Relax
by Catherine O'Neil.

How do children choose books for themselves? Parents tend to look at content but children are firstly attracted to the front cover of a book. 'Relax' has a wonderful cover - it's bright, colourful and indeed look relaxing.

A friend of mine had borrowed the book and when her children came home from school they were drawn to it like a magnet. They immediately opened it up and read through it. They had great fun working through the exercises.

My son, a stammerer of 8 years old, enjoyed the book. He found the breathing exercises very helpful and loved the illustrations; he found them very amusing. As a parent I felt that the book covered the stresses and strains not only in a child's life but a lot that we as adults could relate to. I tried to find something about the book to be critical of, but I just couldn't find a thing.

Overall, I would say this book is suitable for a wide variance of age groups, illustrated very well, bold, bright and amusing. I would recommend 'Relax' to any family and I will make sure that, as a family, we will purchase a copy for future reference.

Reviewed by Alison Bridle in the 'Helping Stammering Pupils Project' Supplement No.8, in the Spring 1994 issue of 'Speaking Out'.

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