The Great Big Book of Feelings

by Mary Hoffman, Ros Asquith (Illustrator)

Hoffman, Mary

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, Emotion, Mental Health

40 pages, Hardcover

First published August 27, 2013

About the author

See also works published under Mary Lassiter

Mary Hoffman is a bestselling British author and reviewer, born in 1945. She is a true enthusiast of Italy and spends a lot of her time there, which shows in her Stravaganza novels: a series currently in publication. In total, she has written over 80 books, including the aforementioned Stravaganza series and the bestselling picture book, Amazing Grace. Mary is also the editor of a review magazine Armadillo for kids.

Watch the book trailer for David, Mary Hoffman's most recent novel

Reviews

[Kirsty]

A nice read which deals with feelings

[Rebecca Caufman]

19 different feelings are shared with questions for the readers to ask, along with examples, and ways to help. There is a cat on each page for readers to find too.

[Nicola]

Miss 3 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.

A 5 star rating from Miss 3 (who has autism); she and I have read so many books about feelings by so many different authors and this was one that she really liked. I think it's because there are so many drawings of different kids and different families that she can pick and choose which one to focus on and lots of different reasons why they feel that way.

[Cheryl]

Relatively simple, but absolutely not simplistic. For example, it starts with a gallery of (drawings of) kids making emotive faces and has us guess their feelings, but also says "It isn't always easy to tell."

I also appreciate the inclusion of the Swedish proverb "Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow." And the conclusion, that we "can feel lots of different things at the same time. Or lots of different ways in one day" is spot-on.

Recommended for anyone, not just young children, who feels a bit confused about their, or others' reactions and emotions.

[A Allen]

One of the better books about feelings available in my opinion, but some feelings are explained better than others. My favorite was the angry page. The illustrations throughout are cute and fun. There were some word choices that I was unsure about; for example, the safe page says "perhaps being indoors in the warm when it's dark and cold outside?" and I thought it should be "warmth" or "where it is warm" instead.

[Mine💗]

Las ilustraciones me recordaron a mis dibujos de cuando era una niña, son muy adorables.

La mayoría de los personas hoy día expresan cada vez más sus opiniones pero hay gente a la que todavía le cuesta por diferentes razones. Muchas veces no se reconoce lo que se siente o que estado de ánimo tenemos y el conocer nuestros sentimientos y emociones puede ayudar a sentirnos mejor. Fue por eso que comencé a leer este tipo de libros. Este es bueno.

[Ella]

This book explains a large selection of emotions very well for children, including using examples. The book should help children to understand what their feelings are, what might have caused them and how they can cope with these different emotions. A great book for all of primary school, particularly KS1 and LKS2.

[Tere Campos]

La traducción a español pudo haber sido mejor. Pero aun así es un excelente elemento para interiorizar como niño en lo que te hace sentir de muchas formas diferentes. Creo que es otro must para todas las bibliotecas infantiles, especialmente las personales (y éstas en sí deberían ser un must)

[Kim]

Not a sit down in one sitting read; rather it is a good way to introduce different feelings for emotional health.

[Emily]

Loooove this and the Families one in this series!!

[Jenna Mills]

Great

[Danielle Robertson Robertson]

Probably better for ages 6+ than 2-4 because of the complexity of some of these feelings. Nonetheless, I like the approach and the tips within.

[Khanifia S]

Different feelings sad angry happy excited questions about how do you feel when you are angry sad happy excited

[Mandy Robek]

Two page spreads describing an emotion in a variety of ways. Informative.

[Rossana Karunaratna]

This book shows a variety of emotions in a very clear and fun way. The illustrations are nice and contribute to a very enjoyable reading time.

[suri delgado sarabia]

"la preocupación muchas veces es la proyección de una gran sombra de un objeto pequeño"

[Sameah]

“The Great Big Book of Feelings” by Mary Hoffman, is an excellent book aimed at educating young children about the different emotions they may feel from time to time. Many young children may feel in a feel certain way, yet cannot understand why this is so. By covering 19 different emotions, this wonderful book makes it easy for children to process and understand their feelings, and perhaps, most importantly demonstrates how normal it is to experience a range of feelings depending on your situation. The book also aims to give solutions on how to deal with certain emotions, for example; when feeling sad it might help to talk to an adult; if feeling angry, count to ten which would allow you to calm down.

In addition, it is beautifully illustrated allowing young children to actually picture what various emotions look like from an external perspective. This is an excellent classroom tool, aimed at KS1 and KS2, which would allow the teacher to open valuable dialogue with the pupils. Even for those children who may not verbally participate, the illustrations make it simple for a child to point to the ‘emotion’ they are experiencing. I would highly recommend this book to all young children.

[Christine Turner]

This is a great book for social emotional development!

The book opens with the question: "How are you feeling today?" And this leads on to a spread by spread presentation of a wide range of feelings, including:
*Happy * Sad * Excited * Bored * Interested * Angry * Upset * Calm * Silly * Lonely * Scared * Safe *Embarrassed * Shy * Confident * Worried * Jealous * Satisfied
The final spread is about Feeling Better because sharing and talking about feelings helps us to feel better. The approach and design follows The Great Big Book of Families, with lots of different children in lots of different situations, brief text captions and questions and plenty of humour to make sure the book is fun.Mary Hoffman and Ros Asquith look at feelings in family life, at school and everywhere with the same warmth, wit and sensitivity that they brought to their award- winning The Great Big Book of Families.


HCPL Juv Nonfiction 152.4 Hof

[FWS]

There is not a storyline here. Instead, common emotions are described through pictures.

This is a great book to be used for integration. The teacher can read different pages each day to introduce a new emotion and engage the children into discussing how they feel. Talking about one's emotion is not always easy but it is something that all pupils can relate to despite language difficulties. It's a great way for them to bond with each other, to develop thoughts about themselves, to be appreciated for expressing themselves.

It would make an ideal tool for class discussion, drawing and writing.

[Fernanda W.]

O livro tem o intuito de trabalhar as emoções com as crianças, mas ao mesmo tempo que é muito simples, também é muito complexo.

A linguagem é bem infantil, porém a variedade de emoções dispostas no livro é muito grande, acho difícil uma criança pequena reter todas estas informações, especialmente porque as explicações são vagas e muitas vezes contraditórias. Já imagino que uma criança que consegue articular e diferenciar todas as emoções do livro não se interessaria muito na linguagem utilizada por ser simplista e direcionada para um público mais novo.

[Jody Lewandowski]

I really wanted to like this for my own children. Definitely a lap book for discussions with one or two children. I guess I just wanted more. Particularly more on the Anger page since we have the most trouble with expressing anger in acceptable ways. I wish there had been more than a double spread - more like three double spreads!

[Amy]

Excellent book about feelings for children. Mary Hoffman really speaks to children as she asks them if they've ever felt this or that feeling and what makes them feel that way. I loved the range of feelings that she shows from not only happy and sad to calm, interested, and bored. Along the way she gives the reader helpful little suggestions.

[Wendy Garland]

While I don't love this one as much as the Great Big Book of Families, this is a very accessible book for children. Just the right amount of text combined with fabulous illustrations make this a great book to share.

[Robin]

Not as excellent or groundbreaking as their The Great Big Book of Families, but still a really good picture book about feelings that deals well with the complexities of life. Recommended for ages 4-7.

[Ashley]

A wonderful approach to how children view the world through their emotions. The illustrations are relate-able and show the reader how they might feel if it were them. All in all an approachable, enjoyable, and informative choice.

[Mary]

This is a great book to share in a classroom setting or one-on-one. It covers a wide gamut of feelings in a very child-friendly manner.

[Ellie-Ann]

Really lovely. Well illustrated and provides the chance to talk about feelings and emotions with your child.