A Note to Parents and TeachersThe purpose of this book is to install coping strategies through storytelling. This book is loosely based on the therapeutic intervention's mindfulness and behavioral activation.Depression causes decreased motivation, self-esteem, energy, and the loss of interest in the activity we used to enjoy. Behavioral activation encourages us to not wait for our mood to change to get back to what we used to love, but instead to do what we loved, especially when we do not feel like it. The idea is that we do not wait for our mood to change to rejoin the world. Instead, we rejoin and that act in itself causes our mood to improve. Mindfulness is intended to bring us out of the worry of the future, and the rumination of the past. It keeps us present in the moment. For children, the easiest way to accomplish this is through something they all understand intrinsically, through play. The focus of our attention is what drives our mood, if we can teach our children to focus their attention to their play, we are teaching them to ground themselves in their happiness, how to purposely shift their attention from stressors. This is a practice that will serve them well in times when they need relief from anxiety and depression.
