Have you put yourself in your kids' flip-flops lately? I know it can be difficult to understand why your little one is flipping out seemingly out of the blue, but 9 times out of 10, there's usually a cause for it. Of course, it could be a minor cause, one that we wouldn't get all crazy about. But for toddlers and preschool-aged kids, feelings and emotions are brand new to them. They can't define how they're feeling, let alone put a name to it. So when you find a good book for toddlers about feelings, you keep it and use it.
That's what happened to us – we discovered this amazing book called A Whole Bunch of Feelings from Timberdoodle that included as a solo book or you can grab it with both their 2021 PreK Curriculum Kit and Nonreligious 2021 PreK Curriculum Kit! We used this book to read every night before bedtime. Besides the fact that it was the first book my tot bothered to stop and listen to for once, it taught him (and continues to teach him) all about his feelings and explains the different kinds of feelings he can and will feel. Books about feelings for children, I think, are a must-have commodity to add to every mom's teaching arsenal.
Quick Navigation
A Book About Feelings For Kids: A Whole Bunch of Feelings
Inside this book, you'll find beautifully illustrated pictures and gentle words to help your child understand their feelings. Each feeling is labeled and identified in its own story with an example. There are 44 feelings that A Whole Bunch of Feelings talk about, which is a lot more than I would have taken the time to explain to my preschooler about, to be honest.
Since this is one of the best books about feelings for preschoolers that I've come across, I enjoy learning more about feelings right along with my little kiddo! There are so many different feelings inside this book and wonderful examples that are on point to go along with each feeling. They also include pictures of the feelings too, which I think resonated most with my 3-year-old.
As I read the story, he quietly sat by and listened along, looking at the pictures. I could see his brain wheels connecting the dots with the feelings I was describing to the pictures' feelings. I was impressed with this since it was the first time my little guy sat still and quiet for me to read to him. Crazy, I know. What a book!
A Whole Bunch of Feelings Include Nice Feelings and Ugly Feelings
The example stories are great too, even though some stories made me kind of cringe. Not because it was poorly written or explained, but because of the feelings themselves. This isn't a poke to the book either. In fact, I'm glad the book includes all kinds of feelings and not just the nice, pretty ones. Even the ugly ones are included, and it's these feelings that make me cringe. And at the same token, I also cringe when my toddler acts like a “fuming mad tea kettle” too.
You can see in the Table of Contents all the feelings the book contains along with page numbers. So if you want to skip a feeling or go straight to a feeling that seems most popular with your little one, you can.
You'll find nice and ugly feelings inside A Whole Bunch of Feelings, a fantastic book about feelings for kids. You'll also find more complex emotions, too, like “feeling diligent” and “intimidated”. These complex emotions are of a bigger vocabulary, so this book would be ideal for kids from preschool-age to middle school-age, I believe. I don't think toddlers can wrap their minds around the bigger-worded emotions, such as “diligent” or mischievous” when they're just learning about emotions and their names. (But I've been wrong before). That's why this book should be pulled out time and time again throughout the next ten years, to continually teach your kids about emotions as their own vocabulary grows.
The nice, positive feelings include:
- I Feel Calm
- I Feel Cozy!
- My Dog Feels Frisky!
- Mike Feels Anticipation!
- I'm So Proud!
- I Feel Safe
- Mother Nature Is Feeling Joyful Today!
- The Ducklings Feel Loved
- Ecstatic, How Exciting!
- The Silly Clown!
- Feeling Playful!
- I'm So Thankful!
- I Feel Brave!
- Content Like My Sleeping Baby Brother
- The Spider Felt Soo Diligent
The ugly, negative emotions include:
- Mr. Sloth Feels Lazy
- I'm So Disappointed
- Guilty!
- Mischievous Ricky
- I Feel Heartbroken
- The Bully at School Makes Me Feel Intimidated
- Nervous Nelly, the Skittish Fawn
- Sometimes I Feel Worried
- It's So Frustrating!
- I Don't Like to Feel Ashamed
- Jealousy Is an Ugly Thing!
- The Fuming Mad Tea Kettle
- I Feel So Rotten!
- I'm Sorry!
- I'm a Grumpy Bear!
- Swimming Scared
- The Ball of Dread
- Tense Like a Rubber Band
The neutral emotions include:
- I Feel Lazy
- My. Shy Guy
- I'm Bored!
- I Feel Blah!
- I Feel Embarrassed
- I Feel Impatient
- Sometimes My Turtle Feels Withdrawn
- Awkward
- My Baby Sister Is Curious!
- The Wind Was Feeling Strong
- Confused!
As you can see, the book contains a huge variety of different types of emotions. This book about feelings for kids helps them learn emotions and helps them handle them much better, speaking from personal experience. I used my best judgment when categorizing these 44 feelings, but they could easily be categorized differently, like putting “Tense Like A Rubber Band” in the neutral category or recategorizing “I Feel Impatient” into the negative category. I put them in categories simply as a visual for you to see all the emotions that this book about feelings for kids provides.
Positive Outcomes Are Provided For Every Feeling Inside the Book!
Though the book contains nice feelings, ugly feelings, and neutral feelings, every feeling includes a positive outcome of what you should do when you feel this way. I like how it shows kids how to handle emotions that aren't nice to feel. It provides them a solution on what to do when you feel a certain way, helping them understand the feeling better while teaching them right from wrong. Bless this book!
The positive outcome for “a fuming made tea kettle” and how to handle this feeling is:
Unlike a tea kettle, we can't just stop simmering, but we do need to stop. Try taking a few deep breaths to relax your body. We can't solve any problem when we are so full of anger.
The positive outcome for “The Bully at School Makes Me Feel Intimidated” and how to handle this feeling is:
Feelings intimidated is not a good feeling. It's a feeling that tells you that you need to ask an adult for help.
The positive outcome for “It's So Frustrating” and how to handle this feeling is:
It can be so frustrating and make you so mad that you just want to give up, but don't forget that if you keep trying, you just might get it. Can you think of a time when you felt frustrated and wanted to give up trying?
The positive outcome for “Mother Nature Is Feeling Joyful Today!” and how to handle this feeling is:
And when Mother Nature is joyful, she makes everybody feel happy and free like a white fluffy cloud floating across the sky. Joyful is a good feeling, so find one thing every day that makes you feel joy and happiness. Smile!
The positive outcome for “I'm So Proud” and how to handle this feeling is:
Have you ever worked so hard to do something and then you did it? That's what it feels like to be proud. Hooray, I did it!
The positive outcome for “Sometimes My Turtle Feels Withdrawn” and how to handle this feeling is:
At first, I couldn't understand why Chipper didn't want to be my friend, but now I know that it is okay for him to want some alone time. When he is ready, he will come out of his shell.
These books about feelings for preschool kids (and beyond) are special when you find them, so hang on to these gems and pull them out often, especially during their little stages. The more you do, the fewer crazy outbursts you find, I bet, because they've learned what they should do when feeling that way, just as long as you continually remind them and partner with the books' messages.
A Whole Bunch of Feelings: A Book For Toddlers About Feelings
A Whole Bunch of Feelings should be part of your personal library, without question. This book for toddlers about feelings It is a book you'll enjoy for years to come. As kids develop and mature, so will their emotions. Not only will this book help them understand their emotions and how they're feeling, but it also shows kids what to do about these big feelings in a positive way. They say emotions can “get the best of us”; however, with this book, it won't!
Grab A Whole Bunch of Feelings now from Timberdoodle by clicking here. A Whole Bunch of Feelings is one book you didn't know you needed!
Related Posts
- 20 Best Frog Books For Kindergarten Kids - September 8, 2024
- 50+ Cleverly Funny Nicknames For Mom With Cool Definitions - September 3, 2024
- 101 Incredibly Easy Bible Verses For Kids To Memorize In Super Fun Ways - August 12, 2024
That’s a super wide range! I’ve seen these sorts of books before, and there weren’t many positive or neutral emotions included, so it’s nice to see what a large span this book covers. Thorough review!
Thank you Gina! I was just as surprised as you are to see so many different emotions included in the book. And they really are just so different from one another. I’m glad you liked the review!
I love seeing so much description beyond facial expressions. I really like that those emotions that are sometimes treated as a negative are being discussed in the book as neutral feelings.
I think that’s helpful for children who are constantly shamed for being shy of overly curious to see that these are not negatives; nor is needing time to retreat and have quiet spaces. Adults and children can both benefit from reading this and it’s entirety.
Thanks for sharing. I really like the option the print as a PDF. I often print articles to share with teaching friends. This is a helpful addition.
Hi Amber and thank you for your comment! I completely agree with you. Speaking of emotions, I was surprised (in a good way) of all tthe emotions they included in this book. There are plenty in there that are misconstrued, too, so I appreciated their clarity – for both kids and adult (as I said, I totally agree with you). My favorite part about this book is the positive outcome for each emotion and how they should properly handle things when feeling a certain way (if it’s not a ‘nice’ emotion). The print option is totally awesome too, right?!
I need to look into this for my son, he has trouble expressing his emotions and that often leads to tantrums. Looks like a wonderful book!
It has quickly become a favorite in our house, a book my tot seems to go to first before any others time and time again. One thing I always say to my kids is that it’s okay to feel a certain way. It’s what you do with that feeling that makes all the difference. If your kiddo is having tantrum issues, this book is IDEAL for him! Thanks, Betty!