, I cried.  In a very simple format with pictures and few words in teaches kids to be present and not overlook the things around us or the people around us.  It's a beautiful bok to teach our kids to be observant, mindful, and present.

Concept:

Solemos ser indiferentes a los pequeños animales que encontramos afuera, y también lo somos con las personas que se cruzan en nuestro camino. Lo terrible es cuando dejamos de ver a quienes viven con nosotros. Este bello libro nos llama la atención al respecto.

Book Info:

Page Number: 36 Pages

Type of Books: Paperback

Language: Spanish

Reading Age: 7 to 9 years old

 

9.  Grunt the Grizzly Learns to Be Grateful or in Spanish Óscar el Oso Pardo aprende a ser agradecido

This is a cute book especially for Kindle to teach kids about gratitude with clear examples.  I like the back of the book that has a discussion and activity to do.

Concept:

Is it possible to be happy even when things aren’t going your way?

Yes! ♥ That’s what gratitude can do! ♥

Grunt the Grizzly was a grumpy bear. But his grumpiness was making him miserable.

Luckily, he has amazing friends, Punk the Skunk, Sloan the Sloth, and Brave the Beaver, who teach him that he can be in charge of his own happiness. Maybe their mantra can help him see past the negative and focus on the positive.

“Grumpies, grumpies, go away.

I would rather smile today.

When I’m grateful, I can see

All the good surrounding me.”

Will Grunt learn that it’s possible to be happy even when things are going wrong?

Find out in this adorable tale of friendship, compassion, and focusing on what is truly important. For ages 3-8, preschool through 2nd grade.

Gratitude exercises for use at home or in the classroom are included in the back of the book. ★ Help your child go from grumpy to grateful with the companion Grunt the Grizzly’s Gratitude Journal. ★

Perfect for fall, Thanksgiving, or any time, because being thankful never goes out of season!

Get your daily dose of gratitude by reading Grunt the Grizzly Learns to Be Grateful today!

Book Info:

Page Number: 38 Pages

Type of Books: Kindle, Audiobook, Hardcover, Paperback

Language: English, Spanish

Reading Age: 3 to 8 years old

 

10.  Those Shoes in Spanish Esos zapatos

I love this book and the lesson it teaches children, that sometimes what you have is all you need.  This is a great book and reminder for those days when kids may compare themselves to other kids and feel like they're lacking.  It helps them understand being grateful and not taking things for granted.

Concept:

"In this witty, wise picture book, Boelts presents a kid’s-eye view of a consumer fad that rages through school at gale force." — Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)

All Jeremy wants is a pair of those shoes, the ones everyone at school seems to be wearing. Though Jeremy’s grandma says they don’t have room for "want," just "need," when his old shoes fall apart at school, he is more determined than ever to have those shoes, even a thrift-shop pair that are much too small. But sore feet aren’t much fun, and Jeremy soon sees that the things he has — warm boots, a loving grandma, and the chance to help a friend — are worth more than the things he wants.

Book Info:

Page Number: 40 Pages

Type of Books: Kindle, Library Binding, Paperback

Language: English, Spanish

Reading Age: 5 to 8 years old

 

Final Thoughts

Hope you found some mindfulness and relaxation books that can help your child be more present.  

Like the blog?  Was this helpful or inspiring?

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