Friday, 20 August 2021

Blog Tour Review & Giveaway: Luna Finds Love Everywhere by Dr. Shainna Ali

 Luna Finds Love Everywhere
by
Dr. Shainna Ali
illustrated by Catarina Oliveira

A self-love book for kids

Publisher: Ulysses Press
 
Publication date: 17th August 2021
 
Genre: Children's Picture Book
 
Pages: 32
 
RRP: $16.95US (hardcover)
 
Format read: Ebook 
 
Source: Courtesy of Pacific & Court PR 

 
About the book

Meet Luna, a little girl who loves playing outside, helping her family, and learning new things. As Luna goes through her regular daily routine, she realizes how much love there is to appreciate around her and within herself too. She learns kindness, sharing, and even what to do when things don’t go her way. With simple prompts and activities scattered throughout the story, children will be able to explore the principles of self-love into their own lives. Kids will have a blast learning along with Luna as they discover the importance of loving each other and oneself!
 
My review
 
Luna Finds Love Everywhere is such a gorgeous, happy book. From it’s glorious cover to the heartwarming prose Dr Shainna Ali has written a book that exudes love, family and kindness.
 
The story is narrated by five year old Luna as she goes through her day from waking in the morning, to the sun shining and birds singing, having breakfast with her family then getting ready to play in the park with her friends. Luna is excited to share her new ball with her friends but they are busy playing with Ryder’s scooter. Luna is upset by this but practises her breathing and calms herself down. She has lots of fun in the park and when it starts to rain Luna doesn’t want to go home. This causes a major melt down when she gets home but with help from her mother Luna works through her feelings and calms down with deep breathing. Luna then looks back on all the love that surrounded her during her day and they think of more things that make them happy.

As the story is narrated Luna asks the reader questions such as “Have you every felt this way’? And “Who helps you to do things you can’t do by yourself”? This brings the children into the story for a more immersive experience prompting them to connect the themes to their own lives.

 
The concept behind the story is to empower children to embrace self-love and see the love that surrounds them everyday. The leading questions are a good opportunity to talk about emotions, kindness, sharing and exploring the love in their everyday life.

The brightly coloured illustrations are sweet and heartwarming. I love that they feature Luna’s family, with her older brother and baby sister, and how they help each other. Luna’s older brother helps her to clean her teeth and Luna teaches her baby sister to crawl.

 
Luna Finds Love Everywhere is sure to be a favourite with it’s brilliantly illustrated pages and an endearing narrator. It is sure to bring love and joy to many families.  
 
Rated by Dot & Ditto  5/5   ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
 
About the author
 
Dr. Shainna Ali is a mental health clinician, educator, and advocate who is dedicated to highlighting the important role of mental health in fostering happiness, fulfillment, and overall wellness. She lives with her partner and her son in central Florida, where she owns Integrated Counseling Solutions, a counseling and consulting practice. In her practice, she uses a strengths-based approach that empowers clients on their journey of self-love. Within the field of mental health, her areas of expertise include exploring identity and culture, fostering
emotional intelligence, healing from trauma, and utilizing creative counseling methods. When she isn’t working, she invests in her self-love by practicing yoga, spending time with her loved ones, teaching dance, or exploring the world.
 
 
About the illustrator 

Catarina Oliveira is an illustrator from Portugal, based in Toronto, Canada. She graduated as a graphic de-signer in 2005 and embraced illustration as a full-time freelancer in 2014, specializing in children’s books since then. You can see her work at CatarinaOliveirasSudio.com and on Instagram (@catarinaoliveirastudio
 

 
Giveaway - US & Canada only
This giveaway is now closed and the winner was announced HERE

3 comments:

  1. This look cute and sounds quite brilliant.

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  2. Luna Finds Love Everywhere sounds like a lovely book.

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  3. Luna Finds Love Everywhere sounds like the most adorable book! I'm always looking for new picture books and young readers for my kids. Thanks for adding this one to their wish list :)

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