My book of feelings

Being a mom to two littlies I have had many encounters with small children being overwhelmed by big feelings. Whether it was the wrong colour cup or sandwiches cut into squares instead of triangles, there have been many tears and much frustration. When faced with these emotional outpourings I have always tried to keep a quote I once read at the front of my mind, “When little people are overwhelmed by big emotions, it’s our job to share our calm, not to join their chaos.” L R Knost.

It’s difficult to explain feelings to children, so I was happy to be able to read My book of feelings to my children. The book follows the story of Simone, a little girl who experiences different feelings in her day to day life. As she feels the different emotions of anger, fear, jealousy, joy, shyness, pride and sadness we are given the opportunity to discuss what she’s feeling with our children. There is also advice and suggestions which encourage children to deal with these feelings.

The feelings are each assigned an illustrated character, making it both fun and easy for children to identify the feeling while reading the book. Children will find themselves identifying with Simone’s feelings, each accompanied by brightly coloured illustrations, and be encouraged to help her control them. There are also flaps to explore which introduce an interactive element to story time.

My book of feelings, described as an interactive book full of surprises, is available in hardback from bookstores and online retailers for a recommended retail price of R220. It is written by Stephanie Couturier, a relaxation therapist, and illustrated by Maureen Poignonec. It’s also available in Afrikaans as My boek van gevoelens.

Thanks to Penguin Random House for sharing this book with us.