LoveReading4Kids Says
The creators of An Emotional Menagerie lays out the book’s intention on the opening page in a six stanza poem. Inside the book are 26 more poems, each a rhyming guide to an emotion the reader is likely to feel.
They’re presented alphabetically from A for Anger to Z for Zeal. The emotions are depicted as animals, illustrated over full colour spreads, so Anger is a lion, Guilt a dog with ‘drooping ears, slow dragging paws’, while Melancholy is a hippo, wallowing in mires, ‘mulling over woes and cares’.
Each poem describes situations young people will recognise and there’s advice given in many of them as to how to cope with unwanted or damaging emotions. To help readers expand their vocabularies too, certain words are highlighted, presumably for discussion with an adult or the send readers to consult a dictionary. The book is attractive to look at, the premise is interesting and should prove helpful in starting conversations around and understandings of emotions.
Young readers who benefit from this book could also usefully look at Being Me: Poems About Thoughts, Feelings and Worries by Liz Brownlee, Matt Goodfellow and Laura Mucha.
Andrea Reece
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An Emotional Menagerie Synopsis
Emotions are like animals: No two are quite the same. Some are quiet; some are fierce; And all are hard to tame. An Emotional Menagerie is an emotional glossary for children. A book of 26 rhyming poems, arranged alphabetically, that bring our feelings to life – Anger, Boredom, Curiosity, Dreaminess, Embarrassment, Fear, Guilt, and more. The poems transform each emotion into a different animal to provide a clear and engaging illustration of its character: how it arises; how it makes us behave and how we can learn to manage its effects. Boasting a rich vocabulary, the poems also give children a wide variety of options for describing their feelings to others. Children experience all sorts of emotions: sometimes going through several very different ones before breakfast. Yet they can struggle to put these feelings into words. An inability to understand and communicate their moods can lead to bad behaviour, deep frustration and a whole host of difficulties further down the line. Like adults, they need help to recognise and verbalise their inner state. The greater their emotional vocabulary, the more likely they are to grow into happy, healthy and fulfilled adults. Filled with wise, therapeutic advice, brought to life through musical language and beautiful illustrations, An Emotional Menagerie is an imaginative and universally appealing way of increasing emotional literacy.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781912891245 |
| Publication date: |
1st October 2020 |
| Author: |
The School of Life |
| Publisher: |
The School of Life Press |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Pagination: |
60 pages |
