Saturday, March 26, 2022

Review: Be the Boss of Your Stuff by Allie Casazza

Today's read is one that will make parent's smile. Written by a well-known, minimalistic podcaster, this book tackles the nightmare of kids cleaning their bedrooms. Now, I'm not a complete believer that things like this can change the world, but it doesn't hurt to give it a go and hope. If nothing else, this one looked like it might be a bit of fun, too.

So, let's take a peek! 



BE THE BOSS OF YOUR STUFF
The Kids' Guide to Decluttering and Creating Your Own Space
by Allie Casazza
Thomas Nelson
Middle Grade Non-Fiction
160 pages
ages 8 to 12





Give your kids the decluttering guide that will encourage their independence and create a more peaceful home for your family. Allie Casazza has created a resource for you to show kids how to create and design their own space, offering practical ideas on organization and productivity, kid-friendly inspiration for mindfulness, and interactive pages for creativity.

Allie has encouraged women to simplify and unburden their lives as the host of The Purpose Show podcast and through her first book Declutter Like a Mother. Now she's helping you equip your kids and tweens to discover the same joy of decluttering as they
design and create a space that supports their interests and goals,
make more room in their lives for playtime and creativity,
increase productivity and find renewed focus for schoolwork,
learn valuable life skills, and
cut down on cleaning time, reduce stress, and feel more peaceful.
Your kids will start to understand that the less they own, the more time they have for what's important. Written in Allie's fun, motivational voice, Be the Boss of Your Stuff

It is ideal for boys and girls ages 8 to 12,
includes photography and interactive activities with space to write, draw, imagine, and plan,
shares step-by-step instructions for decluttering,
offers added practical, personalized instruction from Allie's children, Bella and Leeland,
and is a great gift for coming-of-age celebrations, the first day of spring, New Year's, Easter, birthdays, back-to-school, or school milestones.
As your kids become more proactive in taking care of their stuff, you'll find your whole family has more time and space for creativity and fun. After all, less clutter, less stress, and less chaos in your kids' lives means more peace, more independence, and more opportunity to grow into who they're meant to be.

Read Allie's first book, Declutter Like a Mother, to further equip yourself in decluttering while you empower your kids to embrace their space.


GOODREADS   /   BOOK DEPOSITORY   /    AMAZON    /   B&N



MY TIDBITS

Minimalistic living swings down to a middle grade level to spark ideas, possibilities, and inspiration to get rid of unnecessary clutter and such.

This book gets down to business and explains not only how to transform a messy room into a decluttered bedroom but presents the reasons why it's worth giving it a go. It's clear that the author does have kids of their own as the writing, while rolling through with a clear purpose, doesn't talk down to the reader or hold a preachy tone. It explains things clearly and addresses the areas which are important to the age group, and never makes their belongings seem childish or ridiculous. The tips are, for the most part, do-able and never come across as forceful.

For each chapter, which leads down the path of de-clutterisation, there aren't only reasons and hints, but plenty of questions readers can answer or images they can create to help them along the way (such as sketching their own dream room). There are quite a few of these to fill in, and while fun for some readers, I can see it getting to be a bit much for others. But decluttering isn't everyone's thing. This book also gives hints to parents to help them guide the reader in the right direction without taking over. There are bright illustrations included right along with photographs, which are supposed to inspire. Unfortunately, the photos are not realistic and fit more of the type of room found in a magazine than one many middle graders would enjoy living in. Also, the messy end would have been nice to see as well so readers could see a transformation.

This is a pretty well-done guide to help edge middle graders toward a more orderly room. There is quite a bit of text and explanation, but this can also be skimmed across and used a little more as a pick and choose. The ideas are good, the writing well done, and readers will leave with, at least, a few ideas of how they can approach their own rooms.

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