Reviewers' Comments

"Perfect to share with all the early readers you care about."

—ReadersDigest.com

 

"Strong, colorful, and expressive images by Janan Cain perfectly showcase her imaginative text introducing children to the words they need to name their feelings. The Way I Feel is an original, informative, highly entertaining and recommended picturebook for personal, school, and community library collections."

—Children's Book Watch

 

"From scared to shy, bored to jealous, Cain covers the emotional waterfront . . ."

—Publisher's Weekly

 

"The Way I Feel somehow manages to stress the importance of recognizing your feelings, without preaching. The illustrations are just plain funny."

—ForeWord This Week

 

"[Janan Cain] has achieved her goal of giving children the language to express their emotions—not only through her choice of words but through the use of provocative colors, mood-enhancing illustrations, and the font and flow of the words, some of which weave, stagger or twirl themselves across the page."

—Contemporary Pediatrics

 

"Cleverly color-coded moods ('anger' in red, 'bored' in muted tones) invite children to consider their own emotions and the colors they might choose to represent them."

—Young Children
The Journal of the National Association for the Education of Young Children

 

"A unique picturebook about human feelings, what they are and how they are all part of our human experience and makeup. The strong and expressive images showcase the superbly crafted verse text."

—Midwest Book Review

 

"The rhymes and illustrations give children a way to articulate emotions they're just beginning to understand and give parents a way to begin a dialogue on feelings."

—Eastside Parent

 

"Cain is particularly good on feelings that are hard to explain but carry an emotional wallop for the young set (and, let's be honest, for their parents, too) . . . like frustration, boredom and jealousy."

—Adoptive Families

 

"Emphasizes a normally overlooked aspect of the child's development—getting in touch with their feelings."

—Westfield Leader and Times of Scotch Plains

 

"The Way I Feel helps children understand what they are feeling and lets them know that it's okay to experience all of these emotions. . . . beautifully bright and color illustrations . . ."

—KidsBookshelf

 

"Charming book . . ."

—Seattle Times

What Professionals Say:

"Finally, we have a resource which teaches children to articulate what they feel! . . . As an educator, I give it high marks for its use of standard language, neither outdated nor slang, and for illustrations which portray both gender and ethnic diversity."

—Phyllis Gorman
The Robert Crown Center for Health Education

 

"My daughter is now 2 years old, and thanks to The Way I Feel, already uses words like disappointed and jealous in the right context!"

—Natalie Anderson
Clinical psychologist

 

Recommended by the scientists and counselors writing in Child and Adolescent Therapy: Cognitive-behavioral Procedures and by such special needs programs as:

—Educational Neuroscience Lab, Simon Fraser University

—National Center on Homelessness

—Domestic Violence Committee Coordinated Response Team, Kent County, MI

—Autism Resource Center of Central Massachusetts

—Southern Alberta Shared Mental Health Care

—Community Outreach programs, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute

 

The Way I Feel is also included in the "Coping" reading list of the Southern Adirondack Library System and the "Life, Loss and Grief" recommended reading of the American Red Cross.

What Educators Tell Us:

"Recommended for reading aloud. . .Both the adults who read and the children who listen will feel a sense of the emotion that is described through the colorful drawings and unique rhymes."

—Texas Association of School Boards

 

"The kids love to demonstrate what they've learned from the book by both performing and watching each other act out emotions."

—Heads Up, an academic enrichment and mentoring program for children in low-income Washington, D.C. neighborhoods

 

"Fabulous word book about emotions."

—Wilcox Elementary School, Springfield IL

 

"Offers the vocabulary children need to understand and express feelings."

—West Virginia Public Broadcasting's Ready to Learn Service

 

"A unique book. . .engaging illustrations. . ."

—Idaho Public Television

 

"I teach at a preschool. . .At least one child in my class requests this book every single day!"

 

Jurors in the Teachers' Choice awards program added:

—"I'm very impressed with this book and its potential for class or individual input."

—"Helps build character and vocabulary."

—"Draws you in and leaves you with a positive, upbeat feeling."

And Here's What Parents Say:

"I love it because it explains many different and complex emotions we feel and enables children to relate to and to understand that emotions are OK . . . Thank you, Janan Cain, for helping us communicate effectively and avert many a temper tantrum."

 

"A wonderfully illustrated and descriptive book that will help children learn to recognize and name feelings . . . My son started out grumpy when we began to read last night and by the end of the book he was giggling, happy and having fun making funny faces to match the feelings that were described in the book."

 

"Our daughter loved the pictures right away and we appreciated the ideas in the back for discussing feelings and how to handle them."

 

"My preschooler son and toddler twins loved the pictures in The Way I Feel when we first received the book, but it became especially valuable after we moved from Seattle to Chicago and our 4-year-old had to leave behind everything that was familiar—his grandparents, his friends, his preschool, his neighborhood. Now we read this book every night and it's become key to getting feedback about how he's settling into his new home."

 

"A must have for young readers. . .Explains the world within."

 

"One reason the book is so awesome is the last page, which has a note to parents encouraging them to discuss situations that cause certain emotions—and then offers tips on how to talk about dealing with [the emotions]."

 

"The best book I've seen for helping kids teach what emotions are. . .the author seems to have an innate understanding of how to communicate something to children, something I had no idea how to approach. . ."