My Magic Breath: Finding Calm Through Mindful Breathing by Nick Ortner and Alison Taylor

My Magic Breath: Finding Calm Through Mindful Breathing
Author: Nick Ortner and Alison Taylor
Illustrator: Michelle Polizzi
Published May 15th, 2018 by HarperCollins

Summary: Do YOU have the magic breath?

Let’s see…Take a deeeeeep breath in…and BLOW it out…

…and like magic, you can feel better just by breathing! Sometimes it’s hard to feel happy. But with this interactive picture book, children breathe along as they learn how to make angry or sad thoughts disappear.

In a world that is sometimes too busy, with too many things going on, My Magic Breath will help steer children into a serene space of mindfulness, self-awareness, and balance.

About the Authors and Illustrator:

Nick Ortner is CEO of the Tapping Solution, LLC, a company with a mission to promote the natural healing method known as Emotional Freedom Techniques or “tapping” (a combination of Chinese healing practices). This is his second children’s book; his first was The Big Book of Hugs. He is also the New York Times bestselling author of The Tapping Solution, The Tapping Solution for Pain Relief, and the upcoming book The Tapping Solution for Manifesting Your Best Self. Nick lives in Newtown, CT, with his wife and daughter, June. You can find Nick at facebook.com/nortner.

Alison Taylor is an elementary school teacher and coauthor of The Big Book of Hugs. She writes to inspire young people, especially her beloved June and Harris, to find what makes them happy. She lives in Connecticut with her husband.

Michelle Polizzi is an illustrator and designer living and working in California. This is her second book working alongside Nick Ortner and Alison Taylor. She lives in the East Bay with her sons, Rowan and River, her husband, Nick, and their beloved Frenchie, Oscar, where they spend their days creating and inspiring one another. You can see more of her work at designbylovelyday.com.

Review: Deep breathing is a tool that I have taught my son to use to deal with frustration, anger, or sadness. This lesson was even more supported when Daniel Tiger taught him to, “When you feel so mad you want to roar, take a deep breath and count to four.” We use this mantra often to help him refocus when his brain is getting fogged by an emotion. Additionally, some of Trent’s favorite books are interactive picture books like Press Here! or Don’t Touch This Book. My Magic Breath combines these connections in Trent’s life into one! It not only promotes meaningful breathing in a fun way, it turns it interactive through the illustrations and second person narrative. This is going to be a book that is easily going to jump into our picture book regulars, and I cannot wait to be able to be able to tell Trent to “Think about what happened. Now keep it in your mind! Close your eyes and take a deep breath in. Now blow out your breath…”

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Anxiety is something that many teachers now find themselves talking to their students about because so much pressure and stress are on kids these days either socially, academically, or at home. My Magic Breath will be a perfect book to introduce at the beginning of the year then use throughout the year to help students understand and deal with their emotions.

Discussion Questions:

When do you feel the most anxious? Angry? Scared? Sad? Try using mindful breathing during these times.
How do you picture your magic breath would look when you blow out during these times? What about a happy time?

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