Joyce Dunbar

Smudge is the only rabbit in the woods without a brother or sister. His mother tells him to wait for spring, but that is a long way off. In Autumn, Smudge builds a leaf-and-twig brother, but he blows away. He builds a snow sister in the winter, but she melts. Will Smudge's wish for a sibling ever come true?

Meditation and visualisation, if approached in an inventive and appealing manner, bring enormous benefits to children. It can calm their anxieties, build their self-esteem, unlock their imagination, and teach them quietness and thoughtfulness. This book, designed for parents to use with any child between the ages of 4 and 8, is a collection of 20 narrative-based meditations. Reading the stories aloud, we draw the child into adventures which fire their imagination. In this way we help the child focus their minds, release their worries, believe in themselves and trust in the world around them. All the stories sensitively tackle difficult challenges facing small children, such as how to cope with disappointment, how to make good decisions, how to deal with anxieties and how to banish boredom. Each of the meditations is both enjoyable, as a fantasy, and effective, like a gentle hand smoothing wrinkles from tiny furrowed brows.

Nightlights is a book of stories to read to children, but stories with a difference. It's a collection of twenty interactive meditation stories that have bene specially written to calm and relax your child at bedtime, while at the same time engaging and stimulating his or her imagination. These stories also help children in many other important ways. They help them to focus their minds and develop their powers of concentration and visualization, as well as learn more about emotions and feelings. Although not meditations in the strict sense, they do serve as a good preparation for learning real meditation later on. They also foster imagination and creativity, help children deal with their burgeoning anxieties, and help them take their first steps towards developing their own unique identity. In the Introduction, Civardi provides techniques to help parents develop their out-loud reading skills, shows how to create the right mood, and gives practical advice on how to talk with your child about what he or she has just heard. After each story, there is a brief list of affirmations which help to settle the message in the minds of both parent and child.