I Want to Be Mad for a While!

by Barney Saltzberg

Discover an exploration of BIG feelings that is perfect for fans of social-emotional bestsellers When Sophie Gets Angry -- Really, Really Angry and My Mouth Is a Volcano , from the bestselling author of Beautiful Oops! , Barney Saltzberg! Sometimes it helps when we talk. Sometimes there's nothing to say. I just need a little alone time to make the mad go away. Discover a universally relatable story about one little cat who just wants to be MAD... at least for a little while! With gentle text and bold, vibrant illustrations, Barney Saltzberg encourages readers to "feel what they feel" and express their emotions, helping young ones develop key tools for social-emotional literacy. A must-have for any toddler caregiver. This book empowers children on the topic of anger, letting them know that it's okay to feel mad sometimes. Because after you let yourself feel mad... then you can start to feel GLAD!

Genres: Picture Books, Emotion, Childrens, Cats, Animals, Storytime, Juvenile

32 pages, Hardcover

Published August 2, 2022

About the author

Barney Saltzberg is the author and illustrator of close to 50 books for children, including Beautiful Oops!, Arlo Needs Glasses, Good Egg, Cornelius P. Mud , Crazy Hair Day and the bestselling Touch and Feel Kisses series with over 800,000 copies in print. He has two new releases, Tea With Grandpa and Chengdu Could Not Would Not Fall Asleep coming this spring.
Additionally, he’s recorded four CDs of music for children. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two dogs.

Reviews

[Alexa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Often, we want kids to just stop being mad. Do we stop being mad all of the sudden? Sometimes we just need to be mad for a while. It's healthy to feel the feeling. Simple prose and illustrations help keep this book focused on the emotion, feeling it, and moving on.

[Riley Gullett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was super cute and great at introducing how having emotions and wanting to take time to cool off is completely ok! I loved how it shared that as well as the story that goes along with that!

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple to follow text for younger readers. Saltzberg affirms that feeling mad is okay and part of our emotions. Readers see that they can self-soothe and resolve their moods too.

[Thomas Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book about emotions. It was good for the book to show how it is important to work through feelings sometimes.

[Cuddle Spike]

For those days when you're just MAD!! with no context

[Tayler K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very simple book on an important topic.

So many people treat anger as a bad thing that we should minimize and try to never feel or express. However, all humans will experience anger--and especially children as they have so little control over their lives/world and so little life experience so that every feeling is new and big and mysterious. The important thing is learning how to process our emotions and how to appropriately express them.

Being allowed to feel all our feelings is important. Learning that our feelings are temporary is important. Finding appropriate ways to deal with our feelings, allow them to pass over and through us, and how to respond to them is vastly important. Many many adults have not been exposed to or internalized these lessons either.

This is a great book to remind parents as well as teach children that sometimes it's okay to just be mad for a while and that it will pass.

The "Dear Reader" note on the back cover was good too, I almost didn't see it.

I also liked from the illustrations that reading books helped the main character start to feel better.
And the endpapers were fun (I'm a sucker for good endpapers) with squares of the cat being mad in the front and being happy and silly in the back.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations are colorful and expressive, with simple lines that convey vivid emotion. I would have liked this book better if it had provided context for why the character was mad, because even though I can see why it's nice for people to be able to relate to the feeling regardless of the specifics, anger is a secondary emotion and almost always a response to something else. Since identifying the trigger can be part of moving forward, I prefer books about anger that include more situational context.

[Melinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I work in a public library. I'm finding it harder and harder to empathize with the public during this trying times. This book popped up as new book being order and I had to put it on hold! I loved this! I can completely relate. I'm autistic so I'm now more prone to meltdowns with constant changes, short staffing, and customers who aren't as nice as they should be. This is a short, sweet look at being mad and who to cope! Great for story times.

[AMY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great rhyming book for every single kid who has a temper or ever gets mad. It is also for kids who don't really get mad but need to understand how kids with tempers are feeling and need to be treated. Great illustrations to express the feelings. It would be great for read-alouds and SEL emphasis. Highly recommended for Grades K-2.

[Cheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let's face it - feelings come up and sometimes you just feel mad. It's okay! It happens to everyone. This book is a great meditation on feeling your feelings, letting it come and letting it pass - as it always will :)

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how this book explores the idea that we don't need to be afraid when we are mad or when others are mad. I also love how it explores activities that can help us move from being mad to being happy again.

[Ms. B · Rating 3 out of 5]

The message in this story was spot on. As the author says on the back cover, "I want you to know, however, you feel, you're okay just the way you are. Always remember, feelings have a way of changing after a while just like they do in this story." Four-year-old me could relate.

[Heather McC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is there any reader who cannot relate to the kitty with the big feelings? They may be all jumbled up and don't know where to start, they just know that there's angry. But that in itself, proves to be a starting point.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Expressing one's feelings is the message provided in this tale of natural emotions, and how to cope with them.

[Leova Manbhat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am mad and I just want to be mad for a while. Great book that tells us it's okay to be mad for a little while.

[KDV · Rating 5 out of 5]

VALIDATING!

[Stephani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book that allows for children to feel mad and give expression to that feeling. Shows that feeling mad sometimes is normal and acceptable.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title says it all.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.

[SamSamSam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this! Cute little cat paws, too. Social-emotional, phonological awareness. Good for toddlers

[Ally · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is relatable for a lot of kids. We cannot force happiness if they are not ready.

[Marinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute, very simple for small people.

[Lauri Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple acceptance of processing the feeling of mad and taking the time you need and self soothing until the mad has passed.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kitten crocodile!

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 6yo boy especially liked this one and actually repeated some of it even after we were done. A little short and 2 dimensional but a good concept that my 6yo caught hold of

[Amber (Allgood) Jensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it's important that kids know that feelings aren't good and bad, they can be pleasant or unpleasant. This book normalizes and validates the feeling of anger or being mad. But it also shares what "mad" feels like and a few examples of what can be done to bring back calm and happy.