Mindful Mr Sloth is a beautiful picture book with detailed and fun-to-explore illustrations. (For example, I found another book I’ve read by author Katy Hudson, The Golden Acorn, in an illustration toward the end of this book. Fun!)

Mr Sloth’s advice to Sasha to be mindful, focus, stop and relax, think, and use your senses is just as important for adults to take time to practice as it is for kids. I’ll definitely recommend this book.

Thanks to Capstone and NetGalley for the provided e-ARC and the opportunity to read this book. My review is honest, unbiased, and voluntary. #NetGalley #MindfulMrSloth


<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/4676029e0cd68c08426ce5b1da1361150eea1869" width="80" height="80" alt="Reviews Published" title="Reviews Published"/> <img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/5c78b3421c1782f67f7121ebe09522c49679d19b" width="80" height="80" alt="Professional Reader" title="Professional Reader"/> <img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/983c4c1d1d67bd15457e3ed3175e8200a0292db2" width="80" height="80" alt="50 Book Reviews" title="50 Book Reviews"/> <img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/49492eb6eb29fff59e9142d8962e6200d4125144" width="80" height="80" alt="80%" title="80%"/> <img src="http://www.librarything.com/pics/lter_small_yellow_border.gif" width="110" height="68" border="0" alt="LibraryThing Early Reviewers"> <a href="http://www.firsttoread.com"><img alt="First To Read" src="http://www.firsttoread.com/Images/F2R_member.jpg"></a> <span style="color: #382110"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/3177436?shelf=read" title="Ren HappilyBuriedInBooks's book recommendations, liked quotes, book clubs, book trivia, book lists (read shelf)", rel="nofollow"><img border="0" alt="Ren HappilyBuriedInBooks's book recommendations, liked quotes, book clubs, book trivia, book lists (read shelf)" src="https://www.goodreads.com/images/badge/badge1.jpg"></a>

This is an adorable book with a message about mindfulness and slowing down that doesn't seem preachy or feel heavy-handed. The story is enhanced by the lovely illustrations, and who doesn't love a book with a sloth in it? I think this book could be a valuable tool in a child/adult/family's journey towards mindfulness.

This is such a cute book with a very important underlying theme. When I was a child I can't remember a single book that tackled this topic in a child-friendly manner and God knows I would have 100% benefited from such a story. I think the author did an amazing job at making the topic of mindfulness understandable for very young kids and I also think the story would be really fun to read with different voices, I think kids would really enjoy this. And I must say I particularly appreciated the illustrations and all the tiny details, I think children would love to (as I used to do when I was a kid) spend ages looking at all of the details you can find in each page.

So Fast Sasha meet Mr. Sloth one day. The little girl who love to do so many things in a short period of time, meet the world's slowest animal (beside turtles, I guess.). But Mr. Sloth's existence teach her so many things.

For us who lived in a fast paced world, this book was a nice reminder to stop a while and enjoying what the nature can give us.

As a preschool teacher who works with lots and lots of children that like to go REALLY FAST, I adored the premise of this story. Sasha also likes to do things quickly — until she meets Mr Sloth. As her new best friend, Mr Sloth teaches her that sometimes going slow can be good. The pacing of the story is perfect for little ones, with beautiful illustrations of Sasha’s activities with Mr Sloth throughout her day. I cannot wait to buy a copy to put on our bookshelf.

What drew me in were the illustrations but I am equally pleased with the story. I read it aloud to my 5-year old who listened to the story from cover to cover entranced! She tried reading it by herself too and other than a few unfamiliar words, she breezed through with aplomb. I highly recommend it for kindergarten kids. And did I say the illustrations are absolutely fabulous?

So so beautiful. The graphics are beautiful and the lesson of teaching kids to slow down is definitely needed!!
Thank you to NetGalley for letting us read and review this book ❤️

The illustrations in this book are beautiful. The idea of teaching kids mindfulness is there but we thought there were better opportunities for Mr. Sloth to teach mindfulness outside of a race. It appears there was some sort of connection to the “Tortoise and the Hare” fable at play with the slow/fast concept and the race but are not really sure the message comes across in the best way.

Sometimes, I find books about mindfulness for young children are a little complicated or not very engaging to very young readers. Mindful Mr Sloth is a perfect introduction to mindfulness for young readers. It has engaging characters and young children will identify with Sasha as she rushes through life. Mr Sloth and his slow ways, irritate Sasha but she soon learns that slowing down can be fun too. The illustrations are vibrant and draw you into the text. I think my preschool class will love this book and explaining mindfulness through the eyes of Sloth is developmentally appropriate for young children. Thank you for writing a book that is both engaging and simple.

Nice message for the kiddos to slow down and savor each moment; instead of rushing around like a tornado, as they are apt to do. I liked Mr. Sloth and Sasha, and the illustrations were pretty good as well.

I loved everything about this book from the main character being black, a sloth being her best friend, the anti bias background characters and the over all theme of patience. Im an adult and i connected with this book in more ways than one and i can see myself in thish story. Absolutely beautiful

Thank you NetGalley and Capstone Editions for a copy of "Mindful Mr. Sloth" in exchange for my honest review.

This book is absolutely delightful. Mr. Sloth is an adorable character. The book was written for ages 4 to 8 but I think it would make a wonderful read-a-loud for younger children because of the colourful pictures and Mr. Sloth is sure to be a popular character.

Sasha only has one speed - fast and she spends a few seconds at every activity she does. Words like: "raced, trampled, frantic and whipped" are used to describe how Sasha does her activities. Mr. Sloth loves to do things at a nice and easy pace. Mr. Sloth sets out to teach Sasha to slow down and enjoy life.

When Mr. Sloth and Sasha meet, he tries to explain to her that he has fallen from his branch during his morning nap but Sasha is too impatient to listen to him. When they play doctor, Mr. Sloth takes too long to find a heart beat. When they build a rocket, he takes too long with the sticky tape. When they paint Sasha does four paintings while Mr. Sloth puts on his apron.

Sasha feels that she is the fastest in the neighbourhood. They take off on a race. Mr. Sloth wants to stop and listen to birds sing, Sasha says that the chirping is nice but she needs to win a race. Mr. Sloth wants to stop to smell flowers, Sasha admits that they smell nice and starts to wonder why she never has noticed before. Mr. Sloth wants to show Sash the stillness, the breeze and a butterfly.

They learn that they are the very best friends even if they have two speeds - fast and slow. At bedtime Mr. Sloth takes so long to read the words that Sasha learns to appreciate and enjoy the pictures in the book.

This book teaches Mindfulness: being present in the moment; Focus: on where you are, what you are doing; Stop; Relax; Think: about your breathing; Use Your Senses: to notice the world around you.

My Thoughts
I feel like there are a lot of children’s books featuring sloths lately. I reviewed a different one recently and I have another one to review after this one. That is okay though because sloths are awesome! Here are my pros and cons for Mindful Mr. Sloth:

Pros
1. This book is about encouraging children to slow down and enjoy themselves more rather than racing around all the time. That might be a hard sell for energetic kids, but if anyone can encourage mindfulness, it is a sloth.
2. Illustrations (by the author) are awesome! They really enhance the story.
3. The sloth is adorable and super patient. My favorite scene is when Sasha decides to play doctor and the sloth is the patient. Hilarious!
4. I appreciated that while the book encouraged kids to slow down, take deep breaths, and to enjoy the things around them (flowers, smells, butterflies, etc.), it also didn’t discourage them from being crazy, energetic and fast sometimes either. The story promotes balance and that is what is important to learn… for kids and adults.

Cons
None.

Summary
This book is adorable and reminds children they can be crazy and silly and fast when appropriate, but it also encourages them to stop to watch the butterflies, smell the roses, and listen to the chirping birds from time to time as well. Great advice to all of us.

Thank you NetGalley and Capstone Editions for providing an ebook, which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I know a few kids just like Sasha, the determined child, who relates to the world physically and is always active. Along comes Mr. Sloth to slow her down and help her to stop and smell the flowers and check out a butterfly...during a race. Perhaps an inopportune time to stop, but that is the message, no matter what you are doing, be present.
I love the idea of sloth story time, luxuriating over words and pictures in books while snuggled up before bed, That is the time to go slow and to slow down those active children in preparation for bedtime, and this book would be a great one to do it with.

I loved how this book teaches everyone, especially children, how to be mindful of our actions and the things that we do. And I loved how that is shown in this one. The illustrations are very colorful and beautiful to look at as well.

I absolutely love the illustrations in this children's book, they are whimsical and playful and call for you to continue reading. Sasha is a very fast paced and active child... until she meets a sloth atop her treehouse. He encourages her to slow down and enjoy the small things, like the sound of birds singing and the smell of flowers and the pleasure of just being still. This is overall a sweet book that introduces children to concepts of mindfulness and relaxation.

As a SPED teacher, I LOVED this one! First of all, the illustrations and characters were adorable and totally relatable to all my little students. Second of all, I loved the theme of slowing down and mindfulness! This is something that is so hard for our young students to grasp. They get bored so easily and are constantly rushing through things without really savoring them for all they are worth. This story did such a wonderful job of setting up the problem with Mr. Sloth being slow, but then bringing forward the strong connections of the theme through the ways Mr. Sloth helped Sasha slow down and enjoy the things in life we are all often in too big of a rush to notice. This book was adorable and I cannot wait to purchase it to share with my students soon!

A big thank you to NetGalley and Capstone for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. This is a beautifully illustrated children's book. Sasha and Mr. Sloth have a unique relationship. She finally agrees to slow down a little. This is a fun book that I believe that children will love. 4.5 stars

I enjoyed the overall message of this book, but there could have been more nuance to the explanation of mindfulness. It didn't seem realistic to me that Sasha would suddenly stop trying to win a race. There's a time and place for mindfulness, but there's also nothing wrong with trying to win a race. I did love the the friendship that develops between Sasha and Mr. Sloth and the illustrations are beautiful.

Without a doubt, this is my favourite young audience book that I’ve read so far this year. Not only because of its mindfulness message but because I think most of us, adults especially, can identify with the rush of modern life. The illustrations and characters are wonderful. I enjoyed reading all the little notes by Sasha in the illustrations, there’s so much detail I hope this book’s readers really do slow down and enjoy the ride! 5/5 stars from me. I would open this one again and again.