Ring Tail Raffi: Mindfulness in Madagascar- front cover, illustrated by Alessandra Cimatoribus. Published by Gatekeeper Press.
Shari LaRosa is a licensed clinical therapist and Ring Tail Raffi is her debut picture book! She was inspired to write through her work with children and an amazing experience she had with lemurs. When 2020 hit us all, she noticed more and more children trying to cope with anxiety. Ring Tail Raffi, has anxiety, and it’s through Shari’s story that he learns to cope with his worries and fears through mindfulness.
Raffi worries. He just plain worries about all that has happened, all that may happen, and just about everything around him.
“I find that I worry and imagine in my head. I fear the past and future with dread.”
The rhyme Shari uses gives the reader a healthy detachment from Raffi’s anxiousness. We can still be part of it as we study the illustrations, but not take his worry as our own through the sing-song feel of the writing.
Raffi decides he must go see the Red Owl of the Blue Ombre Cave. He knows that the Red Owl will help him because she has helped others. What I love about this part is that Raffi is scared to leave. He’s scared to leave his troop, yet he goes - “nervous jitters” and all.
As Raffi journeys through his forest, he comes upon other creatures, plants, and an insect that helps to guide him.
“Suddenly I stop and see a shimmery glow, the moonlight reflecting on a wing of yellow. It’s a Comet Moth, oh yes! Her flight can serve well.”
The story doesn’t necessarily say this, but it’s after the Comet Moth is generous with her help that Raffi begins to shine a bit brighter. As they travel his fearful thoughts don’t come first. He thinks about how he can help or how to avoid the dangerous situation rather than becoming paralyzed with fear.
Finally, he makes it to the Red Owl and she teaches him to stay in the moment, be in the present.
“‘Let’s stay in the moment we presently are, look up to the sky, look up to the star. Slow your breath, count to four, as you gently inhale. Feel the calm flow, from your head to your tail.’”
She also tells him to use his heightened sense of awareness. Usually, this puts Raffi in a state of worry, but the Red Owl reminds him to name all he sees, smells, and hears to “minimize” his frights. Also, if Raffi gets to a very high level of anxiousness then he is to imagine where he feels the most relaxed, most at ease.
Red Owl teaches other lessons to help Raffi and then flies him home. She gently puts him down in his tree where he finally sleeps. One of the biggest symptoms of Raffi’s anxiety is that he wasn’t sleeping. The illustration shows his peaceful sleep and it provides the reader with a breath of relief.
Ring Tail Raffi: Mindfulness in Madagascar is another book with great backmatter. It includes discussion questions, a glossary, and fun facts. This book is definitely a 3-fer (is that a thing?) because it 1) includes a fun story about a journey, 2) teaches about anxiety and how to carry on, and 3) the story immerses the reader into the habitat of the Ring Tail Lemur. I enjoyed that Raffi is part of a family or “troop” as we learn, he receives help to get where he needs to go, and he decides he is going on this quest even while he’s scared. That’s a really big lesson for any age.