Reviews

Reviews

Feel Better Books for Little Kids Series

“These books bridge the gap between ‘Children’s Stories’ and early awareness of emotions, thoughts, and how to handle them! They’re not just reading a story they can identify with, they’re also learning techniques to handle it all in a way that is conducive and applicable in life! As a child therapist, I could not wait to get these into the hands of the kids at my children’s school!” – Meggan Phipps M.Ed, LPC

A Feel Better Book for Little Worriers

“As adults, we know that so many of us experience anxiety and intrusive worries, and we may not have the tools to deal with them. Our kids have worries too, and at a young age, lacking perspective, their worries can seem like the worst things in the world to them. Wouldn’t it be a better world if our children could learn how to reduce their stress and cope with anxiety, and maybe even start a generation of less stressed adults? This book could be the first step.” – Portland Book Review

“Unique, special, thoroughly ‘kid-friendly’ in tone, organization, and presentation.” – Midwest Book Review

“These books remind us that we are not alone, and with the right tools and support system, we can learn to be more comfortable and handle the challenges in front of us… A Feel Better Book for Little Worriers is a general book for children that covers a wide range of potential anxieties.  It focuses on breathing and visualization to calm down, as well as the importance of communicating with parents and other trusting adults.  The back of the book has tips and tools for parents and caregivers.” – AlphaMom

A Feel Better Book for Little Tempers

“In this informational picture book, Brochmann and Bowen use rhyme and helpful vocabulary to identify emotions and bodily sensations associated with anger. The focus of the narrative is on pedagogy, rather than story. It differentiates between appropriate and inappropriate expressions of anger and offers children and caregivers strategies for dealing with uncomfortable feelings in productive ways. As an alternative to biting or hitting, the authors suggest playing sports, dancing, and other mindfulness strategies, including consciously tensing and releasing muscles and deep breathing. The text works well to draw a connection between bodily sensations and emotional regulation in a way that’s accessible for young audiences. The illustrations depict characters with various skin tones and the expressiveness of their faces complement the presentation a great deal by providing additional ways of identifying different emotions. The back matter includes information for adults on managing anger and temper tantrums. VERDICT This is a solid resource for caregivers and an appropriate addition to most collections for young children.” – Kelly Topita, Anne Arundel County Public Library, MD for School Library Journal

A Feel Better Book for Little Tears

“A useful picture book for encouraging social-emotional health. The rhyming text uses direct address to speak to diverse child characters who are experiencing sadness in a range of settings—and by extension, to child readers of the book. A backmatter “Note to Parents and Caregivers” deconstructs the intentions behind different parts of the text to respond to sadness; normalize sadness; cope with sad feelings; and offer hope. Throughout, Ng-Benitez’s sensitive, engaging illustrations do an excellent job of providing narrative specificity to the general scenarios the text suggests, elevating the book’s aesthetic success as a whole….readers may also find value in its potential to foster empathy or to pre-emptively address sadness as one of many emotions we all experience. Validating and soothing.” – Kirkus Reviews

“As the book normalizes sadness, a young person is sure to feel relieved that his emotions are not unusual or permanent.” – Manhattan Book Review

“Brochmann and Bowen have provided readers with the tools to help their kids get through their first bouts of sadness.” – BookTrib

“Wonderful books written by intelligent, kind women. My little ones love these books and I find the strategies for guiding them through big emotions to be helpful. Highly recommend.” – Jessica Wall