A gentle, beach-inspired journey that teaches children how to calm their minds, reset their emotions, and begin again.
Age Range: 4-18
Grade Range: Preschool-12
Publication Date: February 8, 2016
Page Count: 44 pages
My Trip to the Beach
Paperback
$16.95
Description
What do you do when your thoughts feel too big and your heart feels heavy?
In My Trip to the Beach, a young girl discovers a quiet, comforting place she can return to anytimeāan imaginary beach where the sun is warm, the waves are steady, and everything feels just a little bit lighter.
Through calming, simple, and beautifully guided exercises, this story gently introduces children to mindfulness and meditation, showing them how to pause, breathe, and create a sense of peace within themselvesāno matter where they are.
Written by a seasoned therapist, My Trip to the Beach blends poetic storytelling with practical tools that help children:
- Build focus and concentration
- Manage stress and overwhelming feelings
- Reduce anger and impulsive reactions
- Grow in self-awareness and emotional confidence
With soothing imagery and an uplifting message, this book reminds readers that they always have the ability to reset, refocus, and start again.
Because just like the sunrise over the oceanā¦
every day is a new beginning.
Author Deedee Cummings
Deedee Cummings is a professional dreamer. She is also an author, therapist, attorney, and mom from Louisville, Kentucky. Cummings founded Make A Way Media in 2014 after struggling to find books with characters who looked like her own children and an extreme lack of stories that reflected their life experiences. Books published by Make A Way focus on hope, diversity, social justice, and therapeutic skills for children and adults. Her work has been featured in HuffPost, Forbes, NPR, USA Today, Essence Magazine, Psych Central, well+Good, and The EveryGirl, among other media outlets. In 2021, she was appointed to the Kentucky Early Childhood Advisory Council by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, and reappointed to a second term in 2025, acknowledging her decades-long service to the children and families of Kentucky. Cummings is also the founder of The Louisville Book Festival. She was inspired to work to highlight and celebrate a culture of reading in her community after working as an in-home therapist and visiting homes of children who had no books. Cummings believes literacy is a fundamental human right. Her work highlights inspiring messages that remind us all it is never too late to begin again.
Reviews:
My Trip to the Beach is a terrific book that allows readers to focus on the concept of mindfulness. The story stresses the importance of finding a quiet place and concentrating on the beauty around you. I love that Deirdre reminds children to focus on the people that love them, and the things that they are good at. This book allows children to feel frustrated while giving them skills to cope and deal with their feelings. The illustrations are warm and inviting. The colors are soft and show the simple beauty in life. This is a book that should definitely be in every school and children’s counselors office. A perfect book to add to any mindfulness unit!
This book is calming and inspiring and definitely needed in everyone’s life. Every person feels stressed out at times and this book will help each person, or remind everyone, how to step back, breathe deeply, and think of a fresh start. The ocean and beach are my happy places and the imagery presented in the text and illustrations will help launch visualization of calmer and happier places and times for the reader.
– Danielle
As a seasoned therapist, Deirdre Cummings uses her extensive knowledge to create beautifully illustrated picture books that inspire readers of all ages. My Trip to the Beach shows how everyone has good and bad days, children as well as adults. In the rhythmic verse, a bad day is turned around, reminding that “the sun is calling me to dance, to be happy, to be free,” as the young girl depicted in this story is feeling down, she finds a space all her own–at the beach. The sun, the waves, sand, and sea spray can take each bad thought and wash them away again and again, like the waves on the sand. Subtle reminders shared throughout inspire readers to remain in love and faith, and the continued promise of another day. A perfect gift for teachers and anyone who needs to be reminded that it’s okay when we have bad days, which can be overcome by the power of love, imagination, and a perfect beach day.
– Kim Childress
