Books That Teach Kids About Emotions and Expressing Feelings
36 Books That Teach Kids About Their Emotions and How to Express Various Feelings
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Emotions can feel big for kids who aren't sure how to articulate what they're experiencing or how something makes them feel. To help your young kids regulate their emotions and express their feelings in healthy ways, what better way than with a book? We've compiled over 30 children's books that either focus on specific feelings or address emotions in general and give your kids the tools to recognize, discuss, and work through their emotions.
Keep scrolling to learn more about each one!
1 The Color Monster: A Story About Emotions
What It's About: "One day, Color Monster wakes up feeling very confused. His emotions are all over the place; he feels angry, happy, calm, sad, and scared all at once! To help him, a little girl shows him what each feeling means through color. As this adorable monster learns to sort and define his mixed up emotions, he gains self-awareness and peace as a result. Everyone will enjoy sharing this concept book that taps into both socio-emotional growth and color concepts in a simple, friendly way."
Feelings It Discusses: All feelings!
Ages It's Best Suited For: 4-8
Buy It Here: The Color Monster: A Story About Emotions ($10, originally $17)
2 B Is For Breathe
What It's About: "From the letter A to the letter Z, B is for Breathe celebrates the many ways children can express their feelings and develop coping skills at an early age. Fun, cute, and exciting illustrations, this colorful book teaches kids simple ways to cope with fussy and frustrating emotions. This book will inspire kids to discuss their feelings, show positive behaviors, and practice calm down strategies."
Feelings It Discusses: All feelings!
Ages It's Best Suited For: 4-10
Buy It Here: B Is For Breathe: The ABCs of Coping With Fussy and Frustrating Feelings ($17, originally $22)
3 Big Feelings
What It's About: "What should we do when things don't go to plan? We may feel mad, frustrated, or overwhelmed, but by talking it through, compromising, and seeing another point of view, we can start fresh, begin anew."
Feelings It Discusses: All feelings!
Ages It's Best Suited For: 4-8
Buy It Here: Big Feelings ($17, originally $19)
4 Big Boys Cry
What It's About: "It's Levi's first day at a new school, and he's scared. His father tries to comfort Levi by telling him 'Big boys don't cry.' Though the father immediately understands his misstep, he can't find the words to comfort his son, and Levi leaves for school, still in need of reassurance.
Fortunately, along his walk to school, Levi sees instance after instance of grown men openly expressing their sadness and fear. His learned mantra, 'Big boys don't cry,' slowly weakens, and by the time he's at school he releases a tear. Once he's there, things aren't so bad after all, and on his walk home he sees everyone he's encountered earlier, feeling better now that they expressed their emotions. Upon his arrival home, he finds his father waiting for him on their porch, tears in his eyes. His father is able to admit that he was scared and the two embrace, closer than before."
Feelings It Discusses: Fear, sadness
Ages It's Best Suited For: 3-7
Buy It Here: Big Boys Cry ($14, originally $18)
5 The Boy With Big, Big Feelings
What It's About: "Meet a boy with feelings so big that they glow from his cheeks, spill out of his eyes, and jump up and down on his chest. When a loud truck drives by, he cries. When he hears a joke, he bursts with joy. When his loved ones are having a hard day, he feels their emotions as if they were his own. The boy tries to cope by stuffing down his feelings, but with a little help and artistic inspiration, the boy realizes his feelings are something to be celebrated. Written by debut picture book author Britney Winn Lee and boldly illustrated by Jacob Souva, The Boy With Big, Big Feelings is relatable for any child, but especially for children experiencing anxiety and extreme emotions, or who have been diagnosed with autism or as a Highly Sensitive Person."
Feelings It Discusses: All feelings!
Ages It's Best Suited For: 4-8
Buy It Here: The Boy With Big, Big Feelings ($13, originally $18)
6 Little Big Feelings
What It's About: "Did you know that it takes at least three deep breaths to make an impact on our nervous system, which is affected by the many emotions we experience every day? Learning to breathe deep is a simple and effective tool to help us feel calm and present. This is a tool we can teach our children to empower them to overcome negative emotions and to be present during positive ones."
Feelings It Discusses: All feelings!
Ages It's Best Suited For: 4-7
Buy It Here: Little Big Feelings ($15)
7 Ruby Finds a Worry
What It's About: "Meet Ruby--a happy, curious, imaginative girl. But one day, she finds something unexpected: a Worry. It's not such a big Worry, at first. But every day, it grows a little bigger . . . And a little bigger . . . Until eventually, the Worry is ENORMOUS and is all she can think about. But when Ruby befriends a young boy, she discovers that everyone has worries, and not only that, there's a great way to get rid of them too . . ."
Feelings It Discusses: Anxiety
Ages It's Best Suited For: 3-6
Buy It Here: Ruby Finds a Worry ($14, originally $18)
8 Roaring Mad Riley: An Anger Management Story For Kids
What It's About: "Find out that there are lots of easy ways to stop being angry with a little help from some super friendly dinosaurs! Roaring Mad Riley is a story about anger management for kids that is both a picture and activity book, making it fun to learn how to pause and cool down, even when you're super upset.
Join Riley, Parker, and Mr. Rex on this adorably illustrated journey exploring anger management for kids. They'll find out how to keep calm by breathing deep, counting to 10, shaking it out, and more. After you finish the story there are even a bunch of awesome activities you'll be able to do with your parents―and the next time you feel angry!"
Feelings It Discusses: Anger
Ages It's Best Suited For: 5-7
Buy It Here: Roaring Mad Riley: An Anger Management Story For Kids ($9)
9 When Sadness Is at Your Door
What It's About: "Sadness can be scary and confusing at any age! When we feel sad, especially for long periods of time, it can seem as if the sadness is a part of who we are--an overwhelming, invisible, and scary sensation."
Feelings It Discusses: Sadness
Ages It's Best Suited For: 3-7
Buy It Here: When Sadness Is at Your Door ($8)
10 Ravi's Roar
What It's About: "Ravi never minded being the smallest in his family. Until one day, his short arms can't reach the monkey bars, he can't find anyone during hide-and-seek, AND he's too little to ride the big slide. Ravi is so mad--so furious--that he can't control his temper anymore . . . and he becomes a ferocious, roaring TIGER!
Being a tiger is great. Tigers can do anything they want! But who wants to play with a growling, wild tiger who won't share or behave? Ravi is about to discover something very important about voicing his feelings."
Feelings It Discusses: Anger
Ages It's Best Suited For: 3-6
Buy It Here: Ravi's Roar ($12, originally $18)
11 Even Superheroes Have Bad Days
What It's About: "All kids have trouble getting a grip on their emotions, sometimes—even young superheroes! But what do they do when they're having a bad day? Colorful action-packed illustrations and a dynamite rhyming text reveal the many ways superheroes (and ordinary children, too) can resist the super-temptation to cause a scene when they're sad, mad, frustrated, lonely, or afraid. From burning off steam on a bike or a hike, to helping others, this energetic picture book has plenty of fun ideas to help kids cope when they're feeling overwhelmed."
Feelings It Discusses: All feelings!
Ages It's Best Suited For: 3-9
Buy It Here: Even Superheroes Have Bad Days ($10, originally $15)
12 Listening to My Body
What It's About: "Help your child build on their capacity to engage more mindfully, self-regulate, and develop emotional resilience. Listening to My Body is an engaging and interactive book that guides children through the practice of naming their feelings and the physical sensations that accompany them."
Feelings It Discusses: All feelings!
Ages It's Best Suited For: 8-12
Buy It Here: Listening to My Body ($12, originally $13)
13 Just Feel: How to Be Stronger, Happier, Healthier, and More
What It's About: "Featuring full-color illustrations, Just Feel is an engaging and easy-to-read guide that introduces kids to the building blocks of resilience and grit."
Feelings It Discusses: All feelings!
Ages It's Best Suited For: 8-12
Buy It Here: Just Feel: How to Be Stronger, Happier, Healthier, and More ($9, originally $13)
14 La Catrina: Emotions - Emociones
What It's About: "Inspired by one of the most recognized symbols of Dia De los Muertos (Day of the Dead), this book introduces little ones to emotional expressions and their first English and Spanish words―and teaches them to recognize feelings like emocionado (excited), triste (sad), and confiado (confident)."
Feelings It Discusses: all feelings!
Ages It's Best Suited For: 0-4
Buy It Here: La Catrina: Emotions - Emociones (English and Spanish Edition) ($9, originally $10)
15 Jabari Jumps
What It's About: "Jabari is definitely ready to jump off the diving board. He's finished his swimming lessons and passed his swim test, and he's a great jumper, so he's not scared at all. 'Looks easy,' says Jabari, watching the other kids take their turns. But when his dad squeezes his hand, Jabari squeezes back. He needs to figure out what kind of special jump to do anyway, and he should probably do some stretches before climbing up onto the diving board. In a sweetly appealing tale of overcoming your fears, newcomer Gaia Cornwall captures a moment between a patient and encouraging father and a determined little boy you can't help but root for."
Feelings It Discusses: Fear
Ages It's Best Suited For: 4-8
Buy It Here: Jabari Jumps ($14, originally $17)
16 The Day You Begin
What It's About: "There are many reasons to feel different. Maybe it's how you look or talk, or where you're from; maybe it's what you eat, or something just as random. It's not easy to take those first steps into a place where nobody really knows you yet, but somehow you do it."
Feelings It Discusses: Fear, loneliness, courage
Ages It's Best Suited For: 5-8
Buy It Here: The Day You Begin ($13, originally $19)
17 Tough Guys Have Feelings Too
What It's About: "Did you know wrestlers have feelings? And knights. Even superheroes and ninjas feel sad sometimes. In fact everyone has feelings—especially dads who love their children!"
Feelings It Discusses: all feelings!
Ages It's Best Suited For: 3-5
Buy It Here: Tough Guys Have Feelings Too ($18)
18 Angry Octopus
What It's About: "Angry Octopus is a story that teaches children how to use progressive muscle relaxation and breathing techniques to calm down, lower stress, and control anger. Children relate to the angry octopus in this story as the sea child shows the octopus how to take a deep breath, calm down, and manage anger."
Feelings It Discusses: Anger
Ages It's Best Suited For: 5-10
Buy It Here: Angry Octopus: Children Learn How to Control Anger, Reduce Stress and Fall Asleep Faster ($9, originally $11)
19 Pig's Big Feelings
What It's About: "The research is clear — one of the biggest reasons young kids get frustrated (and act out!) is because they don't have the words to express what they're feeling. So let's teach them! Moving beyond happy, sad, mad, and glad, Pig's Big Feelings introduces kids to a rich variety of emotional words while touching on themes like: [friendship, self-expression, perseverance, empathy, creativity, and self-acceptance.]"
Feelings It Discusses: All feelings!
Ages It's Best Suited For: 3-6
Buy It Here: Pig's Big Feelings ($12)
20 Me and My Feelings: A Kids' Guide to Understanding and Expressing Themselves
What It's About: "Sometimes, emotions like anger or jealousy or excitement can seem too big to keep inside. Me and My Feelings is here to tell you: It's okay to have big feelings. And the good news is, you can calm down those strong emotions―so you won't feel like you're going to explode!"
Feelings It Discusses: All feelings!
Ages It's Best Suited For: 7-10
Buy It Here: Me and My Feelings: A Kids' Guide to Understanding and Expressing Themselves ($9, originally $10)
21 The Rough Patch
What It's About: "Evan and his dog do everything together, from eating ice cream to caring for their prize-winning garden, which grows big and beautiful. One day the unthinkable happens: Evan's dog dies. Heartbroken, Evan destroys the garden and everything in it. The ground becomes overgrown with prickly weeds and thorns, and Evan embraces the chaos. But beauty grows in the darkest of places, and when a twisting vine turns into an immense pumpkin, Evan is drawn out of his isolation and back to the county fair, where friendships—old and new—await."
Feelings It Discusses: Grief, anger, loneliness
Ages It's Best Suited For: 4-8
Buy It Here: The Rough Patch ($10, originally $18)
22 A Kids Book About Anxiety
What It's About: "This is a book about anxiety. Having anxiety doesn't just mean you feel nervous sometimes or need to calm down. It means having an uncontrollable feeling that gets in the way of what you normally do. This book explores what anxiety is like and what life can look like when you're able to manage to live with anxiety."
Feelings It Discusses: Anxiety
Ages It's Best Suited For: 5-9
Buy It Here: A Kids Book About Anxiety ($20)
23 All About Feelings
What It's About: "How are you feeling today? This fun, friendly and reassuring introduction to feelings is designed to help young children recognise, understand and name how they're feeling and learn to talk about and manage their emotions in helpful ways."
Feelings It Discusses: All feelings!
Ages It's Best Suited For: 3-7
Buy It Here: All About Feelings ($15)
24 Tiger Days: A Book of Feelings
What It's About: "Through playful rhymes and colorful illustrations, this spirited book gives children new tools to understand the range of their emotions and express themselves to family, teachers, friends, and themselves."
Feelings It Discusses: All feelings!
Ages It's Best Suited For: 3-8
Buy It Here: Tiger Days: A Book of Feelings ($14, originally $17)
25 A Little Spot of Emotion Box Set
What They're About: Each A Little Spot of book sheds light on understanding and expressing various emotions.
Feelings They Discuss: Anger, anxiety, happiness, sadness, love, confidence, and more
Ages They're Best Suited For: 2-6
Buy It Here: A Little Spot of Emotion Box Set ($44, originally $60)
26 The Way I Feel
What It's About: "Praised by parents, who say it's especially valuable when getting children to talk about the day's triumphs and troubles, and by professionals, who use it in pediatric clinics and with the developmentally disabled and emotionally troubled."
Feelings It Discusses: All feelings!
Ages It's Best Suited For: 0-3
Buy It Here: The Way I Feel ($9)
27 Today I Feel . . .
What It's About: "Beautifully illustrated by Madalena Moniz's subtle watercolors, Today I Feel . . . follows a child through a whole range of emotions, from adored to curious to strong. Not all of the emotions are positive and not all of them are simple, but they are all honest and worthy of discussion with a young child."
Feelings It Discusses: All feelings!
Ages It's Best Suited For: 3-5
Buy It Here: Today I Feel . . .: An Alphabet of Feelings ($12, originally $15)
28 The Unbudgeable Curmudgeon
What It's About: "Have you ever seen a curmudgeon that looks like your brother, but is in such a bad mood you hardly recognize him? You can try all the peanut butter sandwiches and brownies you have, but he is not moving. Nothing works, especially nudging, and he just makes you so grumpy that eventually you have no choice but to fight back--and then . . . Have you ever become a curmudgeon that just won't budge?"
Feelings It Discusses: Frustration, general bad moods
Ages It's Best Suited For: 4-8
Buy It Here: The Unbudgeable Curmudgeon ($15, originally $18)
29 There Are No Animals in This Book (Only Feelings)
What It's About: "Children will recognize love, surprise, hurt, and other powerful feelings in these images, which accompany a fun-to-read aloud narrative with a silly twist at the end that is sure to delight younger readers."
Feelings It Discusses: All feelings!
Ages It's Best Suited For: 3-7
Buy It Here: There Are No Animals in This Book (Only Feelings) ($14, originally $18)
30 My Body Sends a Signal: Helping Kids Recognize Emotions and Express Feelings
What It's About: "How to teach kids about emotions and feelings? Like teaching them everything else - using clear words, familiar situations, exciting pictures and a lot of hands-on activities (games, puzzles, coloring pages, etc.). . . The book includes a cute story that kids can relate to, beautiful illustrations that capture children's attention, calming-down activities for kids, instructions to adults on the follow-up activities, emotions cards, feelings cards, coloring pages and related short stories to teach kids empathy."
Feelings It Discusses: All feelings!
Ages It's Best Suited For: 3-9
Buy It Here: My Body Sends a Signal: Helping Kids Recognize Emotions and Express Feelings ($13, originally $15)
31 After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again)
What It's About: "Everyone knows that when Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. But what happened after? Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat's poignant tale follows Humpty Dumpty, an avid bird watcher whose favorite place to be is high up on the city wall―that is, until after his famous fall. Now terrified of heights, Humpty can longer do many of the things he loves most. Will he summon the courage to face his fear?"
Feelings It Discusses: fear, courage
Ages It's Best Suited For: 4-8
Buy It Here: After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again) ($10, originally $18)
32 Sometimes I'm Bombaloo
What It's About: "Five-year-old Katie is a good kid -- most of the time. But sometimes...well, sometimes, say when her little brother knocks down her beautiful castle after she told him not to touch it and she knows she'll never be able to make it look that good again...sometimes Katie gets so mad she's Bombaloo, she's just not herself. Being Bombaloo is scary. But a little time out and a lot of understanding from Mom help Bombaloo calm down. And cleaning up the mess that Bombaloo made, then sharing hugs and sorries with her family, help Katie feel like Katie again."
Feelings It Discusses: Anger, overwhelm
Ages It's Best Suited For: 4-8
Buy It Here: Sometimes I'm Bombaloo ($16)
33 How Do You Feel?
What It's About: "There are a lot of emotions on the playground. A girl is happy when playing with a puppy. Another girl is angry when a boy knocks over her drink. And the boy who knocked over the drink is sorry."
Feelings It Discusses: All feelings!
Ages It's Best Suited For: 0-3
Buy It Here: How Do You Feel? ($8)
34 When Sophie Gets Angry — Really, Really Angry . . .
What It's About: "Everybody gets angry sometimes. For children, anger can be very upsetting. Parents, teachers, and children can talk about it. People do lots of different things when they get angry. In this Caldecott Honor book, kids will see what Sophie does when she gets angry. What do you do?"
Feelings It Discusses: Anger
Ages It's Best Suited For: 4-8
Buy It Here: When Sophie Gets Angry — Really, Really Angry . . . ($8)
35 Train Your Angry Dragon
What It's About: "Having a pet dragon is very fun. But what do you do if he gets angry or upset? What do you do when your dragon lost his cool and wants to burn everything to the ground? Get this book and learn how to train your angry dragon!"
Feelings It Discusses: Anger
Ages It's Best Suited For: 4-8
Buy It Here: Train Your Angry Dragon ($10, originally $16)
36 F Is For Feelings
What It's About: "We all feel many different emotions every day. For young children, those feelings can be extra strong, and sometimes, children need help finding the words to describe how they're feeling. This friendly and positive alphabet book gives children those 'feelings words,' and explores the idea that while some feelings are more comfortable than others, all are natural and important."
Feelings It Discusses: All feelings!
Ages It's Best Suited For: 3-8
Buy It Here: F Is For Feelings ($12)
