My body is a rainbow The color of my feelings

Adapted from wellness expert Chopra's middle grade guide Just Feel, this nonfiction picture book debut teaches children to connect colors with their feelings, intending to increase physical and emotional awareness. In instructive prose, Chopra leads readers through each color of the rainbow, offering a directed meditation with corresponding actions, including deep breathing and placing a hand on each relevant body part while speaking affirmations: "Imagine the color green surrounding your heart,/ holding it with kindness./ Breathe in and out./ Say, 'I am loved.' " Burton's vivid digital illustrations feature a cast of children with varying skin tones, a different child demonstrating each action against a calming monotone background. An accessible picture book that offers fresh, age-appropriate methods for centering oneself. Ages 4--8. (July)

Feelings link with colors in conjunction with meditation techniques. Children are enjoying a meadow. They're chasing butterflies, examining ladybugs, eating ice cream, feeling the breeze, reclining on the grass. The racially diverse kids seem simultaneously peaceful and energized. Chopra connects physical sensations with emotions: "Have you ever felt butterflies in your stomach when you are scared…?" (The notion that butterflies might also indicate excitement is missing, though tingling hands could be such an indicator.) Asserting that "when you know how your body reacts to your feelings, you can control your reactions and feel powerful," the text assigns a color for each feeling and a suggestion for control. Breath awareness is yellow. Red wafts through the scene about groundedness: "Feel your bottom resting under you. Do you feel how the chair or floor is strong and stable?" Readers who don't know their chakras may find some surprises. Coding safety as red is nonstandard in the U.S. (doesn't red signal danger or stop?), as is, arguably, coding the heart-based feelings of happiness and sadness as green; these striking hue associations could be difficult to jump into--or they could be the hook. There's some murkiness and irregularity in the connections among metaphor, physical sensations, and emotional feelings. However, Burton's illustrations of swirling colors, keen-edged characters, just enough rainbows, and gently enchanting backgrounds--bananas and pie float through yellow's "I am strong" spread--really do bring a sense of wonder and power. Despite some vagueness and inconsistency, this visual treat could be surprisingly successful for self-soothing. (Picture book. 4-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.