Review of Roald and the Mindful Cheese Plant

[Christell Lindeque]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Roald and the Mindful Cheese Plant" by Jacqueline Koay.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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Children will learn a lot from Jacqueline Koay's book, Roald and the Mindful Cheese Plant. A boy in this story makes an unlikely friend in the form of a cheese plant he discovers under his bed. The reader learns some valuable lessons from the plant together with Roald, and the reader learns how to care for a plant at the end of the book.

The illustrations were one of a kind and brought to mind dolls whenever I looked at them. They did seem more suited for slightly older children, though. The author chose to tell a different kind of story than I am used to in order to demonstrate to the reader how to help a child feel more at ease. The book also has exercises and activities for the reader to do with their parents or caregivers. She also includes information on plant adoption and care.

Books like these are wonderful for kids because they teach them how to communicate more constructively. They gain insight into and control over their own emotions as a result. I appreciated the author's clever inclusion of breathing exercises throughout the narrative.

Not that I found anything particularly objectionable about the illustrations, but I think they might be a bit scary for younger readers. If a child is too young to have any kind of interest in plants, I worry that they will become disinterested in this book.

Considering how many people, including children, are dealing with a variety of stressful situations these days, this book deserves the highest possible rating of 5 out of 5 stars and should be included in every child's library. I won't be docking points, but rather suggesting it to a certain age. There was nothing that I disliked about the book. The book appears to have been edited meticulously, as I found no mistakes in it.

If your child has problems with handling anger or you simply want your child to learn to relax in stressful situations, I highly recommend this book. Due to the book's illustrations and the fact that I believe older children will have a greater appreciation for plants, I would recommend this book to children who are at least six years old.

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Roald and the Mindful Cheese Plant
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