BOOK REVIEW: The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

In 2021, I'm participating in a children's literature reading challenge hosted by Mrs. Sarah Collier of Belle's Library and the Victorian Letter Writers Guild. 

Portions of this post also appear on my parenting blog: Mom2MomED

in a post called 7 Ways to Use The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn.

Read the full post HERE.

My inaugural book for the Children's Literature Challenge is The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. My child (now an adult) and I first received this book as a gift from my mother several years ago when my kiddo was still quite young. 

On my parenting blog, I share 7 ways to use this book with your children (read the post HERE), but in this post, I am going to focus more on the book itself. I mean, look at these illustrations? The book is GORGEOUS!

My mom was a kindergarten teacher and bought many beautiful books for my child over the years, but The Kissing Hand is one that we returned to over and over. The story and premise are pretty simple but also familiar to pretty much every parent ever -- a child is scared and nervous about going to school for the first time and the parent tries to find a way to make it ok. In this case, mama racoon helps her child to overcome fear and anxiety by kissing the child's palm as a reminder that she's always there even if she's not physically present. 

The Kissing Hand was instrumental in helping my child and I adjust to the emotional turmoil that comes with going back and forth between divorced parents (read about my suggested books for divorce HERE). Although the book is the story of a child going to school for the first time, it easily is applied to any form of temporary separation between parent and child.

I loved reading through this book again and thinking about my mom -- she has dementia, but she still loves a kiss from one of her children or grandchildren -- and my child, now an adult. The story is lovely and the illustrations are beautiful. The animals, trees, and other aspects of nature are beautifully rendered throughout. 

Over the years, I've bought copies of The Kissing Hand for friends navigating divorce with young children and many have started their own kissing hand traditions to help their children navigate going back and forth between parents' homes.  

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn and illustrated by Ruth E. Harper and Nancy M. Leak, is such a lovely and sweet book. I hope you'll pick up a copy for a child in your life.  

Grab a copy on Bookshop HERE.

Grab a copy from Amazon HERE.

Or, hit up your local library.

This post may include affiliate links ~*~ making a purchase through these links may result in a small commission to me at no cost to you. Thank you in advance. 

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin ~*~ Chapter 1: January

In my last post, I wrote about setting up my reading journal for 2021 and the books I planned to read in January. To be honest, I thought by January 9th, I'd have read a lot more than I actually have, but life gets in the way, right?

That said, it's not like I've done no reading at all. I've made much progress in two books not on my January 2021 plan but which I'd started previously and just hadn't finished yet -- The Chemistry of Tears by Peter Carey and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. And, I added two books that aren't on my original January list: The Odyssey by Homer (Robert Fitzgerald translation) and Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

I'd started Crooked Kingdom quite some time ago and have been reading it in fits and starts -- I'm enjoying it, but I'm not so fully captivated that I feel compelled to read it quickly. The Chemistry of Tears was given to me by a friend on Christmas Eve and I do love it, but I've had competing interests and general life ups and downs to contend with.

Then, I suddenly had a surge in tutoring requests for literature and composition. Thus Catcher in the Rye and The Odyssey were suddenly on my list -- I always read books following my students' course reading schedules so that I can best advise them in their studies. Not only that, but I have another student starting The Odyssey this week (hopefully the same version as the first student, but we'll see!).

But, let's switch it up and talk about The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. 

I've read Rubin's book a couple of times and the new year seemed like the perfect time to start since the structure of the book follows the months of the year. The topic -- The Happiness Project -- should make it pretty obvious what the book is about: a project undertaken by Rubin to increase the amount of happiness in her life. Each month, she tackled a different theme or idea.

So, let's dig into January.

In the book, Rubin's themes for January are vitality and boosting energy. She also sets some specific goals for the month:

• Go to sleep earlier
• Exercise better/more
• Organize and declutter
• Take care of a nagging task
• Act more energetic

Rubin delves into the science behind why some of these can improve one's life, but she also talks about her own successes and failures in tackling each item on the list.

For myself, I'm a night owl and have a really hard time getting to bed at an hour that anyone might consider reasonable. My goal has been 3am for a long time, but I'm trying to be ASLEEP by 2am. With increasing requests for tutoring by students in several time zones, I find it helpful to go to sleep and wake up earlier. So far, I'm only doing so-so in this area. The only time it wasn't a struggle were all the years I worked night shift in hospitals.

As for exercising better and more, my kid and I have made it a point to get out and take regular walks -- usually four to five per week, weather permitting. We've been gradually increasing our distance and we both have noticed the benefits to our mental AND physical health. At some point, I'd really like to get back into bicycling and swimming, but the weather right now isn't my favorite for cycling and I'm waiting until Covid-19 is better under control before I head to a pool again.

When it comes to organizing and decluttering (Rubin's actual bullet point is "Toss, restore, organize"), I'm a natural, but Covid-19 and inheriting all of my uncle's stuff when he died, as well as all of his best friend's stuff (a story for another time), has overwhelmed me and resulted in tons of clutter and stuff to toss or restore or organize! Thankfully two friends are doing a lot of decluttering and organizing right now, so we've been able to hold each other accountable. We've all been getting a ton taken care of! With regard to the "restore" piece -- I've always checked our laundry as I sort it or fold it, and I pull out items that need repairs. Right now, I have two shirts with tiny holes that I'll repair (or restore). 

As for tackle a nagging task, well, January is pretty much the perfect time to start working on taxes, right? Yep, that's what I'm tackling. Ick... But, I know the sooner it's done, the happier I'll be!

And, acting more energetic...I'm naturally a low energy, shy, introvert (note: not all introverts are shy, but I am). As my tutoring student requests are rising and I'm taking on more students, I've found myself having to act more energetic, upbeat, and extroverted than I really am. All three of the students I've met with in the past week have commented on how upbeat and energetic I seem to be and how they like it! But, as a hardcore introvert with a shy streak, you can bet I need a few hours after each session to decompress!

I plan to come back every month to review my reading of that month's chapter in The Happiness Project and how it relates to my own life. Have you read it? What did you think? 

Grab a copy of The Happiness Project:

On Bookshop HERE.

On Amazon HERE.

Or at your local independent bookshop or library.

Learn more about my January 2021 reading list in THIS blog post or buy books from the list at Bookshop HERE.

And, if you or your child are in need of a literature or writing tutor (or both), you can find more information about my tutoring practice and offerings HERE.

2021 Reading Plans and Setting Up My Reading Journal

I have ambitious reading plans for 2021.

Like many, the chaos and never endingness at the beginning of the pandemic and the impacts on all aspects of life left me feeling sluggish and unable to concentrate long enough to read. However, in June I started to create some routines around reading which I wrote about HERE, and I've been able to get back into the habit. 

My reading slowed down again -- actually almost stopped -- in October and the first half of November with all of the uncertainty of the US Presidential election, but I ramped way back up in mid-November and am almost at my pre-pandemic reading rates. 

For 2021, I decided I would set some goals and themes for the year and that I would set up a reading journal.

For the journal, I selected a notebook from my vast collection and decorated it with some stamp pads from Ranger and Hero Arts and stamps from Studio Calico, Hero Arts, and elsewhere. It was so much fun! I know that this journal will keep me inspired to read throughout the year. 

Once the stamping was done, I planned out what I hope to read in January. A few books will be read a little bit at a time over the course of the year while others will be read just like any other book I might read for pleasure. 

In 2020, I had originally planned to take part in a challenge to read all of William Shakespeare's works in a single year as part of a project that you can learn more about HERE, but the pandemic derailed that pretty fast. I'm committing to the challenge for 2021. I'm also joining a reading challenge focused on reading children's books, and I'll be reading at least two poetry collections per month, as well as doing some normal pleasure reading.

I have ambitious plans for my 2021 reading. Here's what's on deck for January:

Shakespeare: 

• Twelfth Night
• Henry VI, Parts I, II, III

Bill Bryson's The World As Stage (all about Shakespeare)

Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project -- to be read one chapter per month (each chapter corresponds to the months of the year)

• Chapter 1: January -- Boost Energy, Vitality (read about it HERE)

Children's books:

• The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn (read my review HERE)
• The Dragons are Singing Tonight by Jack Prelutsky
• Let's be Enemies by Janice May Udry
• The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths -- to be read in segments over the course of the year:

• In Olden Times, Gaea, The Titans
• Zeus and his Family
• Hera
• Hephaestus

Blueprint for Revolution by Srdja Popovic -- already started and will be reading chapters 5 through 11

The Black Painting by Neil Olson

Poetry:

• Blood Oranges by Dylan Brennan
• Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen

Amy Tan's The Opposite of Fate -- to be read one chapter/essay per week over the course of the year

• Chapter 1: The Cliffs Notes Version of My Life
• Chapter 2: How We Knew
• Chapter 3: A Question of Fate
• Chapter 4: Faith

Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet -- to be read one letter per week

• Letter One
• Letter Two
• Letter Three
• Letter Four

Drop a comment and tell me about something ambitious you have planned for 2021!

Want to read along? You can find all of the books above (where possible) on Bookshop in the USA HERE. I like Bookshop because you can support independent booksellers and readers more easily and directly than through Amazon, but Bookshop does have limits, including much smaller inventories than Amazon and lack of overseas availability.

These books are not available via Bookshop as of this writing:

• You can find Blood Oranges by Dylan Brennan on Amazon Kindle HERE.
• Let's Be Enemies by Janice May Udry on Amazon HERE.

Want to try to recreate my stamping project? You can find these supplies on Amazon:

• Ranger Archival Black stamping pad
• Hero Arts Lemon Yellow stamping pad (I used sunflower yellow but could not find it on Amazon)
• Stamping blocks 
• Dandelion stamp from Hero Arts (I couldn't find the exact one I used in this project, but I also have this one and love it!)
• The Studio Calico stamp set I used is sold out everywhere, but THIS stamp set is pretty cute!
• As far as notebooks, I suggest you find and use any notebook that you think will bring you joy every time you open it.

Please note: Links may be affiliate in nature. Making purchases through these links may result in a small commission on my end at no additional cost to you. Thank you in advance!