Reviews

Big Feelings by Alexandra Penfold

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librarydreams's review

emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

While this book doesn't provide a deep dive into any particular emotion, it does provide a great introduction to many feeling words.

smithereens's review

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5.0

A great read for my 2 year old!

This is a great book showing a range of young children experiencing lots of 'big' feelings and how they learn to deal with those in everyday play situations.

The children in the story experience feeling sad, angry, frustrated, happy and more but through the book they learn to identify their feelings, talk about them and emphasise with other children's feelings too. They work together to come up with solutions through their play.

There are great illustrations throughout the story and lovely rhyming text that children will enjoy.

This would be the perfect book to share in an early years setting to start discussions on the all important topics of sharing, including others and working together that come up on a daily basis! A great book promoting emotional literacy, inclusion and diversity. I would recommend every school to buy a copy.

heisereads's review

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3.0

Appreciate the idea, but perhaps too overly simplified. A good addition to All Are Welcome with a diverse class & a starting point for social emotional learning lessons.

netsrik94's review

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4.0

While the words are few, they pack a punch in this book and leave room for excellent conversation. I especially love the author's use of reiteration. She created a beautiful mantra; my toddlers were reciting it by the third iteration "I have big feelings. You have them too. How can I help? What can WE do?" I foresee this mantra becoming an everyday tool in my household.

dbrannan's review

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2.0

Read with my 6-year-old. Neither of us liked it much. We appreciated the illustrations, but the text was brief and repetitive. The message didn't come through. A case of not considering the audience, I felt. Loved All Are Welcome, but this was a miss for me.