A cute short story about the power of one’s imagination. Beautifully illustrated, perfect for creating a quiet moment or as a bedtime story. Sure to inspire moments of creativity and dreams.

"A beautifully illustrated picture book about learning to let go." Beautifully illustrated indeed, and powerful one too. We might forgot the feeling of having something that is "mine", years ago. Something we can call "my own" and belongs only to me. How special the object is, and once we lost it, well, we already forgot how we can cope with that feeling. But objects, or pets, or friends and family, that we hold dear, are sometimes gone. This book helps little ones to let go of those that they held dear, and is a beautiful one to read.

I've never been a big fan of picture books that deal with children's emotions, but this one presents the unusual premise of having a balloon, one of the many physical possessions that enter our lives for a brief period of time, represent loss and grief.

I liked this bit from the author's afterward:
Losing something meaningful might be out of our control, but what we choose to believe is very much in our control. We can believe that the people we love are in the best places and we're able to come to eventual peace and acceptance.

That said, I feel I should point out that it is also possible to enjoy this just as a lovely picture book (the watercolors by Magriet van de Berg are gorgeous and ethereal), without having a discussion about symbolism and the subject matter.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley. This is my honest review.

This is a story about a girl's favorite balloon that gets away from her one day and she has to come to terms with its loss. To do that, she imagines all the adventures her balloon is going on now that it's not longer with her, as if she's flying along with it. It felt like a borderline religious message from my personal perspective (oh, it's in a better place), but it wasn't in your face, and the imagined adventures were the girls idea.

The illustrations were very soft and cloud-like, which is fitting for a story about a balloon seeing all sorts of cool new things. There were lots of colors, but they were muted, pastel-like. Overall I give this book 3.21 out of 5 stars.

My first comment is that this children’s book is part of a series called Healthy Minds. The aim of the series, as stated on the cover is “to examine daily obstacles and the mental health of young children.”

In the story presented, a child loses a balloon, and you can wish it a beautiful journey. This is the healthy psychological tip one is to draw from the story. That which you can’t control, learn to reframe it in a positive way. If this is the sole aim of the book, I suggest it has achieved its purpose.

However, the author acknowledges young minds need to process loss, and states their recovery from loss follows established stages of grief. I found in the book little help in moving the young child through the stages of grief (which the author correctly identifies as denial, anger, bargaining, sadness, before moving to acceptance.)

The real downfall of the book is too hastily moving to the acceptance stage, and also offering a one dimensional solution to solve the problem. At no point does the girl with the lost balloon express sadness or disappointment to a parent or a friend. As a past school teacher, I found this a disappointing oversight, given that the author is attempting to help children develop “healthy minds.” Much research has established that social connections is a positive attribute to handling life well.

From my point of view, the author has not given the steps to help the child “grieve the loss.” Indeed, it seems to me this child has already accepted losing their balloon. As a parent and as a school teacher, I would want the book to give me skills and strategies to help children move through the established stages of grief.

What remains for me to do is to comment on the illustrations. Simply wonderful! Engaging! These will stimulate interaction with the child and encourage communication.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to review this children’s book. As an experienced teacher of children with disabilities for over 30 years, I used children’s literature regularly to facilitate children’s learning.

In the book, the MC is learning to accept the loss of her dear friend. I think the book did a great job of discussing this very delicate subject matter with taste. The water-colored illustrations were both beautiful and calming. A difficult subject to approach, but a necessary one to prepare children for the inevitable.

This book is supposed to be about processing loss and I’m not sure I get it. I’m lost. This character has a balloon. They have fabulous adventures, but the character knows that eventually the balloon will go away. We follow along the adventures until one day, the balloon is handed off to another character, as if instead of saying goodbye, it’s saying it’s time to move on. This book is written by a psychologist who helps children with their mental states. The book in general is lovely. I don’t think it gets the point they’re trying to make. I will say the watercolor illustrations are amazing. They would look good on any wall as art outside of the book.

I know this adventure will eventually end, and we'll have to say goodbye. It's time to open my eyes. Losing something is never easy. It's hard to let go.

It can be very difficult to find the words and know the feelings as we go thru losses. This book for young children helps with those difficulties. It is illustrated very colorful and whimsical.

With every loss, there is a gain. It is just finding it.

A special thank you Clavis Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

Received for review: I received an advanced copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not obligated to write a good review, nor did I receive any compensation for writing this review.

Why did I decide to turn the pages? The concept caught my interest.

My Overall Thoughts/Impressions: The illustrations were intriuging. The watercolor style of illustrations was unique and extremely well done. I found myself drawn to the illustrations and spending more time on them.

That's a huge plus for this book.

I also liked the concept of healthy minds and being able to deal with loss and letting go.

However, the writing in this one was not my favorite. It wasn't bad, and I do think the imagery would be helpful for kids who were struggling with loss in particular.

But it is not the best written I've read.

So why 3 stars? Good concept and illustrations with an important lesson but it did not quite deliver for me.

Pages: about 32.

Reading age:4-9 years of age.

It is one of the sad lessons of childhood that friendships with helium-filled balloons do not last very long. This book teaches children how to deal with that sad fact of life, and other losses as well. The low key pastel colors of the illustrations reflect the gentle tone of the text as a young girl accepts the loss of her friend.

This book is part of a series that seeks to help young children cope with obstacles to mental health. It is written by someone with an outpatient mental health practice.

This is such a colorful and imaginative take on dealing with loss and sadness. I love the way we are trying to teach children how to let go. That's a necessary skill. I think I'm gonna follow this series. Based on this book alone, I believe healthy minds series just might acheive what they're setting out to do.

Imagination is a wonderful thing!
Loss is something that happens.
The illustrations by Magriet van der Berg are fun, simple, colorful, and delightful.
Well suited for reading WITH someone of any age including ESL, and great for gifting to anyone, but especially to a school or public library!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book on Adobe Digital Editions from Clavis Publishing via NetGalley. Thank you!
Clavis Publishing supports the First Amendment and celebrates the Right to read.

This is a very cute book. A young girl losing her balloon and imagining some of the places they could be going together as it drifts away in the wind. It can provide fun discussion points for young kids to use their imagination. While it provides vivid illustrations and ideas for kids to come up with on adventures they can go on with a floating balloon, the overall theme of loss is a bit confusing. Children lose things and don’t understand the finality of it and become so upset that talking to them about imagining things the could be doing with a cherished item or even person they have lost will not be understood. Children are still learning to process and understand what loss means. With the amount of emotions they are feeling it would be cruel to tell them to imagine the fun things that item could be having without them. While this could be a cute premise for older people to imagine the happiness they felt with a lost loved one, even adults would have a hard time imagining those moments after losing someone they love.
Overall book had great illustrations but not a message that is appropriate for young children to be leaning or imagining in a classroom.
Thank you NetGalley and Clavis Publishing for an e-reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book has beautiful illustrations and a simple message!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and publisher for this advanced copy
This book is a must for kids.. It teaches them about accepting grief and loss

a great story on learning to let go! not only does it have absolutely stunning illustrations which i adored to no ends, but also a really important social message on mental health in younglings and how loss affects them. the end of the book contained snippets of insightful knowledge on the aforementioned subject, and i love the emphasis being put on this topic. in awe!

This is an absolutely stunning book that will help children learn to let go. The story is relatable and appropriate. The illustrations are gorgeous. The added information for adults will surely be appreciated. Thanks #NetGalley

Thank you to Clavis Publishing, and to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I thought this book was beautiful. The use of the watercolors in this book was fantastic. This book is teaching children about loss. I thought was really cute.

Beautiful illustrations . Eye catching. The artwork made me want to fall into the book myself. Great message about loss and not focusing on the loss itself.

This is a comforting book about letting go. there's no actual "plot", just a girl going on adventure with her imaginary balloon. the illustrations are so pretty.