Big Feelings and what they tell us
Emotions are messages from your heart,
they tell you what you need.
Some of them are BIG feelings
and some are very small indeed.
Told in rhyme, ‘Big Feelings and what they tell us’ explores different emotions, designed to help children learn how to identify and cope with a range of feelings. Different children are pictured experiencing reactions to a range of situations. These reactions are validated by the text which is reassuring -’It’s okay to feel disappointed when everything goes wrong’…’But it’s normal to notice things like that when you’re feeling worried’- before offering suggestions for how to cope with these feelings.
At the end of the book, there is a section of practical advice designed to support parents, carers and teachers. Many of the strategies suggested will be familiar to adults working in schools, but might be invaluable for use at home where adults might be struggling to cope with their children’s emotions or understand how to support them. The author has a background in counselling and the ideas offered are practical and fun.
A great deal is packed into this book and so it would be best used by selecting relevant pages as the need arises rather than reading this in one go. This would enable adults to focus on one feeling at a time, making it meaningful and relevant rather than overwhelming. The feelings wheel and feelings thermometers are particularly useful in supporting children with identifying their emotions, understanding them and coping with them.
A useful text not just for Children’s Mental Health Week, but all year round!
Big Feelings and what they tell us
Rebekah Ballagh
Allen and Unwin ISBN: 978-1761069482