Book Review: Wonderful Me

Before talking about anatomy and the changes kids go through in puberty, it’s great to have a base of information on what self-care looks like and what it means to be healthy. Wonderful Me: A First Guide to Taking Care of Yourself by Nancy Shapiro, walks kids through all the ways they can care for themselves and others.

The book generally covers aspects of the body, relationships and feelings, covering things like getting enough sleep, taking care of your body, getting exercise and learning how to check in with your body; being a good friend, establishing boundaries, balancing time alone and with others, asking for and offering help and learning to say no; communicating your feelings and using creative ways to express them and relaxing through balloon breathing.

Each topic is covered on a single page or a two-page spread, so it’s a pretty basic overview of these and other issues, but it’s a good place to start for early elementary school kids who are starting to learn to do things for themselves and express their needs more fluently than they could earlier in life.

The book includes illustrations by Vânia Sacramento showing kids with a range of skin tones and physical differences (there’s a child in a wheelchair and one with a hearing aid) so kids should be able to see themselves in the book and recognize that these are things they should be thinking about and doing in their own lives.

It doesn’t touch on anatomy or gender differences and doesn’t get into anything potentially scary (there are some mentions of talking to adults when things don’t feel right or someone asks you to do something you don’t want to do) and would be a fine book for use in a classroom (with an emphasis on being a good friend and being respectful of yourself and others) or at home if these are things you want to make sure your kids know about and do.

About the book: 48 pages, hardcover, published 2024 by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, suggested retail price $16.99

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Encouraging Self Care for Kids

I’m in deep denial about the fact that new year is almost upon us again! It’s been the fastest and the longest year at the same time, and I can look back and see some good things as well as some things I wish had gone differently.

Doing a year in review with your kids — whether in the classroom or at home — is a good way to capture some of their memories and the things they really liked about the year gone by.

There are a lot of different printable year in review worksheets you can use if you want to make this super easy. Here are links to a few (often part of larger posts about NYE celebrations with kids that are worth a read, too):

Teach Beside Me has lots of fun printables fro the end of the year, including a year in review that covers favorite memory, funniest memory and the best book they read, among other topics.
NurtureStore‘s version has space for a self-portrait and prompts like favorite toy, best day out this year and future dream job.
Remember favorites, their “best idea” of the year and have room for setting goals for next year with this one from The Keele Deal.
The year in review from Yes We Made This has room for drawing or writing and includes things like something they learned, a memory they made and a place they visited.

Of course you could pretty easily make your own year in review for the whole family to do that asks questions based on what you most want to remember. (Favorite video game? Best friend? Favorite family memory?)

And if after the year in review you’re ready to look ahead a bit, Mrs. Merry has new year’s resolution printables to inspired kids to look ahead and set goals for things they want to try. You can totally fill this one out as a grownup, too.

[Photo: Mrs. Merry]

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