I hope you believe this is true.” A virtually identical book, Why a Daughter Needs a Dad, publishes simultaneously. The book ends with a link to Willey’s song “Everybody’s Got a Heartbeat.” (This book was reviewed digitally.)Ī practical approach to anchoring oneself in the face of uncertainty.Īll the reasons why a daughter needs a mother.Įach spread features an adorable cartoon animal parent-child pair on the recto opposite a rhyming verse: “I’ll always support you in giving your all / in every endeavor, the big and the small, / and be there to catch you in case you should fall. Discussion questions for readers, related to Bear’s, Bird’s, and Fawn’s concerns, are interspersed, with the final one intended to instill confidence about children’s own uniqueness: “What makes you special?” Though the text is somewhat wordy and the Disney-esque cartoon illustrations are a bit saccharine, overall the story gets its message across effectively.

Arriving at school, they see Owl, who, unsurprisingly, is their new teacher, leading the class in the mindfulness activity. They come upon Fawn, who’s worried that his preference for eating grass is strange, so Bear and Bird teach him the mantra and breathing technique. It’s a rhythm we all share.” Realizing that Bear’s fur and Bird’s feathers “may look very different…but they do the same job,” the pals feel much better and continue on their way. She breathes deeply and says, “Breathe in, breathe out. On the way to school, Bear encounters her pal Bird and confides that she’s got “butterflies in her tummy.” Bird admits that he’s worried, too-what if the other classmates don’t like his feathers? Owl overhears and suggests a mantra to calm their anxiety. Children’s musician and mindfulness expert Willey helps children learn to assuage first-day-of-school jitters.

Breathe like a bear