When I Feel Sad

I really like these books for helping young children understand feelings and what to do. It is simply written and very easily read. It is great for even very young children and also doesn't have examples above a young child's developmental level so it's very relatable. I also like that it doesn't use examples that I don't want my kids to be exposed to yet...for example it doesn't have bullying or kids laughing at the main character as the reason for sadness in this book. It's more along the lines of when something they like breaks. That's important for me because sometimes kids see the examples in the book but miss the lesson behind it so I feel this is very much age and developmentally appropriate

Therapist Cornelia Maude Spelman has written a wonderful series of books for children, teaching them how to cope with various emotions. In "When I Feel Sad", the focus is on coping with sadness, as experienced by a young guinea pig. Written as a story, the young guinea pig goes through various situations that make her feel sad.Later, the young guinea pig, with the guidance of an adult, learns that it is ok to feel sad occasionally, and that happiness eventually returns.Of course, this may appear rather simplistic and does not take into consideration that there are children out there who suffer from chronic depression, but this should be considered more of a general book on the topic of how to cope with being sad. There is a brief note to parents by the author at the beginning of the book that explains how it is important to help children cope with sadness, by acknowledging their emotions and offering comfort, but not to the point of overindulgence, which the author cautions against. The illustrations are vibrant and colorful and help make the story real for children.Highly recommended series of books for toddlers and up!

I've found the "When I Feel..." series to be very helpful for my son. He's interested in feelings and going through all these books have been invaluable in teaching him how to spot these emotions in himself as well as others. This is a wonderful teaching tool.

This is an excellent series for children as young as 3. Good content, wonderful illustrations and good parent suggestions. My school system has decided to use them in our 4 yr. preschool classes.

She loves the "When I Feel" series - These are the only books she picks out of the plethora of books to choose from. When I read to her and turn pages, she will have me stop at a particular page (when they lose something valuable to them), she says, "Oh, kiss" - gives a kiss then "big hug" - leans her body towards the character pretending to hug him. Very cute (hard to explain via text). She actively tries to console me when I pretend to be sad as a result of reading this book.

This is an adorable book with absolutely delightful illustrations!!