Author and meditation tutor Shelley Wilson takes you on a magical journey to a calm and happy place that you and your child will love.Children of all ages can learn and enjoy the benefits of meditation.Designed to help access creative abilities through relaxation and imagination, these stories help develop the necessary tools needed at a young age for lifelong healthy habits of managing stress and anxiety while also improving learning skills.Meditation for Children is a simple way to introduce children to mindfulness through guided visualization. Includes a handy reference guide and instructions.
Meditation For Children by Shelley Wilson, illustrated by Phaedra Elson was published on 22 August by BHC Press.
As part of the #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour, I'm delighted to welcome the author here to Random Things today. She's talking about the books that are special to her in My Life in Books
My Life in Books - Shelley Wilson
I
was fortunate enough to have a dad who loved inventing stories, and so my
earliest memories of bedtime reading involved a little girl (me) visiting
Blackpool or taking a trip to a farmyard to see the baby lambs. I’m reasonably
sure there were a few Janet and John moments in there too when mum took over.
The
first book I remember, and the book that sparked my love of reading, was Enid
Blyton’s The Folk of the Faraway Tree. The possibility
that if I climbed a tree, I would enter a weird and wonderful land filled with
new friends and adventures left me spellbound. Consequently, my early years
were spent three feet in the air hanging to a quivering bough and covered in
bruises with plasters on my knees.
When
I wasn’t daydreaming about joining Moonface on a quest, I was fantasising about
being Mildred Hubble from The
Worst Witch
(Jill Murphy). Witches and wizards fascinated me long before Harry climbed out
of his cupboard under the stairs. It appears that my love of all things fantasy
and supernatural developed at a young age. I would have been ten years old at
this stage and devoured anything I could get my hands on that allowed me to
escape reality. The Lion, the Witch, and
the Wardrobe (C.S.Lewis) was another firm favourite, as was Danny The Champion of the World (Roald
Dahl) and The Borrowers (Mary Norton)
– who, might I add, were most definitely responsible for the mysterious
disappearance of my Brownie hat!
Mildred
Hubble was a character I could resonate with, but then Sue Townsend introduced
me to The Secret Diary
of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾, and I knew I’d found another character as nerdy as
me. The idea of anyone reading my diary was unfathomable at that time, but
reading this book gave me the confidence to share my angst about life and friendships
– in secret, of course.
As
I reached the tender and impressionable age of sixteen, I found life at
secondary school to be a huge disappointment. I was an avid reader of the U.S
Sweet Dreams Series and couldn’t understand why my school corridors weren’t
full of cowboys, dreamy surfers, and sporty gods. I only recently gave away my
collection to charity, although I did keep my favourite book P.S I Love You by Barbara Conklin, which is
notoriously difficult to get hold of these days. I must have read this book
over twenty times (and cried every time). My original copy is well-worn and still
takes pride of place on my shelf. My love of travel, especially America, came
about from reading these books and I even signed up for Camp America when I was
twenty-two, so I could see the places in the novels for myself.
My
college years were spent partying and pretending I knew what I was doing. This
meant I left behind the ‘childish’ romance novels and raided my parent’s
bookshelves. I enjoyed my dad’s Wilbur Smith books and mum’s Danielle Steel
novels, notably Message from Nam. However, it was during these
years I discovered James Herbert’s horror novels (or chiller fiction), and soon
had an entire bookshelf dedicated to Herbert’s books. The
Rats
was my favourite, and I would scare myself silly every time I was on a train
that stopped inside a tunnel.
Getting
married and having my three children took precedence over my reading and I went
through a period of ten years where all I read where Noddy books or Biff and
Chip! When my children were 2, 3, and 5, I divorced my abusive husband and
rediscovered my love of reading. At that time, I needed to rebuild my life, and
that’s how I found myself in the Mind, Body, Spirit section of Waterstones one
rainy afternoon. The book that jumped off the shelf and started my fascination
with self-help and personal development was The
Secret
(Rhonda Byrne). I’d never been interested in non-fiction until that moment, and
now I’ve amassed an impressive collection of self-help titles, and written
quite a few of my own.
Fighting
my way back to normality, whatever that may be, was tough yet necessary. The
self-help books I read each gave me a piece of the puzzle that made me whole
again. However, I was desperate to get back to fiction. I tried my old
favourite genres, but nothing felt right, romance novels were an absolute no,
no (and still are), and I didn’t enjoy horror as much as I had. It was then
that I stumbled across young adult (YA) fantasy and in particular Shiver by Maggie
Stiefvater. I’m a huge fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and would love to
personally thank Joss Whedon and Buffy for getting me through the majority of
crap in my marriage. For one hour a week, I was left alone to enjoy this show,
and so it will always have a special place in my heart. The YA fantasy genre
took me back to that safe space I’d carved out. Maggie’s books were followed by
City of Bones (Cassandra Clare) and Throne
of Glass
(Sarah J.Maas).
Escaping
reality is something I’ve done since I first followed Moonface up that Magic
Faraway Tree, and it’s a place where I feel at home. Reading YA fantasy at 47
years old may seem odd to some, but young adult novels are incredibly
fast-paced, full of bold issues and incredible story arcs that show the
evolution of a character as they come-of-age.
If
you’re tempted to give YA fantasy a go, then I can highly recommend Six
of Crows
(Leigh Bardugo). This is a phenomenal novel (soon to be made into a TV series)
and a book I wish I’d written. Her writing is pure gold.
Being
a multi-genre author means I’ve also developed my multi-genre reading habit. I
tend to switch between non-fiction self-help and young adult fantasy. However,
more recently, I’ve tried other genres that I wouldn’t usually seek out.
Historical fiction is something I’m enjoying more and more, especially if it’s
about the Tudors or Vikings, and post-apocalyptic is becoming a firm favourite
with October Rain (Dylan J Morgan), and Tipping
Point
(Terry Tyler) being my favourites.
I
do keep trying to read romance, but I never get beyond chapter one.
Fortunately, my family and friends love this genre, so I’m able to recommend
books to them written by my talented author pals. On the flip side, I get
tagged in on anything werewolf and vampire-related, so my reading list is
always evolving!
Shelley Wilson - August 2019
Shelley Wilson is an English author of motivational self-help titles and young adult fantasy fiction.
Her sensible side writes non-fiction books to inspire you to be the best you can be, and her cheeky and playful side writes young adult fiction to remind you to nurture that inner teen.
Shelley is a single mum of three, has a crazy black cat called Luna and is obsessed with vampires, Tudor history, and exploring castles.
She’s tall (5ft 10inches) which seems to surprise people when they meet her. She often hears, “you’re much taller than your profile picture!” (Courtesy of Goodreads)
Find her on twitter http://www.twitter.com/ShelleyWilson72
or Facebook http://www.facebook.com/FantasyAuthorSLWilson
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