This picture book is called ‘a first book of mindfulness’ which it certainly is. Aimed at helping children who are having trouble with their dark thoughts, it compares the mind with white and black clouds in the sky: the white clouds are the good, happy thoughts, while the black ones are rain clouds, the thoughts we like to get rid of. There are gentle ways of encouraging good white cloud thoughts and ways of accepting the dark rain clouds while welcoming them into our minds as something that is there but not to be dwelt on. Fighting black clouds is not a good idea, ‘if you’ve ever fought a rain cloud, all that happens is you get a bit damp’; nor is it good to climb into your mind and ‘rummage around’ in it. Just accept that they are occasionally there and that you have the control to think about white clouds instead. This isn’t easy, but with time and practice, you can learn to do it. There are so many, many thoughts in your head that you can just let the ‘rain cloud thought float gently away’. There are also different kinds of thoughts ‘big shouting ones…little whispering ones… fast racing ones… and gentle creeping ones’. You can choose what is right for you. The illustrations are amazing. A child and her dog are shown in lots of situations evocative of the text, and the colouration is fuzzy and chalky and textured seeming. There are drawings that children might have made and busyness in the background that is the kind of busyness we all have in our minds all the time. A terrific production!