Thi
s lovely book celebrates all shapes and sizes of feelings–full of giggles and wiggles like a magical hat, bright and shiny like a big yellow star or lazy and slow like a floating balloon. Each page opens to a smaller cut-out heart inside the clever illustration demonstrating silly, happy or calm. What a wonderful reference for kids and parents to use to explain feelings associated with the day’s experiences. “On harder days, mean words hurt my feelings,and my heart feels hurt too. It’s fragile and delicate…” When kids are upset, they have trouble expressing themselves at the language level they are capable of. A book like this will help bridge that gap and get an important conversation started. For kids with language delay, this book can help give them the visual tools to describe and talk about situations and their corresponding feelings of the heart. Yesterday I was with a terrific first grade teacher who uses great picture books like this to read to her class and then she pulls out a topic from the story–bullying, should you be a friend with someone that isn’t liked by another friend? and pairs off the kids to “debate” the subject. I love that concept. You can do the same with a lively discussion with your child at home.
