The Power of Gratitude: Unlocking Hidden Treasures

By: Ruth Maille
Illustrated by: Pencil Master Studio
Publisher: Orbit Publishing
Publication Date: November 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1955299077
Reviewed by: Katie Specht
Review Date: May 19, 2022

From award-winning author Ruth Maille comes the third installment in her “Power Of” series entitled The Power of Gratitude: Unlocking Hidden Treasures. Maille uses her years of working with kids to write another helpful social-emotional learning book for children. This time, Maille is focusing on teaching her young readers how to seek out and recognize gratitude in their lives.

In The Power of Gratitude: Unlocking Hidden Treasures, our hero, Orbit, is back for a new adventure. This time, he is visiting sleepover camp and he is eager to share the concept of gratitude with the children. After explaining what gratitude means and providing examples, Orbit then asks the children if they are ready to play a game. They are all excited to do so, especially after Orbit explains that the game will be a gratitude treasure hunt. Orbit will start the game by listing a letter and a word that begins with that letter, and then the children are to explain why they are grateful using the word that Orbit has given.

The book then progresses similar to an ABC book, but with a significant twist. The Power of Gratitude: Unlocking Hidden Treasures lists different words than a typical ABC book usually would, and the words are all followed up with examples provided by the children of why they are grateful for that particular word. For instance, for the letter “C,” Orbit presents the word “cloud.” One of the children offers that he is grateful for clouds because they look so soft and fluffy that they make him happy, and sometimes they even look like animals.

Maille has written another winner in The Power of Gratitude: Unlocking Hidden Treasures. This cute, sweet story with loveable Orbit as the lead role will appeal to children of all ages, while parents will appreciate the important lesson that Maille tries to instill in her readers about looking for something to be grateful for every day. If children seek out reasons to be grateful more often, they will soon begin to notice feelings of gratitude in their daily lives more frequently. It is a beneficial situation for all involved.

As was the case with Maille’s previous books in this series, the illustrations in The Power of Gratitude: Unlocking Hidden Treasures are vivid, colorful, and simply adorable. The illustrator did an exemplary job of creating the backgrounds of each picture to be unique and complementary to the scene that was being depicted.

Quill says: With the third installment in her “Power Of” series, The Power of Gratitude: Unlocking Hidden Treasures, Maille has achieved another positive and empowering social-emotional learning story that kids and parents alike are sure to love.

For more information on The Power of Gratitude: Unlocking Hidden Treasures, please visit the author's website at: ruthmaille-author.com

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