Review: Mop Rides the Waves of Life: A Story of Mindfulness and Surfing by Jaimal Yogis

Title: Mop Rides the Waves of Life: A Story of Mindfulness and Surfing
Author: Jaimal Yogis
Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Plum Blossom

Publish Date: June 30, 2020

Source: Author

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Celebrated San Francisco surfer-journalist-dad Jaimal Yogis teaches 4-8 year olds timeless beach wisdom with the story of Mop, a sensitive and fun-loving kid who just wants to be in the ocean.

Going to school and navigating classmates can be hard--but all that goes away when little surfer Mop paddles out in the waves. With a few tips from his clever mom, Mop studies the wisdom of the water and learns to bring it into his life on land: taking deep breaths, letting the tough waves pass, and riding the good ones all the way. With newfound awareness and courage, Mop heads back to land--and school--to surf the waves of life."

 My Two Cents:

"Mop Rides the Waves of Life" is the story of a little boy named Mop, who feels totally at home surfing the waves and being in the ocean. He feels more "at sea" when he's on land trying to navigate school and bullies. When he has a terrible day, Mop learns that by not staying calm, everything will get a lot worse. His savvy mom shows him that by taking a step back and practicing mindfulness, Mop can begin to ride the waves of life, the good and the bad, just as well as he shreds the real waves in the ocean.

This book is a wonderful introduction to mindfulness, something that we can all use, especially these days. I love how the author is able to take an idea like mindfulness that can be a little bit complicated and breaks it down so it's easily understood by little ones. I know that I have invoked Mop's name a lot already with my little ones when they're having trouble making good decisions about what they should or should not act out about. Between the sweet lesson and the gorgeous illustrations, this book is one that gets a lot of mileage in my house with my five year old girls. This book would be a great pick for anyone with little ones looking for some gentle guidance.