"The Ball of Red String" by Sister Marlene Halpin is a beautifully crafted guided meditation book designed to help children connect with God and cultivate a lifelong relationship with their Creator. The narrative is straightforward and engaging, making it enjoyable to share with young readers. The illustrations are charming and enhance the overall experience, adding a visual warmth to the meditative journey. This book is a wonderful tool for introducing children to spiritual practices in a meaningful and accessible way.

Religious meditation book for children. Not something I would add to a public school library as it has a strong belief in one religion without a lot of room for other beliefs.

Thank you to Loyola Press and NetGalley for the eARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.

If you are a family of faith and are trying to teach children how to become closer to God, this is a good book. I liked the illustrations.




******
Thank you for taking the time to read my review. If you are interested in seeing more of my reviews and other content feel free to connect with me <3

https://linktr.ee/bookreviewsbyjules

This link has all of the websites where I post my book reviews (Instagram, Goodreads, TikTok, Storygraph, My blog and Substack newsletter, etc) If you are a publisher or author who has questions about my reviews (as well as questions about my stats, reach or engagement), please free to email me. I am also open to requests for book reviews from authors or publishers. Thank you again for taking time to read my review, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Lovely little book that guides the child inwards into a meditative state. The accompaniying pictures are lovely and in a beautiful style
As I'm not religious myself, I can't help but wish that it had left Jesus out of the equation. It would be such a lovely book to introduce children to the idea of meditation in a simple to understand way.
That being said I was relieved that the way Jesus and Christianity was approached was through an individual-centred approach. Meaning that the individual child was largely creating their own relationship with this inner Jesus figure, rather than be told what he was like and what he wanted.

I may not be the target group for this book as my children are 2 and 8 years old. I think this might better suit children ages 10-12+ years old. The illustrations and concept were absolutely lovely and I enjoyed those parts.

Too many words for this concept. If the idea is to simplify prayer, why is this so detailed? The concept is nice, but I don't think it's necessary to follow the string to all the other places before you get to Jesus. It makes the message get lost in the weeds. I did really appreciate the art, and I loved that the images of Jesus left a lot to the imagination. That was awesome. The concept is there, but the execution is lacking for me.

Though I am a person of faith, The Ball of Red String wasn't quite for me. To me, the guided meditation did not feel natural and the climax of being with Jesus felt odd.

I am not a religious person, but I found The Ball of Red String to be a very touching book about meditation and prayer. It would serve as a great tool to teach children about prayer and religion.

I usually avoid religious reads, so I'm not sure how this one got recommended to me, but it's a delight. The Ball of Red String is a great way to introduce guided meditation in a safe, and fun way to children.

If you are not religious, or want to give your child more autonomy in their beliefs, I think it would be easy to adapt for that. I'll be suggesting that my oldest see an angel as I know that's a concept he's comfortable with, and for my youngest I might try "a safe person" and see what comes up for him.

I could see this being used regularly in a mindfulness practice, or to continue building a spiritual relationship. (I can also see adults enjoying doing this!)

Great meditation, would be especially helpful for Sunday school teachers introducing children to private prayer with Jesus. I almost feel the part at the end of the book, describing how adults can facilitate the meditation, might be better at the beginning of the book (so when reading, you may want to jump ahead and read the context first). Very well done start to meditative prayer.

This is a very well done meditation for kids and I think it would work well for any Christian denomination. It is a simple guided meditation that helps a child visualize their relationship with Jesus through prayer. The addition of the tips and adaptations adds even more to the book. Very well done.

This is a meditation book for Christians, how you spend some time alone, or quiet time (together) while getting closer to Jesus. As a believer, we know that Jesus is there but we rarely know that He will answer in His own amazing way. He knows us best, and has the tools to reach us, if we let Him. And through meditation, you might find Him, and feel His loving hands strengthen you.

This is a calming book. I truly appreciated the second part of the text that explains how to talk to Jesus and what kinds of things to talk to Him about. I didn't love the first half that was all about following a strong of yarn; I felt that it took away from the purpose of the book.

A guided meditation that leads children into prayer to Jesus. Well written but I was not expecting it to be a Christian meditation.

A tool for guided meditation for the spiritual child. This juvenile non-fiction book is beautifully illustrated. It was the artwork on the cover that initially drew me to the story, however reading the contents changed my opinion off the book. Due to personal spiritual beliefs, the steps for the meditation within the book were not useful to me as a reader.
However, that does not mean there is a child, or adult for that matter, that would benefit from a guided meditation that helps them develop their spiritual relationship in the Christian faith. That would be the best person to read the book.

This book was so adorable, I loved everything about it, the illustrations were so well done, they suited the book perfectly, the story was amazing as well. I’m sure the kids are going to be just as enthralled with this amazing book as I was. I will definitely recommend! Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this early copy

This reminds me of leading kids in Ignatian Prayer. Having them close their eyes and imagine they are somewhere where they can meet and talk to Jesus is a good strategy. I didn't like the "Red String, Red String" part for the children to say. I wish that part was more connected to the "Old Woman" being Mary or some other prayer that would lead you to your "Heart Home" instead of talking to the string. Overall it is a good meditation to use with children.

I nice introduction to the contemplative tradition within Christianity for children. Very heavy with imagery, as a good meditation script for children should be, but also wonderfully open-ended to allow kids a chance to discover and interact with Jesus as individuals, rather than being pushed in a certain direction.

I have always been fond of picture books and believe they can be a powerful tool for learners of all ages. I will admit, I downloaded this book before realizing it mentioned Jesus and God (I, personally, am not religious). I was initially drawn to it because of the cover and the idea of this ball of red string helped with the visualizations of a meditation practice. While I am not personally religious, I found this book to be quite beautiful and written in an engaging way for readers of all ages. This idea of the red string could be used for many different scenarios to help ground and guide someone through a medication. I love that this is a picture book, so the target audience is likely younger readers, because it is so valuable to teach children the skills of mindfulness and meditation. One thing that can really make or break an picture book for me is... you guessed it, the pictures! The words were powerful and the pictures were captivating.

This is an interesting book from a religious perspective but from a meditation perspective (as the book promises), I'm not sure how it would work. Most of the people that the book recommends to use this book (teachers, youth leaders, catechists) are typically working within a group. It might be a good one on one resource maybe very small group resource.

If you're not looking for a religious book, skip this one.

#arc
#netgalley
#theballofredstring