Will I love I Am Peace?

I Am Peace is part of a wonderful series by this well-known team. The series explores topics such as compassion, empathy, resilience, and what it is to be a feeling human being. I Am Peace is about a child (gender not identified) who worries about the past and future and learns how to comfort and ground themselves by noticing the here and now, breathing evenly, and practicing kindness toward themselves and others. The simple, sparse text expresses these rather deep ideas in ways that all children can understand: “I can watch my worries gently pop and disappear. I let things… show more.

Many little people (and big people) will be able to see themselves in this book and will relate to the feeling of being thrown off balance by worries. With simple illustrations and analogies, this book quietly presents a lifeline of ideas to help us steady ourselves and to help us feel more grounded and at peace. 

I Am Peace offers steady reassurance for children when swirling emotions overwhelm them. “The thoughts in my head are like rushing water and I feel like a boat with no anchor…” it begins. Then the book leads us through some simple mindfulness and meditation exercises, followed by ways to feel gratitude and peace. In today’s world, I can’t imagine a more important message. Children today are shouldered with more than their share, and this book helps them regain their center and focus on the here and now. A helpful reminder for adults, too!

In gentle, poetic language that illuminates the essence of mindful awareness, Susan Verde has created a picture book that shows children how internal peace is possible. Without preachiness, Verde suggests ways for kids to connect inwardly and outwardly:

“I can watch the clouds make shapes against the sky. I know wonder.”

“I can feel my breath fill my whole body. I tune into me.”

“I don’t need to worry about before and after. I am in this moment. I am peace.”

Just reading this book, silently or aloud, helps me be in the present moment, in the universal expanse of… show more.