An Emotional Menagerie

An Emotional Menagerie is an essential addition to every library’s Children’s collection. The beautiful illustrations and poetry within the book discuss important and difficult themes.

The educator in me LOVED this adorable book; already thinking of so many different ways to facilitate conversation with kids/young readers!
A lovely little alphabet book with gorgeous, vibrant illustrations and simple rhyming poems describing different emotions. I think this book would be very resourceful for the social-emotional learning of children whether at home, at school, or anywhere else. (would be great as a reference book for students to identify their own emotions)

A great book for older children to help unravel emotions and feelings. It’s great to give them a label for what they might be feeling. Books like these are so important as a first step in safeguarding mental health. Along with relevant vocabulary and descriptions of emotional states, the colors and illustrations are perfect.

This book is simply delightful. It takes many of our emotions - 26 from A to Z - and puts them to animals and poetry. I loved it. The poems are all short (24 lines) and easily accessible. I’d read a poem when teaching PSHE to my class. Personal favourite is the chameleon of uncertainty. I loved it.

Can’t leave a comment without talking about the illustrations, though. They are simply stunning and a joy to look at. My 5 year old son also loved looking at the different, colourful animals. Beautiful.

An Emotional Menagerie is a children’s book that presents emotions which can often be overwhelming to our kiddos in a way that is accessible, fun, and rewarding for anyone who is reading!

I expected this book to be a simple introduction to basic feelings (IE happy/sad etc.), and I got that and SO much more. Not only are these emotions presented alphabetically and in a relatable way, using fun animal imagery, every emotion is discussed in a manner to ensure understanding . Probably most surprising, a technique for how to handle each emotion constructively is given.

The pages are richly colored and fun to look at (who doesn’t love a vibrant whale representation of loneliness or cute playful monkeys representing the line between being naughty or nice?!) Even as a 31 year old woman I found great enjoyment at each page turn, and am planning on purchasing this book for a few of my close friends.

Highly recommended, An Emotional Menagerie is a lively and quick witted presentation of emotional concepts in a prose that is upbeat. The ability of the author to teach on multiple levels (alphabet, emotional recognition, vocabulary etc.) in such a fun and accessible way makes this an easy buy, and will ensure that this book becomes a quick favorite for all in the family.

Can we please get this book into every single classroom? It is a phenomenal exploration into 26 different emotions and how they might make you feel. I love the illustrations, the vocabulary, and they rhythmic nature of the text. I cannot wait to add a copy to my classroom library and gift this to other teachers that I know.

This was such a delightful book. I want to keep it as a classroom book for my fifth graders to read through and then also read it to my 4 year old over and over. The rhymes are simple but introduce some big words in each one. It’s perfect for kids of all ages as they grow and grapple with their own emotions.

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