Official Review: Under the Sea Coloring/Activity Book

[bookowlie]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Under the Sea Coloring/Activity Book" by Patricia May.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Patricia May’s Under the Sea: A Seashell Meditation for Children is a children’s coloring and activity book. It is an interactive story that takes you on an underwater adventure. Children are asked to hold a seashell to their ear while reading or listening to other instructions. Using easy meditation techniques, activities are provided for children to relax, reflect on the story, and use their imagination.

The story is presented in a basic rhyme scheme. All of the pages are suitable for coloring. There is a short, illustrated rhyme on every other page; the other pages contain full-length pictures. Some of the words are in block format so they can be colored in. There is also a blank area in the middle of certain pages, with instructions to draw something in response to a question.

I enjoyed this creative book. There are many interactive coloring and activity books on the market, but this is the first one I’ve seen that includes a meditation as the main story. Children love rhymes so this would be a fun introduction to the practice of meditation. The directions can be easily followed and would allow kids to relax and focus on the world under the sea. The activities include drawing pictures of what you have “seen” underwater. This would give children a chance to reflect on the story and use their imagination. Some of the questions are specific and simple, such as “If you were a fish, what would you look like?” Others are a bit general and thought-provoking.

The way the story is presented would encourage children to read the story over and over again. Once they color in the words and complete the activities, they may feel a sense of pride and ownership of the story. Also, parents and teachers could use the book regularly to get children to relax and concentrate.

The coloring pages are very appealing. However, some of the illustrations contain small details. Younger children might find these areas difficult to color in, even with colored pencils.

It isn’t explicitly stated that a seashell should be utilized as an interactive tool while reading. However, the concept is apparent from the first page since there are directions about how to use the seashell – “Hold your shell up to your ear. Now close your eyes and you will hear.” Many people don’t have easy access to a seashell, but the book can certainly be enjoyed without one.

I repeatedly experienced problems while reading this book on my Kindle. After reading one or two pages, the screen would blank out to white and lock up the device. I would have to turn off the Kindle and then open it back to the main menu. After trying several times without success, I finally read the story on my desktop computer.

This book has earned 3 out of 4 stars. The story is interesting with fun, educational activities for children ages 3-10. I applaud the author for crafting an inventive way of introducing young readers to meditation.

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Under the Sea Coloring/Activity Book
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[gali]

Great review! We bought read books by the same author.

Sounds like a cute activity book for kids.

[bookowlie]

Thanks Gali for the nice feedback. I recently read your review and also noticed that we both read books by the same author. The only difference is that you had a 9-year-old "helper" to give you an expert opinion.

[bluemel4]

Great review! I enjoyed the fun and original meditative take on a coloring book. I have seen teen books that encourage similar relaxation techniques and self discovery. It's so neat that there are small children friendly versions out now. I am a little confused about how it should be used on a kindle. Wouldn't it just end up being printed out? It seems like a lot of the activities require direct physical interaction with the pages.

[bookowlie]

Thanks Bluemel! I agree that the pages would need to be printed out since they are meant to be colored. I have downloaded free Kindle books in the past that required printing of pages. Honestly, it's a bit inconvenient, although this particular book is short.

[Heidi M Simone]

I really enjoyed reading your review, bookowlie! It's funny as I was reading gali's recent review came to mind and I thought they sounded very similar - meditation for children, using a seashell, etc. That was before I realized that these books were by the same author!

This is such a wonderful concept for kids. Sometimes there is undue stress put on young children and if they could find a way to access meditative books, then I think that would be so helpful. I would agree that a printed version would be needed for most interactive children's books, especially if there's coloring involved!

Congratulations to the author for receiving such a great review and coming up with such a positive concept for a book!

[bookowlie]

Thanks Hsimone. I also thought it was a funny coincidence that Gal and I read books by the same author within the same week. You make a good point about undue stress being put on young children nowadays. This story could give them a nice way to unwind and relax.

[Shelle]

Great review! This sounds like a cute activity book for little kids.

[bookowlie]

Thanks for the feedback! I think kids would enjoy the nice mix of a relaxing meditation story and the coloring/activities.

[Kia]

That's such a cute idea! A little bit of everything to keep kids interested in the book. Great job on the review!

[bookowlie]

Thanks Kia! I thought the same thing while reading - a nice mix of different activities to keep kids busy and happy.

[literarycat]

I work with kids with disabilities and this seems like the perfect tool to use to help teach them calming techniques. Thanks for the great review! I am going to grab a copy or two.

[bookowlie]

Thanks Literarycat! I think the meditation story and activities would be a perfect fit for the kids you work with. It would help them to relax and use their imagination. It's all good.

[Patsymay122]

Thank you bookowlie for your great review on my book, Under the Sea, A Seashell Meditation for Children. I really appreciate all these wonderful comments as well. You are correct in that this is not really a great ebook as it is a coloring/activity book. The reason I did make it available as one was the fact that the books pages contain the meditation short story rhyme and I thought that in itself would be interesting to the readers as well as looking at the pages. It certainly is a book one would be better off having a physical copy of. Thanks all for all the kind words! Patricia May, Author of Under the Sea

[bookowlie]

You are most welcome. I think the concept of a meditation short story mixed in with the coloring/activity pages is wonderful! You should consider writing more of these types of books.