Love, Hugs, and Hope Blog Tour

Love, Hugs and Hope

Written after the tragic Newtown, Connecticut, shooting, this book is an invaluable tool to help  children work through feelings after a tragedy. Our kids deal, not only with national tragedies, but every day ones like death of a grandparent, loss of a puppy, or divorce. This book guides readers through emotions of fear, sadness and anger, then offers constructive ideas for managing these feelings. The message of the book is that love chases away hate and light banishes darkness. Lori Nawyn's engaging illustrations help the reader know that hope is only a hug away.

Midwest Books reviews the book as follows: "Love, Hugs, and Hope: When Scary Things Happen" is a special understanding kind of book that aims to help children find safe ways to express their feelings when bad things happen. A beautiful two part message is embedded at the core of this lovely book, with perfectly balanced text and illustration. It proclaims: "Love chases away hate (on a valentine held by a penguin) and light chases away the dark (with a lit candle held by a duck in the darkness with stars)." Further pages tell children to cuddle up close with the adults who love them and hug them to help chase away the fear and sadness. "Love, Hugs, and Hope" is available in jacketed hardcover, Kindle, Nook, iPad, and ePub Midwestbookreview.com

The book is available at:

Amazon

 Familius 

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A Journal is a Record

 Every day you do lots of fun things. It's good to keep a record of your activities and interests. Keeping a diary will help you remember good times as you grow up. It will be great for you to have a memory book of  the things you loved to do. Keep a journal.

Let's brainstorm some of the ways we can keep a record.

I'll list the ones I can think of and then I'd love to have you write to me and tell me more ways you can think of. Write me at

http://www.christymonson.com/

We keep a record by:

Writing words on a paper is only one of the ways.

            What about making a map

            Or a mystery puzzle

            Or a word search

            Or scrambled letters

            Or doodles

            Now you think of some.

Drawing

            You can use pencils you write with every day

            Or you can use colored pencils

            Or markers

            Or crayons

            Or a stick in the sand

            Or white chalk

            Or colored chalk

            Or the computer or ipad or other electronic device

            I'm sure you can come up with other ways to draw

Painting

            I love water colors because they look so soft

            Tempera paints           

            Oils

            You can paint with silly things like cherries. Their rich red color is beautiful.

            Blackberries would make a dark inky color.

            Can you think of other fruits or vegetables?

            Think of other paints.

Do you like to write stories? How about writing, drawing, or painting a story in one or several of the ways listed above. Better still, think up your own way to record your ideas.

Well, keeping a record, or a journal, can be done in lots of different ways. Over the next few weeks, we'll explore some more ways. Let's hear your ideas, and I'll include them (with your first name if you wish).

Some people have said that keeping a record for your children and grandchildren will be more precious than gold to them. Do you believe that? I do.

Happy journaling. Keep in touch. Christy

           

Great Review

Here's the review the book got from Midwest Book Review

"Love, Hugs, and Hope: When Scary Things Happen" is a special understanding kind of book that aims to help children find safe ways to express their feelings when bad things happen. Inspired by the tragedy of Sandy Hook, December 14, 2012, "Love, Hugs and Hope" uses beautiful colored graphic designs, optimistic pictures, and clearly written messages to give children permission to have their feelings, express them, and work through to find and build a sense of security once more.

 "Love, Hugs, and Hope" is all about validation of feelings, especially scary feelings. A beautiful two part message is embedded at the core of this lovely book, with perfectly balanced text and illustration. It proclaims: "Love chases away hate (on a valentine held by a penguin) and light chases away the dark (with a lit candle held by a duck in the darkness with stars)."

 Further pages tell children to cuddle up close with the adults who love them and hug them to help chase away the fear and sadness. "Love, Hugs, and Hope" is a beautiful and useful memorial to a tragic event, conveying a healing message of caring and hope. 

"Love, Hugs, and Hope" is available in jacketed hardcover, Kindle, Nook, iPad, and ePub.

You can preorder now. The book will be in stores September 1, 2013.

Love, Hugs and Hope

Hello,

I'm Christy Monson, a retired Marriage and Family Therapist who adores children and loves to write.

I've raised six of my own children, watched other kids grow, and worked with a lot of youth in therapy. Many young people experience sadness and disappointment in their lives. They may encounter separation from a parent through divorce, death of a grandparent, loss of a family pet, or many other tragedies. This book gives parents and children a way to work through these life-impacting incidents and move forward with positive energy and hope.

Author Note

Love, Hugs, Hope

When Scary Things Happen

Tragedy is frightening for everyone, especially children. We, as adults, try to make sense out of what has happened, but a child may be unable to do that because of their limited view of the world.

It is important for parents to listen to a child’s feelings. Validate what they have to say. For instance, when a child is explaining what happened and how they felt, you can say, “How frightening for you,” or “That sounds very scary.”

Teach them:

1.      Love heals

2.      Light is stronger than dark.

Art is a wonderful way for children to get their feelings out. The rule of thumb is that the more tactile the medium, the greater the feeling level elicited. So a sand tray story, clay figures, and finger paint will extract more emotion than crayons or colored pencils.

When tragedy strikes, our first thought is disbelief. Then comes anger and later grief. Listen for clues to see what your child is feeling. If your child is angry, let him hit a pillow or do some physical activity to release feelings.

Above all, hold and hug each other in your family. Love helps us through crisis. Take some time to enjoy the incredible blessing of being with those close to you.