Caramel reviews Breathing is My Superpower by Alicia Ortego

Caramel is a young bunny who likes to read books, big and small. In this blog he has been reviewing picture books, graphic novels, chapter books, and even a couple middle grade books, blogging about whatever comes his way and strikes his fancy. This week he reviews a cute little book by Alicia Ortego published in 2020 titled Breathing is My Superpower. As usual, Sprinkles is taking notes and asking questions.

The book bunnies received this book as a review copy.

Sprinkles: Caramel, tell us a bit about this book, please.

Caramel: This is about a girl named Sophia. She gets angry and anxious a lot. And so her mom teaches her a technique to calm herself down.

S: What is this technique?

C: Breathing. Like in the title of the book.

S: I see. So Sophia can use breathing as a superpower, because it helps her calm down and not get too angry or anxious.

C: Yes.

S: This kind of reminds me of a book you reviewed a while back, Train Your Angry Dragon by Steve Herman.

C: Yep. I remember that book. It was about a dragon named Diggory Doo who was the pet dragon of a boy named Drew. And Drew was telling us how to help Diggory Doo calm down when he would be about to have a temper tantrum. So, yes, this book is kind of like that one.

S: Yes, you are right. But Breathing is My Superpower focuses exclusively on one technique.

C: Yes! And that is breathing.

S: You know, I tried it the other day, to do exactly as Sophia tells us, to use your hand and breathe five times, once per finger, and it worked really well to slow down my mind and take a break.

C: I tried it too, but I did not have the patience. I stopped at two.

S: Well, you were probably just breathing and counting, and you were not stressed, anxious, or angry, were you?

C: Yes that is true.

S: I think the breathing is a tool for times when you are feeling some of those strong feelings. It does work at those times. At least it did for me.

C: I guess I should try and remember that the next time I get annoyed at things.

S: Yes, I think it takes some practice to remember this kind of thing when you have strong emotions, but it is worth trying.

C: Okay, I will give it a try if you say so.

S: This book also reminded me a bit of Somewhere, Right Now by Kerry Docherty, which is a newer book that you reviewed this year. That, too, was about being calm in the midst of all the things going on around us.

C: True. Both books are also rhyming. Or at least this one is. I am not sure anymore if that other book rhymed.

S: Yes, the book has a simple rhyme which can make it more fun to read out loud.

C: Maybe we can read it together after the review? And apparently there are three more books in the series. They all have some new superpower in the title. There is Kindness, Acceptance, and Gratitude.

S: Hmm, I am guessing they too are about how kids can learn to manage big emotions. And the gratitude one sounds like it could help people play Pollyanna’s glad game. 

C: I did not read Pollyanna, but you mentioned her before.

S: Yes, Pollyanna is a fictional character, a little girl who makes up this game where she tries to find something to be happy about even when bad things happen.

C: That sounds hard.

S: I agree. So maybe breathing is not that hard in comparison.

C: Yes, I agree with that. But apparently I might need some practice with the breathing to remember to do it when I need it.

S: Agreed. So let us wrap this up with your three words for the book.

C: Colorful, rhyming, and smiling, because all the people in all the pictures are smiling.

S: Yes, I like those words. The book has a simple idea but it is an important one. So I am glad we read it. And maybe we can just read it together one more time after the review, like you said. What do you want to tell our readers at this moment?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!