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Mindfulness for Kids (that adults will love, too!)
Hello! I’m Rebekah Borucki (she/her), a meditation guide, publisher, best-selling self-help author, and mother-to-five. My oldest and her partner live in Seattle and are expecting their first baby (I’m gonna be a Mom-Mom!), and my youngest is in elementary school. My hands are full, but so is my heart.
After waiting patiently with my dream for nearly 20 years, I signed up for a children’s book writing class at my local community college and wrote what would become the first story in my “Big Messy Books” series, meditation and mindfulness books for children published by Wheat Penny Press, an imprint of my publishing house, Row House.
About My First Children’s Book
Meet Zara, the star of my “Big Messy Books” series and a clever, responsible, and sometimes anxious seven-year-old girl who lives with her mother (Mama) and four-year-old little brother (Sam). Like a lot of kids her age, Zara sometimes struggles with managing her emotions when confronted with stressful situations.
In the series debut, Zara’s Big Messy Day (That Turned Out Okay) (Wheat Penny Press 2019), children join her for an ordinary day where she faces three obstacles. Guided by Zara’s mother, both Zara and the reader will learn a simple breathing technique—a short visualization meditation—that will help them find peace and calm in any moment.
Our Very Special Mission
Zara wouldn’t have been possible without our incredible Kickstarter backer community. We hit our funding goal in only 14 hours and ended our campaign at 585% funded! But we didn’t stop there. Since publishing our first book, Zara’s Big Messy Day, our mission has been to bring mindfulness, meditation, and empowered wellness to the most vulnerable members of our communities by gifting free books, mindfulness education, and writing workshops to elementary school classrooms.
I’m excited to share that Wheat Penny Press and my 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the WPP Little Readers Big Change Initiative, have already been able to gift thousands of books to kids in need. Click below to become part of our village of helps.
GIVE STUDENTS THE GIFT OF PEACE AND CALM
A Little Peek at How Zara Came to Life
Please enjoy some of the first test sketches and preliminary book art drawn by illustrator Danielle Pioli.
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About Me (the author)
Here’s a little more about what I do when I’m not writing stories for kids:
Rebekah “Bex” Borucki (she/they) is a mother-to-five, self-help and children’s author, and the Founder and President of Row House, Wheat Penny Press (Row House’s children’s imprint), and the WPP Little Readers Big Change Initiative. Since 2009, Rebekah has run an online wellness advocacy space through her BexLife platform. She has also served on the Yoga Alliance Equity Task Force and as a mentor for Hay House’s Diverse Wisdom Initiative. Rebekah is driven by a commitment to make wellness tools available to all and to help others recover the liberation stolen from them by White Supremacy. She lives with her family in New Jersey.
From My Illustrator, Danielle Pioli
I have loved drawing since I can remember. The idea of creating a whole universe—from my mind to paper—made me fall in love with art and storytelling. I also always felt like a healer at some level. As a child, I was so drawn to magic—what I call Quantum Physics now—that I was certain could I heal and help people. So I grew up to become an Artist and Hypnotherapist/Energy Healer.
I understand the pain and joy of the creative life and my purpose on this planet is to inspire ideas, questions, change, and transformation, and to serve others as a conduit and by sharing what I’ve learned.
My mission is to spark inspiration through my art, illustrations, comics, zines, poems, songs, hypnotherapy sessions and whatever I feel drawn towards. It’s a pleasure meeting you.
