Today's book is a tale about patience, friendship, and developing resilience in pursuit of a goal. But at it's heart is a little girl learning that the journey is more important than the goal.
The author wrote this story to offer an alternative to "The Little Engine that Could", which claims that "practice makes perfect." sometimes no matter how hard we try we are unable to achieve a goal. It is at times like that that peace is hard to be found.
Thankfully, in the face of failure, peace can be found. By letting go of the idea that happiness depends on achieving a single, external goal, we free ourselves to discover joy from within.
The author believes that just because you may have a failure, YOU are not a failure.
Unwrapping...
Text and illustrations by Tamara Levitt
Ages 4-8
Unwrapping some illustrations for you...
Editorial Reviews...
Michael Stone
Sharon G. Horn
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“Brilliant! In a whimsical tale facing childhood challenges, Tamara Levitt examines the hidden assumptions in the adage that practice makes perfect. She tells a different story that every child should hear—of self-acceptance and resilience—and it does so with dazzling simplicity.”
Andrew Larson
About the book...
"Leela loved to do yoga." Thus starts the charming tale of a little girl's passion for something she dearly loves to do.
She practices with her best friend Lyle and both have perfected many fancy poses such as downward dog, the tree pose, and the cat pose ... but when it comes to one particular pose Leela is a complete failure. She is unable to do a headstand. No matter how much she practices or how hard she tries she fails. She always goes... KERPLUNK!!!!!!
She becomes obsessed with trying to master it and her daily mantra is "I CAN'T DO IT!' Others around her seem to grasp and succeed how to but sadly Leela just cannot. Loyal Lyle tries to help his friend and reminds her of all the things that she excels at such as: ice skating, singing beautifully and drawing perfect stars in the sand. Sadly when Leela gets home and is alone in her bed all she can focus on are the things she can't do such as: rollerskate, skydive, her headstands and bake a cake. Oh my, Leela feels like a complete failure and is extremely unhappy with herself. She thinks that if only she can perform that perfect headstand she will finally reach nirvana.
Leela decides she can't wait for headstand happiness so what do you think she engages in to lift her spirits and begin smiling and enjoying life once again? She decides to throw herself into life which frees her mind to focus on positive and fun things around her. Can she do it? Is she able to overcome all that negative thinking inside her mind and heart? Can happiness be hers once again, headstands or no headstands?
This inspiring book will give you hope and encourage you to dwell on all the wonderful gifts and talents that you do have and not obsess with those you wish you had or can't obtain... yet!
About the author/illustrator...
I'm a writer, artist, teacher, and entrepreneur who likes to break the rules. I have a slight obsession with kids books and all things Dharma. In merging that love with my passion for artistic creation, Begin Within was born. Please check out my website at www.beginwithin.ca.
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It's a wrap.
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