Reading for Resilience: Great Picture Books That Teach Young Children About Emotions

Dynamic Learning Alliance
2 days ago
4 min read

Reading with your child is more than just a bedtime routine. It builds critical literacy skills and provides a powerful opportunity where you can talk and practice social-emotional skills through the experiences of relatable characters.

Books allow children to explore and absorb vocabulary and different strategies for handling big emotions and navigating relationships.

Below are a few of my favorite picture books on self-regulation and social awareness:

Ups and downs: A Book of Emotions by Mike Wohnoutka

Ideal for older toddlers, Ups and Downs provides excellent emotional vocabulary. This book simply presents a word with an image conveying what the character is feeling. This is an excellent opportunity to engage you

r child in recognizing the emotions of others through facial expression, body language and their own personal experiences. Ask them why they think the character is feeling that way. Ask if they have ever felt that way. While some of the emotions get complex, young children can understand more than we realize - the more we equip them with emotional vocabulary, the better than they accurately express themselves and use their words: a critical self-regulation skill to reduce tantrums.

Feel calm: an invisible things book by Andy J. Pizza

This board book is perfect for ages 1-3 as it encourages young children to calm by tracing lines on a page with their finger. The lines begin as a frenzied mess but as the book continues, they become smoother and slower.

Big Feelings by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman

In Big Feelings, a group of children struggle to decide together how to best use materials they found. They ultimately apologize for their strong feelings and work together, but their plan is ruined by the weather. The rain however, also brought a new opportunity - a giant puddle! This book provides older toddlers a chance to think about how they work with others, solve problems, but also look at what to do when things don't work out as planned.

The Bunny Listened by Cori Doerrfeld

This story follows Taylor, whose block tower falls. While other animals try to fix the problem, the rabbit simply sits and listens. It is an essential tool for teaching empathy and the power of listening.

My Brain is Magic: A Sensory-Seeking Celebration by Prasha Sooful

In this playful book, a young girl explores her feelings and her world through engaging in her senses. Young children learn and calm their nervous system through sensory play from spinning to building sand castles. This book provides are large variety of ideas of how the brain manages feelings through the 5 senses.

There is so much to learn when you are little - picture books provide an engaging and powerful tool to teaching young children to be thoughtful not just about themselves and their feelings but about the feelings of others.

More Great Picture Books That Teach Young Children About Emotions:

Breathe Like a Bear by Kira Willey features 30 short, playful mindfulness exercises that help kids flex their mindfulness muscles and learn to focus their attention.
Little Monkey Calms Down by Cheri J. Meiners provides a simple guide for younger toddlers that models how to use a blankie, take deep breaths, and sing a quiet song when feeling overwhelmed.
Puppy in My Head by Elise Gravel follows a puppy named Ollie living in the narrator's head to help kids understand and manage anxiety and big emotions
Brothers Are Not For Hitting by Ryan Allen tells a story about siblings Laila and Reggie. Through the story, she learns the impact of hitting and how to control her big feelings so we don't hurt those we love.
I Feel! A Book for Emotions by Juana Medina is a simple book with bold, colorful illustrations helps young children identify their emotions and build their emotional vocabulary.
How do You Feel by Lizzy Rockwell is similar to Ups and Downs as this book encourages readers to use context clues in the picture to understand how different characters feel and why. This book provides a great opportunity to build vocabulary and spark a conversation with your child(ren.)
Fantastic Feelings by Roald Dahl is a bright, fun board book encourages children to express feelings rather than suppress them, offering simple, positive advice for dealing with different emotions.
Your Brain is a Lump of Goo by Idan Ben-Barak and Christopher Nielsen is a funny and interesting exploration of the most mysterious organ in the human body: our brain.
The Lemonade Hurricane by Emma J. Adams is a story about a sister teaching her high-energy brother how to use stillness and bowing to find calm within the storm.
What Should Danny Do? by Adir and Ganit Levy is a "Choose Your Own Adventure" style book where the reader decides if Danny makes a power of choice that leads to a good day or a frustrating one.
The Color Monster by Anna Llenas is a fun engaging book that uses colors to help children sort through jumbled emotions like anger, sadness, and calm.
The Way I Feel by Janan Cain is a rhyming introduction to basic emotions, perfect for building the
early emotional vocabulary toddlers need to replace hits with words.
Waiting Is Not Easy! by Mo Willems is part of the Elephant and Piggie series. This picture book uses humor to capture the physical and emotional struggle of waiting and delayed gratification.
My Mouth Is a Volcano! by Julia Cook follows Louis, who struggles with erupting (interrupting). This book provides concrete strategies for kids to hold their thoughts until it is their turn to speak.

Pick up any of these titles at your local library today!