An Emotional Menagerie: Feelings from A to Z

“Children, like adults, experience all sorts of emotions. This book explores twenty-six emotions, one for every letter of the alphabet. Exploring these emotions opens the door for further discussion of not only these emotions, but also other emotions that the child may be experiencing.

Each emotion is described in verse, and each opens with “If (emotion) was an animal, it would …” The next few lines describe the emotion, and the last few validate it. All the emotions (even the negative ones) are not judged but validated – encouraging their discussion. A double-page is devoted to each emotion where the poem takes up one full page and the animal illustrating that emotion takes up the other bleeding into the page containing the poem. The artwork is sharp with each animal clearly illustrating its emotion.

While the artwork and layout suggest that the book is intended for younger children, the vocabulary, poem length, and complexity indicate that it is aimed towards older ones. Perhaps the intent is to guide younger children through more advanced material. This book may require some prep work before reading it to children I anticipating their questions and possible discussion that may arise from its reading.”