Glad Monster, Sad Monster

Great for Halloween b/c of no frights! Kindergarten and Grade 1 will really rock with this book!

This book is supposed to be in good condition but is not. Part of the book is to be interactive and supposed to include masks and does not. And the book the back part of the book is held together with masking tape.

I really like the content of this book. The only problem I have is that it was listed as good condition. I would say it is an acceptable copy. Some of the things on the pages are missing and it is too worn to be in good condition.

Yellow monsters, green monsters, purple monsters-They all have feelings. Sometimes they are happy about birthday presents and other times they are worried by seeing little creepy-crawly things. This is a book to help children put the right words and faces to the emotions they are feeling or are seeing in others. The colors in this book are wonderful. All the story pages are black and glossy with bright, multi-colored pictures. Children will be drawn to the fun monsters and their explanations for their current emotions. Each emotion comes with a child-sized mask that can be torn out and used. There is a wonderful pocket inside the back cover to store the masks. Colorful, cute, educational and entertaining, Glad Monster, Sad Monster will make a great gift book. Armchair Interviews agrees.

Believe it or not...this book helps control tantrums. Most kids between 2 and 4 don't have the vocabulary to express their feelings. This book teaches them the different emotions, and assigns a color to them. If my son starts to cry, instead of getting frustrated, I can ask him, "Are you a blue monter (the sad one) or a yellow monster (the glad one)? He'll say the blue monster. It's how we get kids to verbalize instead of tantrum. It's helped immensely. I wouldn't use the mask part though, cause kids sometimes don't understand that you are behind the mask and they think you've gone away. Also recommend "Go Away Big Scary Monster" by Emberly. Fantastic!!! On a side note...I will say that I've never been able to really use the fold out pages (that has eye holes for you to look through...so you can be one of the monsters)....the book's a bit unwieldy that way. But I just ignore that part of it and just read the book like I would any other. After the "mad monster" gets mad at a kid knocking down his blocks....I ask my son - What makes you mad? And then..."What makes you sad? - Happy?" - and so on. When you tell kids to stop yelling or throwing things (or whatever your kid might do to show frustration) sometimes they interpret it as, "We're not allowed to be angry." Which'll make them robots when they grow up. This book opens the discussion up for them.

The book is thirty pages long in dark black pages with bright happy and sad colorful faces with two holes for the eyes and the larger shape opening for the nose. In the front of the book is the diagram that explains the steps to use the flaps. A child who is not yet able to read will know how to follow these self-explanatory steps with cute pictures. First the book gets opened with the flap being lifted, read the text and try on the mask while pretending to have fun! This is a fun and imaginative book that can be utilized alone by a child to experiment with the faces or masks depending on what they want to call them. You can involve more than one child and adult and use the colors to interact with other toys to pick which feeling they are.

My 2-year old just loves this book! Yes, as one reviewer mentioned, the "masks" are a bit unwieldy to manipulate, but the pictures are adorable, and the text is charming -- my Sophie tries to "read" along even though she doesn't know what the words mean, and she mimics the faces and my tone of voice. I got this book as a hand-me-down, but I would gladly pay for it (and may end up doing so, as our copy is getting demolished with wear!).

I have been a preschool teacher for 20 years and have searched for the "right" book about feelings and emotions to help the very young child articulate their worries and fears. Without a doubt, this book has proven to be a real winner. With three classes of youngsters ranging from 31/2 to 5 years, this wonderful tool made them giggle, then think, and, finally talk about their concerns. I developed a whole thematic unit, creative project and bulletin board around this very useful book. Congratulations to the authors!