Big Feelings

Alexandra Penfold (author) and Suzanne Kaufman (illustrator)

Bloomsbury: 2021

ISBN: 9781526639769

Age: 3+

Reviewed by Viv Young

A group of children negotiate conflict, disappointment and differing perspectives as they play in their local park.

Big feelings is an uplifting and practical exploration of children’s play and their big feelings. As the child characters explore their local park and experience various problems with each other and their environment their big feelings come and go. There is a recurring set of questions ‘How can I help? What can we do?’ woven (with a few variations) into the playful rhyming text that can help children consider how best to navigate conflict, such as co-operation and looking at things from a different perspective. There is also validating recognition of the range of big feelings that such conflict can create.

The child characters, not identified in the text, are beautifully rendered in the illustrations. There are lots of bright, messy colours that capture play and its ups and downs. The range of expressions on the children’s faces help explore all the emotions mentioned in the text and add great humour too. The end pages present portraits of the children featured throughout the story and are a wonderful resource for parents wishing to talk about specific emotions, moreover, they show a variety of children from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

Big Feelings is a visually enticing resource for families that uses up-to-date language and attitudes to explore emotions with young children in a fun and reassuring way.