Shut up and feel An adult picture book on emotions

D. J. Corchin

Book - 2023

A picture book aimed at adults offers advice on emotional health. Life provides its share of hardships and frustrations. Some people respond to all the pressure by bottling up their emotions. But Corchin recommends that readers unleash whatever emotions they are feeling. If it's rage, he suggests flipping a table or blowing up and popping balloons. For those who feel depressed or unhappy, it's OK to cry and belt out sad songs or spend an entire day binging on melancholy movies. While the author, who's previously written children's books on similar topics, goes for laughs, this is a bona-fide self-help manual. So much of what he urges readers to do are healthy coping mechanisms that harm no one. He doesn't simply del...iver advice on how to react, but recommends possible ways to avoid stress or things that cause anxiety. For example, Corchin tells readers to ignore social media influencers; many of those seemingly perfect people who are always posting online are anything but. The author moreover advocates the potential benefits of therapy as well as medications that a physician might prescribe. As this is a picture book, messages are also relayed through Dougherty's artwork. The characters are depicted subverting or overcoming negativity by exercising at the gym, gleefully devouring a whole cake, and hugging a pillow, a cat, or one another. more