Percy Gets Upset (I See I Learn) by Stuart J. Murphy

I See I Learn

by Stuart J. Murphy

Sometimes Percy gets upset. He scowls and stamps his feet. But when he learns to take a deep breath, count to ten, and talk about his feelings, he can calm down. When Percy's not upset, he can have fun again! For happier, healthier, more confident children!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Emotion

Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

PICTURES & WORDS, STORIES & BOOKS
MathStart http://www.mathstart.net
I See I Learn http://www.iseeilearn.com

I was one of those kids who talked all the time in class. I loved telling stories. One day in the 4th Grade, my teacher said, “You tell such good stories, maybe you should try writing some of them down.” “Wow,” I thought. “She thinks my stories are good.” That’s when I started to really enjoy writing.

I was also the class artist. When I wasn’t talking,I was drawing. When I was older, I studied art at the Rhode Island School
of Design. That’s where I became interested in visual learning—how we decode and acquire information from graphs, charts, diagrams, models, illustrations and other images.

I became especially interested in educational publishing and have worked on the development of over a dozen major textbook programs, championing visual learning strategies from Pre-K through high school in every major curriculum area.

MATHSTART

The inspiration to write math stories for children was sparked by my work on a high school mathematics program. Visual learning strategies helped teens—who had been characterized as “reluctant learners’—understand difficult math concepts. Putting math in the context of stories based on their experiences made them feel more comfortable with abstract concepts. They actually became eager to apply math to real-life problems.
If this approach worked for older students, I began to wonder what might happen if younger children were introduced to math this way!

Even before children can read—or speak many words—they can interpret visual information with ease. The MathStart books use simple stories coupled with diagrams, graphs and other visual models to teach everything from probability and pattern recognition to area, capacity and negative numbers.

The Best Bug Parade, (comparing sizes) was my very first published book. It was absolutely thrilling to see my name in print! I never expected that one day there would 63 MathStart books, split over three levels for ages Pre-K to Grade 4.

Each book includes two pages of review and activities designed to help teachers and parents extend learning beyond the story, along with suggestions of related books by other authors. After all, if a child enjoys learning math through stories, then let’s have more stories!
(Pictures, Words & Math: An interview with Stuart J. Murphy )

THE MAIN STREET KIDS' CLUB: A MATHSTART MUSICAL

Now get out your dancing shoes—there is a musical based on six of the MathStart books! The Main Street Kids’ Club was workshopped at Northwestern University and adapted by Scott Ferguson, who also created the perennially popular production of Schoolhouse Rock Live!
The songs are terrific. The math is spot on. And the club motto makes my heart sing: “Math Skills are Life Skills!”

STUART J. MURPHY'S I SEE I LEARN

My latest series of books is focused on young children—Preschool and Kindergarten age.
I See I Learn books teach social, emotional, health and safety, and cognitive skills, such as how to make friends, build confidence, play safely, work together, manage emotions, and make plans. These skills are important for school readiness and for living happy, healthy, productive lives.

The stories “star” a wonderful bunch of friends who live in See-and-Learn City and attend Ready Set Pre-K. The cast includes Freda, Percy, Emma, Ajay, Camille, and Carlos. And, of course, Pickle, the green bull dog—who happens to have a soft-spot for butterflies—and Miss Cathy, their teacher.

I See I Learn stories are modeled on real-life situations and, just as in real-life, often involve more than one skill. For example, Freda Plans a Picnic is about sequencing, a cognitive skill, but the picnic itself is a social event. Percy Plays It Safe focuses on playground safety skills, but playing successfully in a group also requires self-regulation, an emotional skill.

Each book is reviewed by a tea

Reviews

[Shelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to use with young children and teach who deal with frustration, being grouchy, being cranky and/or being angry. It is all about emotional skills and what a child can do to deal with those appropriately and ultimately become happy again. Children can relate to Percy because he feels as they would when they're upset. Through the story, Percy teaches children how to stop being upset. The colors are vivid in the illustrations, the pictures eye catching, and the print large enough for a read - aloud to children or for older children to read themselves.

I can see this book being used in classrooms and/or counselor's offices with children 2-7. It is recommended for 2-5, but I think older children, maybe up to 2nd grade would enjoy it if used as a read - aloud to spark discussion. One of the things I love about Stuart Murphy's books is the discussion questions that he adds at the end. You won't have to come up with questions on your own, because they are provided for you.

[Abby Peskin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although this book attempts to integrate coping mechanisms such as taking a deep breath and counting to ten, I wasn't a fan of how the parents in the story just told Percy how to calm down instead of also acknowledging his feelings. Also, he tended not to feel better after using the coping mechanisms. Instead he miraculously felt better the morning afterward, as though teaching children/adults that coping skills aren't responsible for feeling better, but that negative feelings simply go away on their own instead.

[Tam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book for my 4-year-old. It used different words to describe feelings (frustrated, grouchy, cranky) and gave us a chance to talk about those feelings.

Percy is going to have a play date but he can't find his shoe. He yelled & stomped because he was frustrated. Mom said to calm down & pointed to his shoe. This was the perfect chance for me to ask my 4-year-old if this is how we should behave and if not, what should he do differently.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

SS needs a bit of help learning what emotions are, and that being upset and/or not getting your way doesn't mean you hate someone. So I brought in a few. Didn't have a chance to review ahead of time, so first time reading was at bedtime. Not bad at all. Though I think SS and SD started to resist the didactic-ness until the end when I said the help bubbles were another kind of map. Gives us as parents something to refer to when helping them deal with upset emotions. Me, too, for that matter!

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of I see I Learn series...this title teaches skills for life and school readiness. Percy, like most children, gets upset when things don't go as he would like and he gets angry. His parents teach him skills to cope with his frustration. At the end of the book there are flow charts to address feelings and options as well as questions to encourage discussion.

[Kelly Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a giraffe named Percy. Percy gets very mad and frustrated easily. His mom keeps telling him to calm down, stop and think, take a deep breath, and count to ten. Percy goes to sleep at night and wakes up the next morning feeling refreshed and happy. I think this book could be good for kids who have a tough time sorting out their emotions.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for talking about different words for being frustrated with lots of strategies on how to deal with it. I especially love how it talks about activities to do like draw a picture of how you feel when you are grumpy.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highlights the following strategies for dealing with being upset: calm down, stop and think, take a deep breath, talk about it, and count to ten.

[Caleb Wikman · Rating 5 out of 5]

As well as providing a fun story for the readers, also provides some good information on what to do when you're upset or angry.

[Wendy Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

When someone's upset, it doesn't help to tell them to calm down. There are much better SEL books out there.

[Sahel · Rating 2 out of 5]

دوشنبه، 4 آذر 98، حدود ساعت 2 و نیم ظهر

با اینکه تصویرسازی کتاب رو دوست داشتم (مخصوصا قیافه الاغه که شبیه جاکلیدیم بود :دی) اما اصولا طرفدار کتابایی که آخرشون نتیجه گیری اخلاقی و این داستانا دارن نیستم، مخصوصا در مورد این کتاب که انگار یهو از وسط قصه پرید به نتیجه گیری اخلاقی و تا چند دقیقه، منِ خواننده رو دچار شوک کرد! بدترین ضدحال دنیا دقیقا همینه... منتظری ببینی چی شده، یهو میبینی کلا تموم شده!!

[Deh.]

خوب بود بچه ها میفهمن چه جاهایی لجبازی کرده اند

[Ghazaleh Neshat.O · Rating 5 out of 5]

آموزش مفاهیم اخلاقی در قالب داستان

[Bern · Rating 2 out of 5]

Percy gets upset as often as my kid does, so I guess it must have been nice to see another little firecracker like himself. I don't think this book had many helpful suggestions for us, though.