Palmwoods writer brings nervous system science to little bodies this Book Week
Sunshine Coast nervous system practitioner and writer Tani du Toit is celebrating Book Week with a local giveaway of her children’s book bundle, My Brilliant Body, created to help children aged 4-8 and their grown-ups understand the body and nervous system together.
After years of facilitating children’s groups in Palmwoods, Tani kept noticing the same challenge: children could learn the language of their bodies, but unless the grown-ups around them understood that language too, it was difficult to carry those lessons into everyday life.
A child might learn to recognise that they freeze, shutdown or become highly accommodating when overwhelmed, for example, but the adults supporting them may not understand what those responses mean from an autonomic nervous system perspective - and how to support them.
That experience planted the seed for My Brilliant Body, a colourful body and nervous system bundle for children aged 4-8 and their grown-ups.
“At the heart of Restore and My Brilliant Body is a simple message: a regulated body automatically results in a creative, curious, connected and balanced mind,” Tani said.
“I wanted to simplify autonomic nervous system concepts so children could understand what their bodies are doing and why - while bringing their grown-ups into the conversation, too.”
With a particular focus on the Vagus Nerve and its role in the body, the books combine colourful explanations with simple body-based practices, giving children and grown-ups a shared language for understanding stress, safety, connection, energy and calm.
Readers meet the Fab Five - Conrad the Wombat, Pip the Platypus, Quin the Quokka, Essie the Echidna and Kooks the Kookaburra - who help explain body, breath, energy, awareness and expression and that their bodies were created on, and with, purpose.
Book Week Giveaway
To celebrate Book Week, Tani is giving away three My Brilliant Body Bundles, each worth $39, at The Little Book Nook this Saturday, August 29 at 11am.
Children can download a free colouring-in entry from the Restore website homepage or collect one from Kay at the bookshop, then return their creation before 11am this Saturday to go into the random draw.
Kay invited children to dress as their favourite Book Week character and come along for the draw and a reading from the kid’s book.
“There’s no judging,” Tani said. “It’s about creativity and being brilliantly yourself - exactly what Kooks the Kookaburra encourages children to discover through their own unique voice and creative expression.”