Book of the Month December 2022 - A Book of Feelings

A Book of Feelings By Amanda McCardie
 
This story introduces us to a loving, safe family. We are guided through everyday situations that our children may come across which might seem so small, and yet feel so big. It starts from a place of safety, thinking about happiness, and then moves through the daily lives of the children within the family to explore the intricacies of other feelings that they and their friends might come across.
 

​There is a lovely journey through how one child’s underlying feelings might, in turn, lead to someone else’s feelings changing. There is a sprinkling of humour, which helps to give little light-hearted interruptions to some of the more difficult feelings being explored. The beautiful illustrations really help to bring colour to the words, through pictures and speech bubbles.
 
The book helps to think about how people might look or seem a certain way on the surface but be feeling something quite different on the inside. The family in the story give safe boundaries to think about the nuances of why events can cause us to feel a certain way.
 
What is also particularly helpful about this book, is the indexing of different emotions at the end, allowing this to become a resource to revisit at significant times. There are lots of examples – in the story and in the illustrations - which help to make the key themes relevant to lots of children.
 
A lovely story using a gentle flow of rupture, repair, a bit of humour, and real examples of growing up!
 
Emma Shedlow
Occupational Therapist, Trainer.

---