Feel a Little written by Jenny Palmer and Illustrated by Evie Kemp is a beautifully designed book created to help and encourage kids to recognise their emotions. The book is made up of 14 poems and illustrations, each based on a different emotion.
What I’m liking
For starters, I love the illustrations. They’re fun, bold, bright and cute. And the poems that go with them are perfectly written for children of all ages.
These are poems written so that kids can relate to, and understand them.
I read Feel a Little to a group of children aged between 9 and 12 years old at school and I was amazed at the response I got from them! The book opened up a wonderful discussion about their emotions and how each different child dealt with them. The kids then went on to write and illustrate their own poems about a chosen emotion.
This book was a real inspiration for them. It helped to create a safe platform to discuss each child’s emotions. And also made poems fun!
My own Miss 4 loved discovering each new illustration and it’s emotion in the book. We were able to talk about how the illustrations made her feel, and what words she can use to describe how she feels.
I also find Feel a Little to be a great go-to book when little Miss 4 has an emotional outburst. Once she’s calmed down, we flick to the page that best fits her emotion, read the page, and then have a conversation about it. I’m finding this is really helping her to better understand her ‘big’ emotions.
Conclusion
This book has proved to be a wonderful tool for opening up a discussion about emotions, and how to deal with them. It’s really proven it’s worth in the classroom and at home, and I would happily recommend this book to parents and educators alike. 5 stars!
Feel a Little – Written by Jenny Palmer – Published by Mary Egan Publishing – RRP$25
