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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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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