The Gratitude Goggles by Andrea Mendoza-Vasconez, PHD and illustrated by Rita Nilson is a beautiful book that helps young students understand the abstract concept of gratitude. It gives young children concrete examples of what gratitude is and what happens to our sense of well-being when we don't show gratitude and instead express unhappiness with what we don't have instead. I like the visual of seeing things in gray and how it has a negative impact on our mental well being and that things will only get darker, but when we put on our gratitude goggles we see things in bright colors and feel a sense of happiness. I like that it gave examples of things to be grateful for that are not monetary items such as family, the sky, health, fishing, birds singing, etc.

I am a second grade teacher and when we talk about gratitude and what we are thankful for, lots of kids can only thing of superficial things and it takes some conversation to get them to think things beyond that. This book would be a great way to give them some other ideas to think about.

My own children are always comparing what they have to others and I am going to read this to them to remind them of the importance of being thankful for the things they have.

The illustrations in this book are beautiful and will help children of all ages grasp the important concept of gratitude. As a teacher I love teaching through literature and this is such a great book to use in and out of the classroom. It's a great book to continually return to as a mentor text and reminder of all the things there are to be thankful for.

Thank you Netgalley and Andrea Mendoza-Vasconez for for this beautiful and important book. I voluntarily read it and gave my honest review.