The Relatives Came

My mother-in-law should get a lot of credit for the treasures I write about on Preschool Engineering. She is the one who introduced us to Magna-tiles and keeps us flush with great books. "The Relatives Came" is no exception. This book arrived for my family just in time for the holiday travel and it is one you should know about.

It is a story about all that happens when relatives come to visit from far away. It begins with the far-away relatives packing up and making the long long trip. Once the far-away relatives arrive, everyone greets each other, share space, and make plans for more visits. Between the prose and the pictures, this book depicts the way the energy changes through transitions toward and away from each other.

As a yogi, my favorite part is about something small yet profound - breathing together:

"They are up all our strawberries and melons, then promised we could eat up all their grapes and peaches when we came to Virginia.  

But none of us thought about Virginia much. We were so busy hugging and eating and breathing together."

That breathing together. It is so different. It is special and invigorating in some ways, intrusive and suffocating in others. And everyone experiences it...the visitors as well as the hosts. By acknowledging these experiences, all the way down to breathing together, we are able to be mindful of ourselves and of our guests, moving in and around each other with as much grace as possible. And this book brings that to light.

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/relatives-came#cart/cleanup