Free Book Give Away: I Can Say NO

This great new book for children, I Can Say NO, is certainly one that hit a nerve with me!  In an effort to be team players, supportive, and helpful, many of us have said yes, when what we really want to say is, "NO!"  

Before reading this book I was thinking of saying no only in the context of stranger danger or drugs.  However, as important as these are, there are so many other ways we need to teach our children to use their voices and say, "NO!"

I love the idea that saying no is a superpower.  In the story, Zuri  explains how saying no gives her control of her life.  She explains how she can use no for many other things besides peer pressure and stranger danger.  Saying no gives her control over what she wants play, when she wants to play, and who she wants to play with.  Zuri tells students sometimes you just want some down time and it's okay to be alone.  It's okay to say no when it's a movie or game you are not interested in, or when people are gossiping, or leaving someone out. It's okay to say no and to do it without feeling like you have to lie, make excuses, avoid certain people, or say yes when you really want to say no.  Learning to say no appropriately gives children confidence, courage, and a feeling of control over their lives!

Author Jenny Simmons has written a wonderful book for helping children learn to be assertive and respectful without feeling guilty or explaining themselves.   Illustrator Kristin Sorra's beautiful and colorful style complements the story with her diverse student and adult characterizations. Check out the short video from author Jenny Simmons as she explains how she came to write I Can Say NO and how learning to say, "No," can empower our students.

Two FREE Books

Thank you to the National Center for Youth Issues for donating 2 free copies of I Can Say NO for this give-away!  Please like/follow them @nationalcenterforyouthissues.  

To enter this give-away, leave a comment below this blog post, on the Exploring School Counseling Facebook page, or the School Counselor Store Facebook page with something to which you need to say NO.  Winners will be selected at random and announced on Sunday, March 7 at midnight EST.  The more places you comment, the more chances you have to win!  Check back here or on Facebook for the winners.

Good Luck!!! 

Congratulations to Brandon Castro and Sharon Drueen our book winners!

Free Book Give Away! What's Inside Your Backpack?

Here's a book school counselors will reach for again and again! Beautifully illustrated, with a diverse collection of story characters, What's Inside Your Backpack? tells the story of Zoey Harmon who is carrying around a lot of fears she's not sure how to handle.  Like many of the students school counselors see, Zoey feels alone and ashamed because of things that have happened to her and worries about what others will think if they know about her life.  She also worries about losing a friend if they were to know what she was going through.  Her worries are portrayed as heavy books she shoulders each day in her backpack. As school counselors, we know our students can relate to Zoey's heavy backpack of "books" as we see them carrying around the weight of their own life circumstances each day.

Zoey is supported by her mother, teacher, and school counselor who encourage her find ways to ease the load of worry, shame, sadness, and unsafe parent books weighing her down. They share the idea of placing positive bookmarks in each of the heavy books she carries. These "bright" thoughts help Zoey address specific negative thoughts she has when faced with the burden of a particularly heavy "book" and remind her she is brave and can feel safe even when feeling scared and remembering bad things.  These book marks don't magically solve her problems, but help Zoey build confidence and resilience as she faces the fears represented in each "book."

Check out this video by author, Jessica Sinarski as she describes her motivation for writing, What's Inside Your Backpack?

Two FREE Books

Thank you to the National Center for Youth Issues for donating 2 free copies of What's Inside Your Backpack for this give-away!  Please like/follow them @nationalcenterforyouthissues.  

To enter this give-away, leave a comment below this blog post, on the Exploring School Counseling Facebook page, or the School Counselor Store Facebook page with a strategy you  use to support students dealing with negative thoughts.  Winners will be selected at random and announced on Sunday, February 7 at midnight EST.  The more places you comment, the more chances you have to win!  Check back here or on Facebook for winners.

Good Luck!!! 

Thank you to everyone who shared their ideas! Congratulations to winners Sierra Skye Daniels and Vickie Ridenour!

Julia Cook Book Give-away: "Don't Be Afraid to Drop"

 

This is the perfect time for an updated version of Julia Cook's 2008 book,  Don't Be Afraid to Drop.

With the uncertain times our students and their families are still facing, it is helpful to have a story to share about change, facing our fears, and taking risks.

Julia Cook is re-releasing this timely story about Hopp the raindrop with new, softer illustrations by Anna Laura Sullivan.  

Hopp is too worried to drop.  It is something new and unfamiliar. This means change and he is afraid to leave the comfort of his home, family, and friends.  The cloud is his home and where he feels he belongs, "It's all I've ever known," he says.  Hopp talks about being nervous and scared and a tummy that's all in knots.  Our students will be able to relate to Hopp's feelings and many will be able to recall a time they felt the same way. I can imagine lots of different conversations where students are sharing their feelings about change and the ways they handled their fear and were successful.  There are so many great teachable moments here!

Hopp has lots of questions and "What ifs..." about dropping. But, with the encouragement of his father, Hopp learns  to let go.   

    "Don't  be afraid to drop to the ground.  Be brave and trust what I say.  If you don't take a risk, you'll never find out what great things might happen today."

This book has so many wonderful lessons for students, whether starting Kindergarten or transitioning to Middle School. It helps all of us to think about change and the rewards and growth that comes with taking risks.

Check out this Facebook video of Julia talking about the idea for this book, her own discomfort with making recordings, how she has gotten better, her "spring" comparison, and her reading of the book.

Julia Cook  Don't Be Afraid to Drop video on Facebook.

Two FREE Books

Thank you to the National Center for Youth Issues for donating 2 free copies of Don't Be Afraid to Drop for this give-away!  Please like/follow them @nationalcenterforyouthissues.  

To enter this give-away, leave a comment  below this blog post, on the Exploring School Counseling Facebook page, or the School Counselor Store Facebook page with a way you encourage students to take risks.  Winners will be selected at random and announced on Sunday, January 17 at midnight EST. The more places you comment, the more chances you have to win!  Check back here or on Facebook for winners.

Good Luck!!!

Congratulations to our book winners, Nicole Parker and Michelle Hopper Mawhiney!

Julia Cook Book Give-away: My Fantabulous Brain

I know if you are reading this, you love Julia Cook's books as much as I do.  So keep reading to learn more about her latest book and how you can enter to win one of 2 free copies provided by National Center for Youth Issues!

In this book, Julia Cook introduces readers to Wade, a character to whom many of our struggling students can relate.  How often have we heard from students about how hard it is to study, and the difficulties they have with concentration and recall?  Her latest book provides school counselors with ideas and some practical activities to help students who are facing these challenges. When students struggle with their school work and feel like nothing they do can produce success, their academic confidence and self esteem are hurt.

Our main character, Wade, has trouble studying and remembering and is ready to quit! But then he hears from his brain and learns how much more he is actually able to do.  With words of encouragement, tools from the "brain toolbox," and some "brain training" our character learns how to change can't to can and don't to do.  Wade goes from school failure to school success.  

At the end of the book, Julia provides some "brain training" exercises to help students get in some "brain sweat" as they learn to build their brain's capacity to grow and get stronger. Also included are links to free internet resources about brain training. What a great book to share in any of your school counseling program offerings, whether individually, in small group, or classroom counseling.  Even though I am now in middle school, I plan to use the ideas and resources in this book to improve the brain power of my students who have given up and think they are "stupid."

Two FREE Books
Thank you to the National Center for Youth Issues for donating 2 free copies of My Fantabulous Brain for this give-away!  Please like/follow them @nationalcenterforyouthissues.  

To enter this give-away, leave a comment  below this blog post, on the Exploring School Counseling Facebook page, or the School Counselor Store Facebook page with something positive that has happened at your school since our unusual start to the school year. Winners will be selected at random and announced on Tuesday, November 10 at midnight EST. The more places you comment, the more chances you have to win!  Check back here or on Facebook for winners.

Good Luck!!!

Julia Cook Book Give-away: I Have Ants in My Pants!

What could be better when heading back to school than free books by Julia Cook? Okay, definitely no pandemic, but unfortunately, I can't help you with that.  What I can do, is offer 2 free copies of Julia Cook's newest book, I Have Ants in My Pants! 

 If you know Julia Cook you know Louis from Personal Space Camp, My Mouth is a Volcano, and It's Hard to be a Verb.   Julia has teamed up again with illustrator Carrie Hartman to share the latest challenge faced by Louis. And if you know Louis, he has more than his fair share of challenges.  As elementary counselors, we all know kids like Louis.  This book will be another awesome addition to your school counselor library when looking for resources to help students like Louis.

Whether sitting in class, waiting in the lunch line, or at the movie theater, Louis can only sit still for so long! Then, it happens!  His toes start to wiggle, his knee needs to twitch and then his feet just have to kick, and inevitably another person is hurt or annoyed.  Louis's struggle to control his wiggles result in a number of adults asking him if he has ants in his pants which causes our very literal young character concern about whether he has real insects in his pants.

Luckily for Louis, he has a very understanding Mom who explains the expression, "ants in your pants"  and teaches him a special "Wiggle Dance." This dance helps Louis handle his wiggles, take control of the ants in his pants and even offer advice to other "antsy" friends.

The National Center for Youth Issues is offering a FREE digital copy of the I Have Ants in My Pants resource bundle to anyone who pre-orders a copy of the book and fills out the form on IHaveAntsInMyPants.com by August 26.

Two FREE Books
Thank you to the National Center for Youth Issues for donating 2 free copies for this give-away!  Leave a comment below, on the Exploring School Counseling Facebook page, or the School Counselor Store Facebook page describing something you do to help students with their wiggles. Winners will be selected at random and announced on  Sunday, August 23 at 11:00 pm ESDT. The more comments you share the more chances you have to win.  Check back here or on Facebook for winners.

Good Luck!!!

I'm Stretched by Julia Cook Book Give-away

I know we've all probably felt just like the character in Julia Cook's new book I'm Stretched!  Often during the school year there are times when we feel stretched and stressed!  There is just too much to do and not enough time to do it.  So from our already full plates, things begin to fall off.  I know when that happen I'm not as prepared, my house and life are a mess, I'm tired,  not eating right, and not taking care of my health.  And I KNOW the ways to handle stress! All I need to do is practice what I teach!  But for our students it's different, they don't have the skills and resources we do.  This book is the perfect way to introduce those skills.

In the story, the main character is a young girl who is feeling "stretched."  She has too many assignments, activities, lessons, try-outs, and concerns about family, friends, and her pet.  These things cause her to lose sleep, be unprepared, unorganized, worry,  and stressed out.  She finally turns to her mother who offers her great advice on how to view and handle stress.  The mother, who in my opinion must be a school counselor,  shares with her daugher all the great things she can do to reduce her stress and feel peaceful and calm.  From venting to belly breathing to preparing the night before, this mom has great advice for her stressed out girl.

So many of our students feel stress, whether it's because they have too much to do in their lives or because they don't know how to manage all the things they want to do.  This book is a great resource for individual, small group, or classroom counseling lessons.  School counselors  will recognize the variety of tips provided at the end of the book as things they regularly suggest to students when talking about self-care and organization.  These tips can be turned into variety of student activities to go along with the reading of the book.

Two Free Books!
Thank you to National Center for Youth Issues for donating 2 free copies of I'm Stretched for this give-away.  Leave a comment in the section below or comment on the Exploring School Counseling Facebook page, the School Counselor Store Facebook page, or the Elementary School Counselor Exchange or all of the above.  The more you comment, the more chances you have to win!  Winners will be picked Monday evening at 11:59PM.

Good luck!!!

Julia Cook Book Give-away!

Julia Cook is an elementary school counselor's best friend.  Her books make difficult topics easy to share and discuss with children at all grade levels.  While continuing to write new books, Julia is offering an updated version of an old favorite, Bully B.E.A.N.S.  In this revision of Bully B.E.A.N.S., the 10 year old book  gets a make-over with beautifully updated artwork by  illustrator Tammie Lyons

Inside is the same great story, of how students learn to speak up and handle classroom bully Mean Maxine.  At the end of the book are tips for those who are being bullied, have friends being bullied, and even for those who might think they are a bully.

Join Julia as she tells the story of Mean Maxine and how she bullies her classmates. Learn how one student with the help of her mom, some positive strategies for handling bullies, and a bag of Bully Beans for courage, teach the students in Maxine's class to stand tall and stand together.  The "magic" jelly beans remind kids everywhere they have the power to stop bullies.  "The B.E.A.N.S. in Bully Beans stand for Bullies Everywhere Are Now Stopped."  Using the courage from the "magic" beans the students stand up to Maxine and put an end to her bullying. They even share some bully B.E.A.N.S. with Maxine to try at home on her brother who bullies her.

To purchase the revision of  Bully B.E.A.N.S.  you can find it on Amazon and at the National Center for Youth Issues.

To learn more about author Julia Cook and her many great books click HERE.

Four Books to Share, Four Ways to Win!
Thanks to the National Center for Youth Issues, I have 4 copies of Bully B.E.A.N.S. to share. To enter to win your copy Bully B.E.A.N.S., leave your comments by midnight eastern daylight time Wednesday, September 25.  Winners will be announced on Thursday September 26.

1) Leave a comment below the blog post describing your favorite strategy for helping your students cope with bullies.
2) Leave a comment on the Exploring School Counseling Facebook page describing your favorite strategy for helping your students cope with bullies.
3) Leave a comment on the Elementary School Counselor Exchange Facebook page describing your favorite strategy for helping your students cope with bullies.
4) Leave a comment on the School Counselor Store Facebook page describing your favorite strategy for helping your students cope with bullies.

UPDATE!!! Our 4 winners are Liz Brittnacher, Stephanie Kirland Gibson, Ashley Ann and Shirley Topia. Please direct message me with your home address. Thank you all for your wonderful comments!

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The Awfulizer: Learning to Overcome the Shame Game

This great new book The Awfulizer, written by Kristin Maher and illustrated by Robert Dunn, is an Social Emotional Learning (SEL) must have!

The story of James and his encounter with the Awfulizer embodies the the core SEL competenices of self-awareness, self-management, and social awareness. When James begins to feel badly about mistakes he's made, the Awfulizer appears and constantly reminds him of  all the other things he has done wrong and tells him he is a bad kid.

As James begins to lose his self-confidence, the Awfulizer grows and grows. James withdraws worried he will say or do the wrong thing. The Awfulizer has convinced James he is a bad person and that he should feel shame in making mistakes. When James's parents suspect something is wrong, it is the encouragement of his Mom and Dad that helps James talk about his feelings of insecurity and shame. His parents tell about their experiences with the Awfulizer and share an important truth, "I may make a mistake, but that doesn't mean I am a mistake." James learns when you talk with others about how you're feeling, whether friends, family, teacher, or your school counselor, it gives you a superpower; you become an Awesomizer!

This is a great story for students with self-defeating behaviors, perfectionism, and low self-esteem who have convinced themselves they are bad people because of their mistakes.  I love the idea of empowering these students with the superpower to be "Awesomizers" by using positive self-talk and sharing their feelings with trusted adults.  Kristin provides tips for helping children become "Awesomizers" at end of her book.

How to win your FREE copy of The Awfulizer.

I am giving away 2 copies of The Awfulizer.  Many thanks to the National Center for Youth Issues for sponsoring this give-away.

There are 3 easy ways to enter the Rafflecopter contest below.

• Leave a comment in the section below this post about how you help children deal with shame.
• Like this post on the Exploring School Counseling Facebook page and leave a comment about how you help children deal with shame.
• Like this post on the School Counselor Store Facebook page and comment on how you help children deal with shame.

Each method gives you one entry in my giveaway. Do all three and receive 3 entries!  Give away begins, Saturday, August 24 at 12:00 am, and closes on Tuesday, August 26 at 12:00 AM EDST.

Winners will be selected using Rafflecopter and announced at the close of the give-away on my Exploring School Counseling Facebook page on Tuesday evening, August 27. Thank you for participating and good luck!


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Seraphina Does Everything! A Review and Give-away

I recently received this great little book called, Seraphina Does Everything! written by Dr. Melissa Gratias and beautifully illustrated  by Sue Cornelison.  The story is about a young girl who wants to do it all!  Her talents and interests are varied and she fills each day with more new things to do and try. Seraphina sees all the interesting things there are to do in the world and she doesn't want to miss a single one! She is involved in music, art, dance, sports, and foreign language. Seraphina is a voracious learner who is engaged and active. As she discovers more about the variety and options of life she is excited to expereince more. Every day of her week is filled with activities as well as her weekends.

For awhile it seems all is going well. Seraphina loves learning so many new things!  However, in a moment of quiet reflection in the car,while returning from one of her many activites, Seraphina begins to feel sad.   It seems Seraphina is not doing as well as she appears and she is feeling the pressue of doing EVERYTHING.  Although Seraphina is experiencing the joys of learning, she is missing out on the joys of just being a kid and the experiences of growing up.  Time to relax, play with friends and pets, spend time with family and focus on school work are part of learning to achieve balance in life.  In trying to do everything, Seraphina realizes she is not doing everything well and is missing out on other important things in her life.  Life with friends, family and school are passing her by.  Seraphina is blessed to have a very wise Dad who advises her there is time to try life's options, but for now to focus on what she loves and make time for the important things like family, friends, and school.  The story ends with a relaxed and happy Seraphina who has found the balance of trying and learning new things with just being a kid.

As School Counselors, Serpahina is someone we might describe as overextended. We often see similar students who present as anxious, depressed, or perfectionists. Sometimes it is the student driving themself to do it all.  Other times, we see parents who seem to think it is important to fill every moment of their child's life with "productive" activities.  Whatever the source, as School Counselors it is important to remind both children and parents that while involving our children in enriching activities from an early age is good, balance is key.  The learning of many essential social emotional  and life skills comes from giving our children the unstructured time and freedom to explore, create, problem solve, and self-soothe.

At the end of her book, Melissa Gratias offers a list of tips for students and parents to help them achieve balance, determine activities of value, communicate expectations, and understand the importance of rest.  I would efinitely recommend adding this book to your School Counselor library.

How to win your FREE copy of Seraphina Does Everything!

I am giving away 2 copies of Seraphina Does Everything! Many thanks to the National Center for Youth Issues for sponsoring this give-away.

There are 3 easy ways to enter the Rafflecopter contest below.

• Leave a comment in the section below this post about how you help children and families find balance.
• Like this post on the Exploring School Counseling Facebook page and leave a comment about how you help children and families find balance.
• Like this post on the School Counselor Store Facebook page and comment on how you help children and families find balance.

Each method gives you one entry in my giveaway. Do all three and receive 3 entries!  Give away begins today, Saturday, April 6, and closes on Monday, April 8 at 11:59 PM EDST.

Winners will be selected using Rafflecopter and announced at the close of the give-away on my Exploring School Counseling Facebook page on Tuesday evening. Thank you for participating and good luck!

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A Flicker of Hope by Julia Cook: Review and Give-away

I have always found the work of Julia Cook to be a valuable tool in working with children in my school counseling program. She has the ability to take difficult topics and distill them into kid-friendly images and ideas that resonate with children.  Students are able to easily relate to their own "tattle tongue" or "volcano mouth."

Julia Cook's latest book is titled,  A Flicker of Hope.  I love the personification of the candles she uses as the characters in this story. The many different shapes, sizes, colors, and styles of candles is a great analogy to the unique differences of people in our classrooms, our schools, and in our world. It gives us a bridge to talk about the idea that although we may be different, we all have times when  dark clouds dim our light and we need a little boost.

Just like little candle, the pressures in the lives of our young students can seem too great for them to handle on their own, but Julia reminds them they can always ask for help.  Whether they are struggling with feelings about grades, friends, family, loss, or just feeling they are not good enough and don't really fit in anywhere, the dark clouds can be pushed away by asking for help.  Julia not only encourages our students to ask for help when faced with their dark clouds, but also teaches them they can be "hope builders" by sharing their gifts with others and "offering a litte boost of hope" to those whose light may have grown dim.

The concept of teaching children to feel hope is empowering.  It can help them move from a place of darkness, uncertainty, and self-doubt to a place of light and a feeling of freedom. Our students begin to realize, they are not alone, there are others who can help, and there are things they can do to help others too.  This book provides school counselors educators, parents, and anyone who cares for children a sweet little story to teach about the beauty of hope and how we all can be hope builders.  What a powerful message for our young ones today!

To read more about the benefits of building hope in children, check out these articles at Psychology Today, HERE.

How to win your FREE copy of Julia Cook's new book, 
A Flicker of Hope

In celebration of Julia Cook's new book,  A Flicker of Hope, I am giving away 2 copies. Many thanks to the National Center for Youth Issues for sponsoring this give-away.

There are 3 easy ways to enter the Rafflecopter contest below.

• Leave a comment in the section below this post about how you teach children to have hope. 
• Like this post on the Exploring School Counseling Facebook page and leave a comment about how you teach children to have hope.
• Like this post on the School Counselor Store Facebook page and comment on how you teach children to have hope.

Each method gives you one entry in my giveaway. Do all three and receive 3 entries!  Give away begins today, Monday, December 10 and closes on Saturday, December 15, 2018 at 11:59 PM EST. 

Winners will be selected using Rafflecopter and announced at the close of the give-away on my Exploring School Counseling Facebook page on Sunday morning.  Thanks for participating and good luck!

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Summer Giveaway! FREE Books!

It is my great pleasure to introduce Erainna Winnett, author of Mrs. Joyce Gives the Best High-Fives, as my guest blogger.  However, for many School Counselors, Erainna needs no introduction.  Not only has she written this popular book used by School Counselors across our country, but she has written numerous other books including a therapeutic series of activity books and one of my personal favorites, Frenemy Jungle.


In today's post you will find out how Erainna  came to write Mrs. Joyce Gives the Best High-Fives,  a link for awesome FREE lesson activities she designed to go with her book, and instructions on how to enter our giveaway for a chance to win one of five FREE autographed copies of  Mrs. Joyce Gives the Best High-Fives!

Welcome Erainna!

First, thank you so much for having me as a guest blogger, I am honored to share my story with your readers. I’ve been in education for the past twenty-two years. After fifteen years in the classroom I felt a calling for something more—a deeper way to connect with and help children, which is how I discovered school counseling.

I moved from classroom teacher to school counselor in 2011 and absolutely fell in love. However, I soon discovered there weren’t a lot of up-to-date resources available for school counselors. After hearing me gripe about it for months, my husband finally told me to write my own resources. Isn’t it nice to have someone who knows what you need before you do?

And so, I began researching self-publishing and taught myself the basics of publishing a book. To be honest, there were some costly mistakes: the cover for Mrs. Joyce Gives the Best High-Fives was redesigned five times—YIKES—before I found one that I felt was ‘right’. Most students didn’t even know their school had a counselor, much less how one could help them.

The first week of school during my second year as a counselor I went into every classroom and read the Mrs. Joyce book. The children loved it and I received many thank-yous from teachers. Needless to say, the following week my office was constantly busy.

I continued listening to my students and knew that I needed to write other books to address individual needs. This launched me into the Helping Kids Heal therapeutic activity book set. I’m thrilled with how well all of these books have been received. Just last week, I woke up to an email from Ireland requesting copies of my books. Who would have ever thought a small-town Texas counselor-author could reach professionals across the ocean?

As educators, counselors are often the least familiar to parents, students and sometimes teachers. I hope my efforts have offered you some tools and helped you appreciate the power of your roles in our children’s lives. And I invite you to continue to add to our community. I wish you luck in the giveaway and hope you are having a relaxing, restful summer. 

All the best and Happy Counseling. 

Erainna

Thank you Erainna for sharing your story and your amazing FREE resources to go along with your book Mrs. Joyce Gives the Best High- Fives!  

How To Win Your FREE copy of Mrs. Joyce Gives the Best High-Fives

There are 3 easy ways to enter!   

• Follow my blog by email and post a comment below about why you should win a copy of Mrs. Joyce Gives the Best High-Fives. 
• Like this post on the Exploring School Counseling Facebook page and leave a comment about why you should win,
• Like this post on the School Counselor Store Facebook page and comment on why you should win. 

Each method gives you one entry in our giveaway. Do all three and receive 3 entries!  Give away begins Friday, June 30 at 12:01 AM EST and closes on Sunday, July 2, 2017 at 11:59 PM EST. 


Winners will be selected using Rafflecopter and announced at the close of the giveaway.
Thanks for participating! Good Luck!

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