Hello Everyone,
Today’s storybook is Monkey Puzzle, Written by Julia Donaldson, it is being read by Sharon. The story revolves around a child-like monkey who has lost her mother in the deep, thick, hot jungle. The monkey is then assisted to find her mother by a butterfly, who tries to think of whereabouts in the jungle she might be. However, the butterfly keeps suggesting incorrect animals as the monkey’s mother, including an elephant, a snake, a spider, a parrot, a frog and a bat. Eventually, the butterfly and the monkey find the monkey’s Dad, who says, “Come, little monkey, come, come, come, it’s time I took you home to…” and then shortly after another call, Butterfly finds the monkey’s lost mother and the monkey is happy again, as well as the butterfly. The moral of the story is to promote kindness and practice being kind around others. There are many benefits to supporting your child to learn the values of kindness:
- Happy children – Study shows that kindness activates the joyful area of the brain, in turn promoting positive thoughts.
- Improved health and less stress – Being kind increases happiness and decreases stress.
- Greater Sense of Belonging and Improved Self Esteem – Even small acts of kindness create feelings of self-worth and belonging. Acts of kindness increase energy and give a wonderful feeling of optimism.
- Increased Feelings of Gratitude – Children learn to appreciate things they have when helping others.
- Better Concentration and Improved Results – Kindness is a key ingredient that helps children feel good. Having a positive outlook increases attentions spans and enables more creative thinking which can produce better results at school.
- Less Bullying – Research has documented that the effects of bullying can be significantly reduced by integrating kindness based programs
- Reduced Depression – Research has discovered that an act of kindness increases levels of serotonin (a natural chemical responsible for improving mood) in the brain. Serotonin levels are increased in both the giver and receiver of an act of kindness, as well as anyone who witnesses that kindness, making it a wonderful natural way to fee happy feelings.
