ABC of feelings

Bonnie Lui

Book - 2021

Simple text and illustrations present an A to Z guide to emotions, including happy, mad, scared, and more.

Saved in:

Children's Room Show me where

jE/Lui
1 / 1 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
Children's Room jE/Lui Checked In
Subjects
Genres
Alphabet books
Picture books
Published
New York : Philomel Books 2021.
Language
English
Main Author
Bonnie Lui (author)
Physical Description
1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 26 cm
ISBN
9780593205198
Contents unavailable.
Review by School Library Journal Review

PreS-K--Blending a review of the alphabet with easy vocabulary that names and explains emotions, this friendly book offers an opportunity for children to meet and thoughtfully connect with 26 feelings through illustrated scenarios. The digitally illustrated vignettes display a well-represented group of children of many skin shades, from pale to deep brown, as well as animal characters, pairing emotions with familiar experiences. For example, "embarrassed" is expressed through a scene of a white boy with red hair who accidentally falls into a shallow pond and draws every animal eye upon him. Smartly paired scenes often match with alphabet letters and defined emotions on consecutive pages, making for very brief but easily understood, relatable stories. Purposefully placed painterly textures, angled gestures, and design lines help readers decode the emotions; a few will be too subtle in their facial cues, particularly within the simple animal forms, so an adult can help clarify and encourage children to share their own stories. VERDICT Perfect for a read-aloud and as an SEL tool, this book invites important and comfortably playful discussions on naming emotions.--Rachel Mulligan, Westampton, NJ

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

An alphabetical tour of emotions. This British import mixes words that many young kids will know, such as brave, kind, and mad (the last defined in the American sense, as angry), with less-familiar ones such as overwhelmed and vulnerable. It even features at least one word that may be new to adults: "X is for Xenial….Xenial is being welcoming to strangers." Compounding the difficulty here, the visual image of a Black kid dressed as a magician hugging a rabbit they've pulled out of a hat does not exactly illustrate xeniality (xenialness?). Other illustrations do a better job of helping readers understand the words being introduced. The illustrations feature racially diverse children and are usually paired in each double-page spread: "A is for Anxious. Anxious is feeling really worried about something. / B is for Brave. Brave is being nervous about something and doing it anyway." On the A page, a brown-skinned kid cowers from the dragon that encircles their bed, as in a nightmare. Across the gutter on the B page, the ferociously scowling child confronts the now-intimidated monster. Kids will get an immediate sense of those two words. Animals, real and imaginary, often play a role in the pictures. The book will be best shared one on one or in very small groups, when children can really spend time examining the pictures and talking about their own impression of what is happening in each picture. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A mixed bag. (word list) (Picture book. 5-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.