4 out of 4 stars
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There are many books in children genre, which engage kids with a beautiful storyline and colorful illustration; yet The Barnyard Buddies STOP for Peace by Julie Penshorn is outstanding in this respect. It not only offers a simple colorful story, rather it contains a storyline with the themes of peaceful conflict resolution, problem-solving skills, and anger-management tools. Through interactive sessions, it engages children, their mentor and parents to develop a peaceful community, which can deal with crises and is capable of providing direction to others.
The Barnyard Buddies STOP for Peace revolves around barnyard animals, Gray Donkey, a Clover (goat), Portland Pig, Ol’ Dot and a king (horse). They were all happy in their barnyard; but one day, a sudden rain put them in a difficult situation. All began to shiver with a cold except the king. All the animals had to stay out, as the king had taken all the space within a shelter. They start showing their anger over the king. The king is also perplexed by the situation. In the meanwhile, a wise owl appears and advises them how to solve the issue, through anger management tool, STOP. They did and solved their problem peacefully.
The “Stop for Peace” is an interesting technique for reducing anger and peaceful conflict resolution among belligerent parties. This process involves STOP; means first stop and breathe, then cool off your anger, next collect ideas through brainstorming and finally plan how to deal with the situation. The most cooling element of this book is the inclusion of the song “I STOP for peace” to reinforce the learning. This music is available from the publisher and is included in the book. So children can easily inculcate this useful skill in a musical way.
This 2-page cute book contains a beautiful rhyming story and colorful illustrations. The author beautifully creates a connection between the story and its depiction through images. Apart from this, it offers a wonderful Parent and Educator Guide and a complete Mentor Program Guide. So it is a comprehensive tool to teach anger management and social skills. This book offers good vocabulary and has good formatting. So children will fondly read it.
Teaching such anger management technique is the need of the hour, especially in today’s society, where extremist attitudes are rampant, and these attitudes are directly or indirectly affecting our children’s mental and spiritual growth. The author competently provides this valuable service to children, through this book.
This book has been sponsored by a non-profit organization, Growing Community for Peace, through its project, Smart Tools for Life. The author, along with this organization, is committed to providing a threat-free environment and better future for children, so that they could peacefully and effectively play their role in the development of society. I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars, as it is not a simple storybook, rather it is a full fledge learning tool for children to become a creative, insightful and patient citizen. This book has been designed for children between the age group of 3 to 8, and it is free from editing mistakes. So, I would recommend this excellent book for children, parents, and teachers. Most of all, school libraries should give place to this book for the better future of children.
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The Barnyard Buddies STOP for Peace
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