Starbright--Meditations for Children: A Personal Guide for Parents and Teachers to Help Young Children Sleep, Focus, and Feel Centered

I purchased this book on a recommendation from a friend, as my 8yr old has been anxious, having frequent nightmares, and struggles with nighttime and going to sleep, and I have been unable to help him resolve with the methods I have used thus far.We are just one night in, and he absolutely looooved the "story" I read to him, and is already telling me all about his special star. He requested that I give the book a 5-star review.If I see a need, I will come back and update again after a few weeks, but for now, we highly recommend!To be clear, this is a book for a parent to read to/with a child. A sort of relaxation/meditation passage book. Absolutely lovely.

I am a mental health counselor for children and families and I love this book soo much! I have used it in sessions with clients (even some adults with a few alterations to the stories). These stories are the equivalent of guided imagery for children. When parents and caregivers read these stories to their children they nurture their relationship and teach self-soothing and emotional-regulation skills. The stories are beautiful and encourage children to build deep and meaningful connections to nature. I have given this book as a gift to many parents of young children and I use it often with my clients.Some of my favorite stories are "the grandfather tree" and "the waterfall and the cave".

I love this book. Better yet my 3 1/2 year old loves it too. When I first introduced the idea of meditating before a nap he was a bit resistant. I explained to him that it would help him relax for sleep and not be so keyed up which doesn't allow him to sleep. Eventually (later that night) he decided that he wanted to try it out. And then he began to request it before bed every night for the last week.Bedtimes which were once easy had become a nightmare in the last 6 months and I wanted nothing to do with it anymore. Giving up I let my husband handle putting him to bed and took a walk. When I returned I remembered that I purchased this book and decided to try it out. And it's been a blessing. My husband was so happy to finally be able to put our son to bed without any arguing and clamoring from our son. My son will tell me "I'm so relaxed right now mom. I want to go to sleep." Ha! How amazingly wonderful! He's so happy and loves going on lil meditative journeys before bed. This is a great way to teach meditation.Oh, and for those parents who have kids that are real movers and think "There's no way my kid(s) is gonna sit for that," don't fret. My son will interrupt sometimes, especially at the intro now since he knows it, but he settles and listens better when I read the stories within the garden. He still adds to the story as he's not closing his eyes but he's listening and "feeling" the stories. He's such a physical kid that to add that part makes him more engrossed in the storyline. Also play to the child's feeling and interest to keep him present with the story. Get comfy, dim the lights, and start reading.I've also noticed that once I got used to the idea of what the garden was for it allowed me to creatively embellish the story. For example, in one meditation with the Busy Ants there's a party and he wanted me, his dad and sis to come along too. So I made up that a lil bumblebee took a card and dropped it off at our kitchen counter (and it magically got bigger so that we could read it) and we came to the party as well. Often times he'll suggest that our cat is with him along with his guardian angel. When I leave him to 'play' in his garden I tell him that his preschool friends are there as well. I think the familiarity really helps to also lessen any fears and anxieties. We've also taken the time for him to describe his guardian angel and that has helped make him more familiar.Besides sleep this has also helped when I used the first visualization technique to help him heal after he had gotten vaccines. The next day he told me he felt much better and could walk without pain.I've tried Moody Cow Meditates and Mindful Panda as a way to teach my son about meditation and relaxing but this one has a wonderful, enjoyable straightforward technique for calming the mind. Plus there are no pictures in this book, it's left completely to the imagination which is wonderful as I feel that sometimes the pictures can overstimulate a child's mind as well. Still I would recommend the Mind Jar in Moody Cow (the book, eh, borrow from a library first as I think it's meant for much older kids like 7/8 and up) and the book Mindful Panda anyway as I felt they were wonderful tools for children to have as well.

Beautiful book. I wish I could buy a 100 and give them to friends. I wish more parents read books like these. We would have such a peaceful world.

I tend to be a skeptic in general, but as I was desperate, I took the plunge and ordered the book, after reading all of the rave reviews. I definitely recommend reading the first portion of the book, which specifies what the parent needs to do to prepare to use the book with the most effectiveness. This is what I did, and, no joke, the first night we used it, my 8 year old slept like the angel I know and love - all through the night, peacefully and happily. It's now been over a week, and every night has been the same - I am so grateful to Ms. Garth for doing this, and my skepticism is officially humbled regarding this approach to childhood sleep issues.Update - a few years since I wrote this review. I work in mental health, & have continued to sew this work wonders for sleep problems and also behavior issues. I seriously cannot endorse it enough!

This has been one of my favorite books since I was a young girl. My Aunt bought it for me 25 years ago and I lost it over time... I remembered it when she passed away and purchased it myself to read to my daughter. The book's meditations are calming, soothing, and imaginative.

I read it to some PreK kids and it made them sleepy. I changed the words "guardian angel' to "your magical protector" so as snot to subscribe to any one certain religion. Kids with deeper-level thinking from ages 4-7 could benefit from this visualization experience. But visualization is really all that I see that it is.

I must say I was skeptical at first. My four year old is always moving and on the go, how was I going to get her to sit for more than a few seconds for something like meditation? But the first night, after two separate sessions, one for nap time and one for bed time, had her so relaxed I didn't have to fight with her about laying down for bed, for the first time ever. She just asked for some water, laid back down and I heard nothing more from her for the rest of the night.Baring the complete 180 in my daughters bedtime tantrum the meditations themselves are amazing, Very easy for me to read aloud the first time, with only one or two fumbled words. I can also see myself expanding on them, when I have the time to do so, making them longer and more detailed.Truly a must buy for anyone who wants a more relaxed bedtime routine.

Lovely little book for little people. I would recommend this sweet book for those in need of a soothing experience.

at first it seemed ok. but honestly in many of the stories i had to force myself not to roll my eyes. it’s poorly written, some of the wording is clumsy (not ideal in a book where you’re supposed to be reading calmly and soothingly), and in some places is written for one gender so i had to insert different words on the fly. is it really so hard to make a book like this genderless? don’t waste your money. read fairy tales instead. could only give 1/5 stars but if allowed i would likely give 1/10

This is a great book equipped with tools for parents to teach they're children to relax before bedtime. My children love going on these imaginary adventures created by the author. These adventures are easily altered to suit each families needs, beliefs, or experiences. It is great for children who worry or have trouble winding down. I would definitely recommend this to parents who are open to trying new and creative avenues with they're children to help them sleep and calm themselves easier.

purchased this book for some friends, we and they love it

A lovely book with a positive approach to calming, soothing and creating a peaceful place for little people to escape to.