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Start With Sorry: A Children's Picture Book With Lessons in Empathy, Sharing, Manners & Anger Management
Three-year-old Luna loves to spend time with her big brother, Asher, and she wants to do everything he does. But when these siblings sit down to draw pictures together, Luna is overcome with jealousy because she can't do everything he can do. When she reacts in anger, Asher is sad and doesn't want to color with her anymore. How can she make things right again? With Mommy's help, Luna learns how to deal with her emotions and make amends for hurting her brother's feelings.
Toddlers ages 3-5 will love this sweet and relatable children's picture book, whether they're familiar with sibling rivalry or are just learning to share and cooperate at daycare or preschool. Stories like this one are an excellent way to teach kids how to apologize, and how to take responsibility for their actions in a way that's fun!
Parents and teachers will appreciate the valuable early learning lesson in compassion. Kindness and empathy for others is one of the most important social skills required to form lasting friendships in preparation for school life, making "Start With Sorry" a must-have on any bookshelf.
Reading about the facts of life is part of growing up, as values are learned not just through real-life situations, but also by reading about basic concepts in fiction. Good manners include not just saying "please" and "thank you," but also knowing how to apologize, not just with words, but with actions that demonstrate that the apology is meaningful.
Give "Start With Sorry" a try and take your child on a fun journey with Luna and Asher while building a foundation of virtues and morals that they'll need in preschool, kindergarten and beyond. It's available as paperback and hardcover books.
Toddlers ages 3-5 will love this sweet and relatable children's picture book, whether they're familiar with sibling rivalry or are just learning to share and cooperate at daycare or preschool. Stories like this one are an excellent way to teach kids how to apologize, and how to take responsibility for their actions in a way that's fun!
Parents and teachers will appreciate the valuable early learning lesson in compassion. Kindness and empathy for others is one of the most important social skills required to form lasting friendships in preparation for school life, making "Start With Sorry" a must-have on any bookshelf.
Reading about the facts of life is part of growing up, as values are learned not just through real-life situations, but also by reading about basic concepts in fiction. Good manners include not just saying "please" and "thank you," but also knowing how to apologize, not just with words, but with actions that demonstrate that the apology is meaningful.
Give "Start With Sorry" a try and take your child on a fun journey with Luna and Asher while building a foundation of virtues and morals that they'll need in preschool, kindergarten and beyond. It's available as paperback and hardcover books.
- GenresFiction
38 pages, Paperback
First published February 21, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 24, 2017
Super cute story. A great way to help little ones deal with their anger and frustrations
March 10, 2017
Reviewed by Barbara Fanson for Readers' Favorite
Start With Sorry by PT Finch is an outstanding book that parents should read to their children. The story and illustrations work well together to create a must-have children’s book, which children and their parents will enjoy. I believe children will develop a better understanding of their feelings: happiness, sadness, anger, hurt, jealousy, and regret. This story may help children to label their emotions and develop a better way to express their feelings. Start With Sorry also opens the door to discussing emotions and asking your own children questions like “Why do you think the little girl was angry? Why is the boy sad? Do you think the girl could have expressed her feelings differently?” The book demonstrates to children how to say sorry and forgive someone. Their mother guides them through a valuable lesson of understanding, empathy, cooperation, and an apology. Soon, the preschoolers learn how to work together to create a better drawing than before.
The illustrations in Start With Sorry are very well done by Gokhan Bas. They are very realistic images with shading, multiple colours, and shadows. Even his children’s drawings look realistic as if they were drawn by preschoolers! Bas’ drawings of facial expressions definitely illustrate the emotion that the children are experiencing at the moment. Perhaps we should have questions or a discussion page at the back of the book to open up a dialogue of the book and emotions. Start With Sorry should be in every daycare and preschool so children may develop a better comprehension of sibling rivalry, sharing, and handling their emotions.
Start With Sorry by PT Finch is an outstanding book that parents should read to their children. The story and illustrations work well together to create a must-have children’s book, which children and their parents will enjoy. I believe children will develop a better understanding of their feelings: happiness, sadness, anger, hurt, jealousy, and regret. This story may help children to label their emotions and develop a better way to express their feelings. Start With Sorry also opens the door to discussing emotions and asking your own children questions like “Why do you think the little girl was angry? Why is the boy sad? Do you think the girl could have expressed her feelings differently?” The book demonstrates to children how to say sorry and forgive someone. Their mother guides them through a valuable lesson of understanding, empathy, cooperation, and an apology. Soon, the preschoolers learn how to work together to create a better drawing than before.
The illustrations in Start With Sorry are very well done by Gokhan Bas. They are very realistic images with shading, multiple colours, and shadows. Even his children’s drawings look realistic as if they were drawn by preschoolers! Bas’ drawings of facial expressions definitely illustrate the emotion that the children are experiencing at the moment. Perhaps we should have questions or a discussion page at the back of the book to open up a dialogue of the book and emotions. Start With Sorry should be in every daycare and preschool so children may develop a better comprehension of sibling rivalry, sharing, and handling their emotions.
July 20, 2023
Start With Sorry is a picture book by P.T. Finch, and illustrated by Gokhan Bas. It is the first of the “Luna & Asher” series of books. Luna and Asher are siblings. In this book, they are drawing, but they find themselves having fun, until a few negative emotions start to creep into their day. This book shows how they solve the problem.
We begin the day by joining the pair as they start to draw. And I like the way the author explains a lot of the stuff going on. There’s a good amount of explaining to kids about how these pair are drawing, and some of the sentiments they put into their work. I think the way the author explains the emotions is done well; and there’s a good, structural setting to build it up. I think a lot of kids can relate to this type of thing; their emotions building up over time and then sudden outbursts of things like anger. And I think it’s good because, especially for younger kids, this can put words to the ways they might be feeling. And, at the end of the book, there are even some discussion questions, if you’d like to talk to your kid about the story and imagery.
I love the illustrations. There’s such a great range of scenes, and levels of details. I particularly like the little drawings to show what the kids drew. I think they’re fun. And I think the illustrator has done well with showing the characters too, especially when showing all the emotions they’re going through. I particularly liked the illustration where Luna is breaking the crayons; I think it’s a great scene to show. And I love the little snapshot of the kitty, Buddy, looking on from behind the toaster oven. Oh, and the final images of them handing a finished piece of art to their father were just precious. A really special moment!
Overall, I think it’s a pretty good book, and touches on a really common type of issue for a lot of people, not just kids. A lot of people don’t realise how their negative emotions can be problematic for others. And I think this book has a good base of how to talk to kids about things like negative and positive emotions. Luna and Asher are an adorable pair! And I think this was a great start to their series.
We begin the day by joining the pair as they start to draw. And I like the way the author explains a lot of the stuff going on. There’s a good amount of explaining to kids about how these pair are drawing, and some of the sentiments they put into their work. I think the way the author explains the emotions is done well; and there’s a good, structural setting to build it up. I think a lot of kids can relate to this type of thing; their emotions building up over time and then sudden outbursts of things like anger. And I think it’s good because, especially for younger kids, this can put words to the ways they might be feeling. And, at the end of the book, there are even some discussion questions, if you’d like to talk to your kid about the story and imagery.
I love the illustrations. There’s such a great range of scenes, and levels of details. I particularly like the little drawings to show what the kids drew. I think they’re fun. And I think the illustrator has done well with showing the characters too, especially when showing all the emotions they’re going through. I particularly liked the illustration where Luna is breaking the crayons; I think it’s a great scene to show. And I love the little snapshot of the kitty, Buddy, looking on from behind the toaster oven. Oh, and the final images of them handing a finished piece of art to their father were just precious. A really special moment!
Overall, I think it’s a pretty good book, and touches on a really common type of issue for a lot of people, not just kids. A lot of people don’t realise how their negative emotions can be problematic for others. And I think this book has a good base of how to talk to kids about things like negative and positive emotions. Luna and Asher are an adorable pair! And I think this was a great start to their series.
June 11, 2017
Good turn of events, but too quickly resolved
This is nice, but it doesn't show HOW a kid can go from angry and destructive to empathetic and caring. Little Sister just suddenly goes from jealous to happy and suddenly is fine with coloring together. There's no talk about HOW a kid can learn to go from angry to calm, just that they should. Nice story, but not actually helpful to a struggling child.
This is nice, but it doesn't show HOW a kid can go from angry and destructive to empathetic and caring. Little Sister just suddenly goes from jealous to happy and suddenly is fine with coloring together. There's no talk about HOW a kid can learn to go from angry to calm, just that they should. Nice story, but not actually helpful to a struggling child.
December 7, 2025
Start With Sorry is an excellent children’s picture book that teaches important social and emotional lessons in a clear and engaging way. The story makes concepts like empathy, sharing, and managing anger easy for kids to understand. The illustrations are bright and friendly, helping to keep young readers interested. This book is both educational and enjoyable, making it a great read for children. I gave it five stars.
February 17, 2022
Where I AM! AFFIRMATIONS FOR RESILIENCE provides non-fiction guidance for emotional control, this book—START WITH SORRY—provides the story to match. Geared more for 3, 4, 5, and 6-year-olds, it shows the way emotions can derail quality time together and how to make amends. I suggest reading this together with I AM! The perfect social-emotional picture book pair!
March 30, 2026
This book was a great book that focuses on teaching children to apologize. Luna and Asher go through different emotions throughout the story and have to learn to overcome them. This story focuses on themes such as empathy, sharing, sibling relationships, etc.
July 13, 2023
Great read
My daughter really enjoyed this story it held her attention and the beautiful colorful illustrations was a plus looking forward to reading more
My daughter really enjoyed this story it held her attention and the beautiful colorful illustrations was a plus looking forward to reading more
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews