First off, the cover font and illustrations are fabulous. That’s what drew me in. And then lessons, the story is so well done and tremendously important for young readers to hear/read, and for parents and teachers to share.

It’s engaging and the examples are relatable and the tips are clear, plus easily implemented.

I think this would appeal to both girls and boys. And I know several adults for whom this book could be helpful too. A truly valuable resource to help kids help themselves. Mindfulness — Well done!

The concept of this book is undeniably intriguing; however, I have reservations about the manner in which it introduces emotions to children. While I appreciate the effort to convey these complex concepts through a narrative, I find the indirect approach somewhat distracting. I believe that this book will be well-received by many readers, but it may not be my personal preference.

This is a really amazing children's book, which my daughter and I really loved reading!

The story is about a magical Magician who takes us on a trip to Feelings Town, to help the kids who are experiencing very strong feelings. He teaches us tips and techniques on how we can help these kids feel better. The Mindful Magician is a wonderful person who helps us to tap into our superpowers!

With gorgeous illustrations, and easy to read text, all children will love this book and be inspired by it. Highly recommended!

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

I thought this was a clever way to teach kids emotional regulation and some interoception. Some of the techniques to self-regulate are incompatible with trauma, though. I think it's a bit simplistic in that way, but then kids who experience trauma probably wouldn't have access to this kind of book anyway (I definitely wouldn't have as a child).

Oh my goodness I absolutely love this book. I can not wait to introduce it to my class next year. I will have capes for them and after every station they will get glow sticks (wands) to put all together at the end. Great concept and great delivery!

I really liked this book, and all of the exercises are very simple. The book says additional resources are online, but I have not been able to find any of them yet. I think this book is very neat though, and I hope some clarification or additional resources are added to make the other mindful steps more clear. Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book for review!

The Mindful Magician and the Trip to Feelings Town is a beautifully illustrated and engaging book for children about understanding and learning how to control their emotions. This interactive book is perfect for children's social and emotional development and helps their parents/carers with strategies and understanding, too. I loved how it can be broken up into daily segments rather than one long read, which is perfect for children with short attention span and is also a great way to use it as this allows the child to focus on one area at a time and not become overwhelmed (you could even let them choose which one they want to work on first by using the map near the beginning). Each section has a further magic spells' method/methods available online for adults to use too. Not only will children learn unique tools in self-regulation of emotions and feelings, but they will have fun doing it! This is a fantastic resource and will be handy in all settings as well as at home.

I received a free ARC in exchange for an honest review

Beautifully illustrated by Jennifer Jameson, this is a book for all ages that is also educational and reveals so much beyond the surface. You take a look at the words mindful and feelings and many come away with judgment, this excellent book describes how feelings can affect you and how to cope with it all with a setting full of life and character.

I truly understand the purpose and importance of a book such as this. I just can't help but feel that it's written in a way to make it feel like these are the things are going to work 100% of the time, and I don't like that. Some of the ways to "deal with your feelings" set up in this book, I just feel are teaching kids to not deal with them, rather... push them down and repress them. And yes, I know that in the moment, that's helpful, but in the long-run, I don't think it's healthy. The whole "magic trick" aspect left me feeling a bit icky.

For some kids, this might be a few tricks to deal with intrusive thoughts or overactive emotions/actions... but I feel like for many others, this is not nearly good enough.

This book is a good resource to help children with social and emotional development. The magician takes you around feelings town and helps children in the book deal with big emotions and feelings. The book is quite long, so may take a few days to read to even five year olds due to the short attention span but the book could easily be broken into parts to read over a few days to help the student work and focus on the emotion/feeling they learned to cope with that day!! I am excited to buy this book for my own children.

This is an amazing resource for counselors, parents, caregivers, and teachers alike! A fun way to learn about feelings and how to cope with them! I can’t wait to purchase this for my practice and my own children !

OMG this book is the best children's book on SEL that I have read in a long time! It was so well thought out, and touches on so many important situations and coping skills for children. It was easy to understand, the illustrations were wonderful, and it will be a fantastic book to use in the classroom & build a lesson plan around. I fell in love with it with each page I turned and I can't wait for it to publish. I loved it so much that I pre-ordered it already!!

I really enjoyed this book and the way it talked about different feelings in a non judgmental way. It was quite long so while I might use it for direct work with a child who has emotional regulation problems, it may be better suited to working through things over a number of sessions rather than in one sitting. I can think of several offshoots of direct work that could be completed alongside the book which makes it ideal for direct work.

I'm a little torn on this book. I think the concept is fantastic and even parts of the execution are wonderful. What hit the mark for me were the actual tools that were presented to children. I'm no mental health expert, I will say that. However, I do have special needs children and I have years of experience with my own therapy tools as well as for my kids. The book did try really hard to make the language and structure of the book friendly enough for reading aloud, I'm just not sure that the tools are particularly the best ones that could have been chosen.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-ARC of The Mindful Magician and the Trip to Feelings Town.
This is a longer picture book that gives children strategies for coping with things like sounds, body feelings, and uncontrollable wiggles. This book would be a great resource for elementary students. Due to the length, it may be too long for younger readers.

Thank you NetGalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for accepting my request to read and review The Mindful Magician and the Trip to Feelings Town: Tips and Tricks to Help the Youngest Readers Regulate their Emotions and Senses

Published: 04/21/23

Whimsical illustrations are busy on the pages. There was an eye conflict -- do I read first or look at the illustrations?

I understand trying to teach a child alternate ways to control their emotions, both good and bad. However, techniques described here are going to cause more stress in a child's life than doing nothing. The book is missing the directions -- when to use the techniques, what to do in public, who is going to help.

This is definitely a book that needs to be addressed with the parent or caregiver. This is not a leave around for the babysitter book or for a young child to read independently.

The children in Feelings Town experience common emotions, including Strong Feelings, Big Sounds and Busy Sights, Fidgety Feelings, Wiggly Movements Feelings, and Inside Body Feelings. Author Lauran Brukner offers tips that help the town's children identify and cope with all of these feelings. And readers also become magicians as they collect self-regulation strategies that help them handle big feelings and emotions, too.
Some of the tools seem too simplistic. But that's the helpful thing about a toolbox - some items will work and some won't. It's invaluable for our kids to have options they can practice in various scenarios throughout the day.
And this book normalizes feelings. Kids learn that it's okay to feel anger, frustration, etc.
The illustrations incorporate a single color for each feeling. While consistent, the singular color tends to overwhelm the picture and doesn't appeal to me.
Online parent resources offer additional practices for families to learn together. I didn't explore these resources but appreciate the opportunity to learn more.

This book is a great tool for introducing and reinforcing mindfulness in the classroom. I love how tools and strategies are introduced in ways that kids can remember.

A lovely bright and colourful book that can help children understand emotions. Each emotion is explained well and also gives the children a coping strategy. There are extra resources that can be accessed after each emotion. The book is set almost like an active workbook where you can get the children interacting and answering questions throughout. You could use this in topic work along with PSHD/Humanities or use it 1-1 to help a children understand their emotions and behaviours. It supports self-regulation.

As an adult, I wish I had a book like when I was younger. It's so important that children have an understanding on how to navigate big feelings and sets the foundation for how we deal with things as adults. This should be a staple in every classroom.