It can be really difficult to talk about emotions with kids. Especially emotions like anxiety, fear, and anger. Luckily, Tom Percival created the Big Bright Feelings series to help give kids and their caregivers tools.
Ruby Finds a Worry is about a kid who finds a worry. She ignores it and it gets bigger and bigger, eventually taking up so much space she can’t think about anything else. She starts to think she’ll never feel happy again. One day she finds another kid who seems to have a worry as well. They find that as they talk about their worries, those worries shrink! Author Tom Percival ends the book with noting that Ruby continues to experience worry sometimes, and that when that happens, she knows she can talk about it and it’ll go away.
This book gives helpful language to kids and their caretakers about the idea of worry. It also really helps to normalize what it can feel like when a worry gets out of hand. Heck, I found it relatable from my adult perspective! I also really loved that there was a solution for how to manage worrying, especially when it feels out of hand.
Kids just want to fit in, which often is messaged as being the same. But we believe our differences are what make us great! How do we help kids internalize that? With Perfectly Norman! In it, Norman sprouts a pair of stunning wings one day. While they allow him to fly- FLY!- he is worried about what others will think of them. He hides them inside a big, puffy coat all the time. He won’t take off his coat to go swimming or to play at the playground, missing out on many things he loves to do. Finally, his parents convince him to take off the coat, and when he does, he notices other kids who are also wearing big coats. When they see his bravery, they also shed their coats and fly into the sky!
I have found that referencing both the anxiety of being different as well as the bravery that Norman displays has been helpful in talking with both of my kids in various situations!
Anger is an incredibly complex emotion, and one of the most challenging to manage. Ravi’s Roar perfectly captures this as reader’s watch Ravi get more and more frustrated on a day with his family. Eventually, all that frustration turns into anger and when it does, Ravi turns into a ferocious tiger! While it feels good at first- everyone is so surprised and scared of the tiger they give it whatever it wants- eventually Ravi realizes no one likes the tiger very much. He calms down and apologizes, and his family forgives him.
I especially love that Percival notes that while Ravi doesn’t turn into a tiger anymore, he does still sometimes have a little growl because I believe it’s important to normalize all of our feelings. My kids will feel mad throughout their lives, and while I don’t want them to have “tiger” moments, I do want them to know it’s ok to feel mad.
How do you all discuss emotions with the kids in your lives? Feel free to drop recommendations below! Of course, if you choose the purchase any of these books from the links in the post I’ll make a small commission. Feel free to peek around my Bookshop store- it’s full of great reads!