BOOKS FROM ELINE SNEL

Sitting Still Like a Frog is an internationally bestselling book about Mindfulness, for children aged 5 to 12 and their parents. It has been translated into many languages and published in more than 42 countries.

The book is based on Eline’s many years of Mindfulness experience with children, parents, and teachers, and is full of stories and practical exercises. It also contains eleven meditations for children: the Sleep Tight and Spaghetti Test meditations are favourites with many readers. Eline’s grandchildren like to do the Wishing Tree and the Secret of the Heart Chamber.

“If only we had the patience of a caterpillar in a cocoon, waiting to turn itself into a butterfly,” Eline writes in one of the last chapters of Sitting Still Like a Frog. “If we still felt the confidence of a new-born child, or could let go with the wisdom of a leaf in autumn, we would certainly have it easier.” But how do you do that? As a child, a parent, or a teacher? When you’re feeling stressed, insecure, or inadequate?

Sitting Still like a Frog is for everyone, with or without children, who wants to know more about Mindfulness. It’s written in clear and simple language, and the exercises are as much fun for adults as they are for children.

The foreword of Sitting Still like a Frog is written by Jon Kabat -Zinn

(2010, Uitgeverij Ten Have, now Uitgeverij Kosmos)

If you’ve ever been the parent of a teenager, you’ll know that it’s a great adventure in every respect. One thing is certain: you never know what will happen next!

After the ground-breaking Sitting Still Like a Frog, Breathe through this followed in 2014. The book focuses on the parents of adolescents, but unlike many others it doesn’t claim to offer ready-made parenting tips. On the contrary, it encourages them not to judge themselves or their children. Showing compassion and open heartedness isn’t always easy, and you should pay attention to feelings of stress, anger, and powerlessness rather than ignoring them, squeezing them out, or overreacting. You should give them the same quality of attention you’d give to your best friend!

Reading this book instils confidence, telling you that you’re doing better as a parent than you think, and that your teenager can develop into a person they’re proud of.

You can also download the 13 meditations that go with the book, and adolescents will enjoy the interactive Sitting Still App.

(2014 Uitgeverij Ten Have, now Uitgeverij Kosmos)

The Sitting Still Like a Frog Activity Book is for children aged 5 to 10. It’s an activity book with a difference, full of games, stories, assignments, posters, stickers, yoga exercises, and exercise downloads. At the back, you’ll find the Big Frog Compassion Game.

There are pictures to colour and stories to finish, and children are encouraged to fantasise about what their heart would look like if it were a room.

The book has found its way into many schools and homes where children could use some peace and quiet inside their heads. If they’re focused on colouring, playing a game, or doing an assignment, they won’t worry about other things. So you can’t go wrong with this very special book!

(2018 Uitgeverij Kosmos)

The Little Frog is for parents and grandparents of children aged eighteen months to four years, and for professionals working with them in nurseries and childcare and healthcare facilities.

It’s not an activity book, a parenting guide, or a first-aid manual. It’s for everyone who

• Wants to learn to trust themselves, because someone else doesn’t always know better
• Relies on children, because they’re fundamentally honest, empathic, vulnerable and strong
• Can be overprotective, but doesn’t always have to express it
• Can look at children without judging or labelling them, or saying things like: “She’s the musical one in the family, and he’s a creature of habit”
• Gives children the opportunity to try things out, even if they may fail
• Gives children their undivided attention, without immediately analysing and criticising their behaviour or putting them under pressure to perform, something society often does at an early age

The Little Frog shows you how to build a buffer against the stress, high expectations, disappointments and many other challenges of raising toddlers in a success-oriented world. It is available in English, French, and Spanish.

(Les Arènes, Paris, 2020)
(Kosmos, 2021)
(Shambhala publications 2021)