The illustrations in this book were obviously very clear to show and highlight the emotions the characters were feeling. Some of them, however, might be a little frightening to younger children since there are sharp edges. The rhymes in the book were short, but they were well done. I think that this book offered a wide range of feelings, which I appreciated. I also like that there was diverse representation instead of just one character.

The Way I Feel is an excellent book to help children understand their emotions/feelings and how to appropriately express them. There are big, colorful pictures on each page and each page is dedicated to a different emotion/feeling.

I would use this book in my classroom. I love the verbal simplicity and the big colorful pictures pictures in this book. I also like the fact that it explores a variety of emotions/feelings to help create a deeper understanding for children.

The lesson that I would use for this book is an interactive read a loud. I would cover up the text and have students make inferences about the emotion/feeling on each page based on the big colorful pictures.

There are so many things I like about this book! This is the only feelings book I've seen that covers "thankful" which is pretty neat. I also LOVE the "frustrated" page because I see that feeling in so many of the kids I work with and the description really hits the nail on the head. I also LOVE that the last page acknowledges that the feelings are a part of you! The children in my class have negative associations with people being angry and I really want them to learn that it is completely normal to be angry and it is okay to be angry as long as you have a healthy outlet for that feeling. For all the positives I see in this book, I only gave it 4 stars because the illustrations could really stand to be improved. Mainly I wish there was more representation among the children!

Text-to-teach connection:
The book I picked for this week is “ The way I feel”, I chose this book because a lot of students don’t know how to express their feelings to certain people like their parents or teachers. The activity I picked for the student I think will be beneficial for all students, before reading the story I will ask the students if they know what feelings are and if they don’t know what feelings are I will give them an example of the different feelings they have. After reading the story I will ask the students to share times when they felt silly, scared, happy, sad, angry, excited, and proud.

The Way I Feel by Janan Cain is a book that helps children articulate how they are feeling. I chose this book because I have a few students this year who have a hard time expressing their emotions in a safe, calm manner. The book uses strong images to portray feelings so that students can connect the picture to the feeling. It is good for students to know how to express what they are feeling and use their words instead of acting on their behavior negatively. I used this in my classroom as a social-emotional lesson, then connected it to having them write a journal entry on how they were feeling that day and explain why they chose that emotion. I think it was really helpful for them to be able to connect to the book and reflect on how they were feeling.

My little girl loves it. It helps a lot that it talks about feelings rather than things.

Such a great way to teach children about feelings! This was a perfect book!


"Feelings are neither good nor bad, they simply are. Kids need words to name their feelings, just as they need words to name all things in their world. The Way I Feel uses strong, colorful, and expressive images which go along with simple verses to help children connect the word and the emotion. Your child will learn useful words, and you will have many chances to open conversations about what’s going on in her/his life. Recommended by parents, teachers and mental health professionals, The Way I Feel is a valuable addition to anyone's library. This book is ideal for children with autism."

Emotions are a tricky thing and sometimes it's hard to label the way you're feeling, this book did an excellent job, in my mind or identifying those feelings. It's okay to feel sad or mad or frustrated, but we have to teach children how to identify those emotions and say " I'm mad" or " I'm sad". When children do not know how to identify those emotions is when bad behavior starts because they don't know how to handle the feeling. I will defiantly have this book in my classroom.

very colorful. beautiful illustrations, I love this book. expressive images that go along with simple verses to help children connect the word to the meaning

summary: Talks about the different emotions that children feel. Sometimes you feel sad and you do not know why. Instead of having fun you just cry and cry. This book is helping children express their feelings/ emotions in a healthy way. Feelings are neither bad nor good, they are simply part of life and it is important to know how to handle them.

Awesome book! I really appreciate the range of emotions covered in this book and that each one has context to help the child begin to gather words to communicate when they are feeling this way. I thought my 8m would be too young, but we made it through half in the first sitting and the front to back in the second. I hope as he gets older that we can continue to use this book to help foster discussions on how he is feeling and support him in finding ways to describe and express himself.

Emotions can be crazy sometimes, especially for our little ones growing up. The Way I Feel by Janan Cain is a perfect book to teach children all about emotions. Each page involves a new feeling with a scenario describing how that feeling came about. When the book mentions frustration, there is an image of a girl having a hard time trying to tie her shoe. The best part is, everyone can relate to all these emotions, especially children. It’s a great book to allow kids to know exactly how emotions are triggered based on the situation they’re in.

As far as illustrations, all the images are on a double page spread so that readers can focus on one emotion at a time and not skip ahead. The text for each emotion also reflects the feeling the book is trying to represent. For example, when the book talks about being scared, the word “Scared” has tall, skinny letters that look frightened itself. On the other hand, the word “bored” is a bland cream color, and has nothing to it. The text is laid out in funny ways for readers can appreciate each emotion. For “Silly”, the words are arranged in ways across the page in a fun way. The colors in the book are very bright and fun. They also reflect the emotion as well. “Thankful” has bright warm colors like orange and yellow which signifies a feel-good mood. Of course when “Anger” comes into the story, the whole page is an infuriating red. The whole book is very well planned out to really portray each feeling.

"The Way I Feel" focuses on the importance of emotions and expressing them with appropriate language through various situations. I think this is a great book because it teaches students not only how to deal with their emotions appropriately, but has very detailed illustrations to keep the students engaged. I would use this book for social-emotional learning with any age student who needed support when it comes to recognizing and expressing emotions.