Reviews

My Thoughts Are Clouds: Poems for Mindfulness by Georgia Heard

Only show reviews with written explanations

nicolemhewitt's review

5.0

This review and many more can be found on my blog: Feed Your Fiction Addiction

This little book helps kids learn ways to center themselves in the moment instead of worrying about things in the past or what’s to come. The poems are simple and sweet with some creative elements mixed in (like fading words to symbolize fading thoughts). I will say that I literally felt myself calming while reading—it feels natural to slow your breathing and pay more attention to it while you’re reading these poems. The illustrations are also meditative, all in greyscale and blues. I’ll be honest and say I’m not sure how many kids would pick this up voluntarily and read it for fun, but I could see it being a good book to have in a doctor’s or therapist’s office. Or parents who have an anxious child might want to encourage them to read a poem when they’re feeling stressed (with some help in the beginning to help them take it seriously). We all need a little help with mindfulness from time to time!

marieleigh73's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Beautifully written and illustrated. Contains a lot of tips for mindfulness for our younger patrons. Lessons about slowing down that we all could use.

sshouse's review

Go to review page

5.0

I read this book with my daughter and liked the introduction to mindfulness practices for kids. I thought it was good, but my daughter was definitely a fan (her rating).

artemisiaday's review

Go to review page

slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

hanlapham's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing

4.25

Category: Poetry

Title: My Thoughts are Clouds

Author: Georgia Heard

Illustrator: Isabel Roxas

Date Published: February 9, 2021

Age Appropriateness:

This book would be beneficial for young kids to begin teaching them different breathing / mental health tips. As students get older, I think this would be a good book for them to explore and unpack on their own, then come together as a class and reflect on it.

Summary:

This poetry book goes through breathing, mindfulness, and growth mindset exercises. Kids learn how to do these implementations and why they are beneficial to them. There are many breathing and mindfulness exercises that teach kids how to express their feelings in a healthy way.

Review:

I think this book does a really good job applying the big emotions many young kids have and combat it with ways to help them through it. It compares feelings sort of to weather and how it changes, just like a person. It validates that a person can be happy, angry, sad– saying that emotions can change and it is okay as long as you are taking care of yourself and not hurting those around you.

optimaggie's review

Go to review page

3.0

I was really hoping to like this book, it seemed like exactly what I was looking for. It wasn't. As a book of poetry it is definitely lacking. As a book with activities for mindfulness to use with my son it was lacking. There are a few good nuggets: square breathing, savoring a morsel of food, etc. The book is good, it just isn't great. I'm glad that we read the library's copy and didn't buy our own.