Book of the Month May 2016 [The Great Big Book of Feelings]

​Review of  “The Great Big Book of Feelings” by Mary Hoffman and Ros Asquith
 
At first glance, this book is jam packed with child-like illustrations that are colourful and exciting to look at.  These show mixed emotions in picture form which I feel a young child would find easier to relate to than a sentence exploring a feeling.
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Excitement, happiness, fear, boredom and cheekiness are some of the emotions explored in this book.  It moves through the different feeling visually with illustrations and minimalistic narrative.  However it provides ways to deal with feelings we don’t enjoy such as boredom or sadness, which is such a positive way a child could look at these feelings. 

​The use of questions throughout means a child could interact with you when reading, thus opening up to you; something that may be difficult for them, in a casual and less pressurising way.  Mary and Ros look at feelings in the family, school and out in the big bad world.

This book is full of wit and charm as well as sensitivity and I would encourage you to read this to young children to allow them to open up or to provide answers on how to cope with strong emotions and feelings in a calm way, with the book even containing a hide-and-seek game with a cat that will keep you and the child on your toes!
 
Reviewed by Anna Laidlaw

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