Download The Feelings Book Revised The Care and Keeping of Your Emotions Dr Lynda Madison Josee Masse 8601405526182 Books

Product details Age Range 9 - 12 years Grade Level 2 - 3 Lexile Measure 840L (What's this?) Paperback 104 pages Publisher American Girl; Updated edition (February 26, 2013) Language English ISBN-10 1609581830

The Feelings Book Revised The Care and Keeping of Your Emotions Dr Lynda Madison Josee Masse 8601405526182 Books Reviews

• After reading "The Care & Keeping of You 1 The Body Book for Younger Girls" with my 9-year-old daughter, I had really high hopes for this book. It was good, but I'm afraid it wasn't everything that I had hoped for.
  
  It's worth noting that this book briefly mentions PMS, so it's probably best read after a book like "The Care & Keeping of You 1 The Body Book for Younger Girls", which introduces the concept of menstruation.
  
  On the plus side, the book helps to normalize the many emotions a growing girl might be feeling. I like that it is explicit about how your emotions will affect your behavior, and your behavior will affect how other people react to you. You need to make sure you are exhibiting the actual emotions you feel; if you just act angry, other people - and yourself - won't understand or address the actual emotions you may be feeling, which may be embarrassment, disappointment, or shame.
  
  The book has several chapters talking about emotions in general. Specific emotions are addressed in the following sections
  
  I'm Scared
  I Feel Anxious
  I'm So Jealous
  I've Been Disrespected
  I'm Angry
  I'm Lonely
  I'm Really Sad
  I'm Grieving
  I Don't Feel Safe
  
  Much of the book is formatted like an advice column, with questions outlining particular scenarios and answers providing specific tips and strategies. In many ways, the Q & A format was a good thing, because it made a lot of the emotions seem relatable. There were common scenarios like, "I'm scared to sleep alone at night," "I'm jealous that my sister is in my cousin's wedding, but I'm not," and "My parents are divorced, and every time I stay with one of them, I miss the other one." On the other hand, however, I'm a bit concerned that some of the scenarios might actually introduce fears that my daughter never considered before. For example, in the "I Don't Feel Safe" chapter, there were scenarios like, "I worry about school shootings," and "My house burned down last month, and I'm afraid our new house will burn down, too."
  
  Along the same lines, I'm afraid the book might introduce some additional concepts that maybe my child isn't ready for. In the "I'm Really Sad" chapter, there is a section listing "Signs of Depression", and one of them is "think[ing] a lot about death or suicide". It does not define suicide, and I'm not even sure if my daughter knows what "suicide" is, but if she doesn't, I'm not sure if this is the best way to introduce it. Maybe it is, because it's safely confined in a book about emotions? I don't know. I need to think about it some more while I decide whether or not to have my daughter read this book.
  
  It might also be helpful for a parent previewing this book for a child to know that this book does mention the idea of "seeking professional help," going on to explain what therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists do.
  
  Mostly, I'm disappointed that, despite touching upon embarrassment early in the book, there is no chapter titled, "I Feel Embarrassed." After anger, I feel like my daughter is most affected by unnecessary feelings of embarrassment.
  
  Also, in the "I've Been Disrespected" chapter - which is basically about being bullied - I don't think the answers are entirely realistic. Of course it advocates using words to solve the problem, but it suggests saying things like, "I'd like to find a way for us to get along." I'm sorry, I just think that in the real world, if kids used language like that with a bully, it would be met with laughter and eye-rolling. I am all for having children work out their own problems, however, when it comes to bullying, I don't think this section emphasized enough the importance of letting the teacher know that bullying is occurring among classmates.
• I am 8 years old. My name is Finley. My mom got me this book because I was having a hard time with my feelings. I love the book series they give so much information on problems that you might have.My favorite part of this book is the fun quizzes and that the pictures are so nice 👍🏻I can’t wait to order more books.
• My 8-year-old daughter read this immediately... then used it's suggestions by the next day. This, from a very dramatic, cry at the drop of one negative word or look from someone type of girl. I am very pragmatic, so I had no idea how to help her, but thanks to this life-saving book she's taking care of it all by herself. Here' the kicker She still comes to me and shares her emotions, but she's telling me how she's taking care of the problem. Yippee! I want her to include me in her life, not hide her feelings and cause a rift between us, and I'm also learning the techniques in the book for when the Universe converges on me from several angles and I'm feeling emotional and could use some sage advice on how best to handle it.
  
  By the way, I've bought almost every single American Girl book and all are brilliant and well-loved by my daughter (even the Body Book). I've learned a lot myself. For her Fall birthday we are getting her a subscription to the magazine.
  
  UPDATE We got my daughter the subscription to the periodical and she devours it. Lots of fantastic tid-bits and more on how to handle emotions.
• My nine year old gave this one five stars. I read the book first and put post-its on the pages I did not want her to read to yet. We read some of the book together and talked about the subject matter and how she can apply the skills. She enjoys reading it on her own too.
• My daughter (9 years old) has been on an emotional rollercoaster the last couple of months. I have talked with her, but what do moms know? My sister recommended this book, and when my daughter read it she began to feel better and more 'normal'. We read the book out loud so that we could discuss things together. It really helped her open up and express her feelings more freely with me. (Plus she figured out that mom might know a thing to two after all...)
• I bought this book for my sixth grader. She really likes that this book guides her through many of the emotional changes she's been going through. As a mom, I like that it gives explicit tips about how to deal with emotions and mood crises. I think every girl who's about to enter adolescence should definitely read this book. It offers great advice.
• I bought this for my 6 year old daughter who has been having problems with friends at school. It is a little advanced for her age, but we read it together and then discuss the different feelings that she identifies with. Some of the more complex feelings she doesn't identify with yet, but its great to prep her for when she does start to have more complex feelings, to let her know that it is ok. We have always had very open discussions about emotions but this gave us a framework for discussion and it was really helpful. We read a page or a section, and then I ask if she has ever felt that way and then to describe a scenario when she experienced that feeling. Sometimes I give an example of when I have experienced that feeling to open up the conversation. The strategy has helped my daughter open up and tell me about a lot of things that she might not have known how to explain before, or that may have come out in a jumble of words. We just read a few pages at a time and sometimes go back to a previous section if it corresponds to what happened during the day. I think it is a great tool and best used to facilitate conversation about difficult emotions.
• This book and its companion, The Care and Keeping of You, are fabulous and helped me prepare my little girl for the physical and emotional changes she's beginning to go through. She absolutely loves them and I've often walked in her room to see her reading them. She's read them cover-to-cover several times. I highly recommend!