WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND?

Overstimulated kids (and overtaxed parents)—look no further!

A bright-eyed, bespectacled yellow bird greets us chirpily with the title question before suggesting a few options. “Pizza? A bad dream? A party?” Are your thoughts making you happy? Sad? Angry? Afraid? Distracted? Frustrated? Or are you just wishing for someone to confide in? If your head is too full of thoughts and feelings, this bird has some calming suggestions, all easy to practice: “Close your eyes and count to five,” then name three items you observe around you. Or imagine a taste, smell, sound, or touch. The bird proposes a few physical movements: deep breathing, stretching, wiggling, laughing, and giving yourself a big hug. Finally, sleep can be restorative for the brain as well as for the body. Images rendered in Parr’s typical style, heavy black outlines around ultra-simplified forms in bright saturated Day-Glo colors, might not seem very serene, but they grab attention and communicate the author’s thoughtful text, well pitched to his young audience. The illustrations are also amusingly droll: Our avian guide is joined by other two-toed birds, sometimes with puffs of piled-up hair or covered in polka dots. These unthreatening critters just might allow kids to admit their wish for a quiet mind.

Bibliotherapy for the tot in a tizzy.