ANIMAL ANTICS / JUEGOS DE ANIMALES

This bilingual book presents a series of mindfulness exercises to help young children focus and transition from one activity to another.

While pretending to be elephants, frogs, and cats, children engage in mindfulness practices such as bending, hopping, and stretching that help them wiggle their waggles away, ending with “Now it’s time to be ourselves. / … / We are ready for what’s next!” and “Y ahora seamos nosotros mismos. /… / ¡Estamos listos para lo que sigue!” Spanish speakers may find one quibble in Perez’s otherwise flawless translation of the English text into Spanish: The verb “to swing” is arguably better translated as “mecer” rather than “balancear.” The book is also available as an English-only text. Companion volume Rest & Relax / Descansa y relájate is similar in presentation and is also published in an English-only edition. Here, children prepare for sleep as they are led through guided visualization to relax their bodies, starting with their toes, followed by their knees, tummies, hands, arms, shoulders, until they eventually close their eyes. The kid-friendly artwork, featuring a group of children diverse in both skin tone and physical abilities (one has a guide dog), is more decorative than informative, and it is really the text that informs what the actions to be taken should be.

Will work best for adults seeking a guide to use with young children.