The Gudetama series keeps getting better and better!

Despite being so short, I found this graphic novel to be quite entertaining. Gudetama is absolutely relatable and in this volume we see how they learn about being mindful, empathic and pretty much a kind being.

There are some really good advices that everybody should follow because, let’s face it, the world is already a terrible place, but we can make it better. 2020 taught us that thinking of others before acting too reckless is a better option than dragging everybody into the mud.

I may sound a bit cheesy but it’s surprising how small acts of kindness can do so much for our community and ultimately, for our mental health.

I would totally recommend this to adults, but is also a great book for a younger audience since it has simple yet important topics to discuss.

<i>I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley.</i>

I really enjoyed this book. I feel like it can be useful for people of all ages. I would love to read this to my students to help them start to get a grasp on being mindful about their actions and words. The example about cats vs dogs could be particularly useful with the younger age groups but I think just having that reminder for anyone can bring attention to the way we respond to others. I will recommend this book to my friends and family.

The book explores different aspects of mindfulness through short stories and scenarios. Mindfulness can be just as simple as greeting someone with genuine intent. It can be as simple as being considerate and thinking of others while not neglecting your own wants and needs. The book also explained misconceptions of mindfulness through said short stories and scenarios. It can be easy to believe we are practicing mindfulness when in reality our authentic feelings get lost halfway through. For once, I was surprised how uncomplicated mindfulness was when it was laid bare before me in these panels full of engaging dialogue, vivid colours, and memorable characters.

For those who are interested to learn more mindfulness basics or for those like me who have too high expectations for the idea of mindfulness will find this book a pleasant surprise, and it is absolutely a relaxing book to read in this new year full of unknown possibilities and unpredictable happenings.

Who doesn’t love Gudetama, the lazy egg? For those unfamiliar, Gudetama is a character originating from Japan. His name comes from ぐでぐで (gudegude) which is an onomatopoeic word for feeling lazy and たまご (tamago) which means egg. Putting it together it means a lazy egg. (By the way, his friend in the book, Nisetama is similarly named the “fake egg”.) I’ve been a fan long before I read this book and even have a T-shirt with him on it, so when this book came up on Netgalley, I just had to give it a read!

This book is a guide on mindfulness for lazy people like Gudetama, so it’s formatted into 1-3 page shorts. Some of the topics covered were interesting, like how to be mindful on social media or how to handle problematic relatives, but I found I knew most of the tips. I have taken mindfulness workshops in the past, so tips like taking a walk, journaling or greeting people weren’t new to me. However, the target audience for this is most likely teenagers or younger and they aren’t as likely to have encountered mindfulness techniques. That being the case, I think this would be a fun gift for someone new to mindfulness as it covers a lot of the basics while presenting it in a full colour graphic novel. Not to mention it also introduces readers to Gudetama!

An amazing book to learn about mindfulness! What a great concept! Gudetama is relatable to the core.
I totally recommend this short but meaningful rearing.

So cute! And actually helpful in learning about mindfulness, empathy and care for others. A nice, quick read for adults and children.

I love Gudetama so I was already endeared to this concept, and as a social worker I'm always looking for age-appropriate ways to explain mindfulness and social emotional educational concepts. This book is exactly that. The illustrations are delightful and energetic and the text is compassionate and relevant to many of the dilemmas we all face day to day. I especially enjoyed the timeliness of the part about having a problematic relative who sends you articles you disagree with. I wish the concepts were slightly more cohesively connected throughout the book but I think all the lessons are valuable and necessary.

This is a super cute and very informative graphic novel about mindfulness. It's broken up into short comics featuring different scenarios that we can learn from. It's a great tool for today's stressful climate, whether that be political/personal/etc. The style is cutesy and silly and each story has a little humor but in the end really hits home the message of practicing mindfulness throughout your day.

I was particular fond of Swathi's impact on her neighbor Martin! It shows how continual positivity and mindfulness can transfer onto others.

I'd recommend this to any and all ages!

I don't know what I expected but it was still funny! I think this will be more for fans of Gudetama and other Sanrio characters

Felt a calm peace reading this, whilst also giggling as I kept scrolling down the PDF. This is an esstenial read for many. It cleverly deals with different situations and people in a cheerful way, without being too sanctimonious. I like how it includes sceanrios around social-media and fit into contempory times. An enjoyable and highly entertaining read with illustrations which capture the fluidity of the characters (apart from a lazy, albeit, adorable egg. :)

I'm not sure how seriously I'm supposed to take this book, haha. It's a guide for how to be mindful, with a focus on cultivating an attitude that's non-judgmental, curious, and kind. Or as Gudetama would say, "Don't be a butt." Some of this comic seems nearly serious, and then there's a bit of slapstick-adjacent sort of humor that makes me go "oh right, this is lessons in mindfulness from a lazy talking egg who likes naps." It's a fun, quick read with some good little kernels of life lessons in it.

4/5 Stars.

When i picked this book up i already knew it was going to be the cutest graphic novel, but I didn't expect to actually enjoy it so much.

While it gives basic information, it is really important to make younger readers interested in it. Since it’s a graphic novel it already has many points, but it can’t get far with only that.

Luckily, it has an interesting story about an old man who refuses to be mindful, which gives the book some consistency, otherwise every chapter would be a different aspect of mindfulness and, even with that, it feels a little scattered around.

I got confused at some scenes, since they use different styles to explain every aspect of mindfulness, and I had to spend some time trying to find myself.

Still, it was a fun read, with jokes to lighten the mood, cute and relatable characters and the perfect amount of knowledge. It is a book I would definitely gift to every younger reader so they can learn to love others and to love themselves.

“You don’t have to forgive everybody, and that’s ok.” is a lesson we all should learn, beside every little lesson this book gives.

A 4-Star read for sure.

Who wouldn't want to get mindful advices from a depressed egg?

Gudetama is (already) a classic Sanrio character and this was a short, funny illustrated guide for mindfulness. If you don't like self-help books, this was an easy chunk.
I quite liked the part about social media mindfulness and what to do, if a relative sends you all the time articles and videos you don't want to see. These are parts everyone should read.

Many thanks to netgalley and Oni Press for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It's unfortunate that I can't feel a positive about a book that promotes positivity when I'm anxiety ridden, this felt to me as " stating the obvious" or perhaps it's my fault cuz I don't feel good and this book didn't help,

I always click on everything Sanrio as soon as I see it and I’m so glad I read this book because I loved it. Thank you for the adorable comics! This book breaks down mindfulness which at times can feel like an overused term that has lost its meaning (especially on Instagram). But Wook-Jin Clark does a great job at explaining what it actually means and how you can implement it in everyday life situations. I found the scenarios that addressed being overworked, stressed about the future, and thinking before you speak to be most helpful. I genuinely feel that this book will help me make some small changes in the way I go through life. Good for all ages and something short and helpful to re-reference over and over again :)

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3786271525

Gudetama is asking the big questions here. I thought this book was really cute! I was also impressed with the range of scenarios the book showed. The book talked everything from work stress to social media to family members with differing political views. I feel like this would be a really cute way to expose kids to the ideas of being mindful and start discussions about what sort of options we have to cope with stress.

This was so adorable! I've tried to get into the whole mindfulness thing for quite a long time, but no resources ever felt accessible or made it sound too boring. Gudetama, on the other hand, is basically me in cartoon form. This was a short, fun introduction to the concept and practice of mindfulness, and my students could learn a lot form it.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Oni Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions expressed are entirely my own. I thought this book was very cute and gave some good advice on mindfulness as well as some tips and tricks on how to better communicate with others and be kinder. I thought the graphics were pretty good as well. The only thing I didn't like about the book is that I thought it would have a little more humor in it since it had the lazy egg character Gudetama. Other than that I thought it was cute with great advice!

I'm a simple person... I see Gudetama, I read Gudetama. Really short introduction into mindfulness and mindfulness techniques with our favorite egg.

This is the first book that I have not liked in a while. It is about empathy and it does show different ways to be able to achieve it. But, I couldn't handle the illustrations. I did not like the main characters outfit. It was a stretchy over the head outfit that didn't fit the world around him.