PHOTO SOURCE: Pixabay.com
The pandemic has been difficult on everyone. It has caused many people to go through a variety of emotions, from being scared and upset, to being angry towards people who don’t follow the rules, and even bouts of joy (getting outside on a beautiful, sunny day).
As adults, we know how to identify our emotions, and how to deal with the negative ones. It’s a skill we acquire as we grow up. Little children do not have the capacity to identify and process their emotions. Many of it stems from not actually being able to recognize the feeling they are experiencing. There is nothing wrong with that. It’s something that happens to all children. Like I said, understanding emotions is a skill that people acquire as they get older.
As a parent, I can remember when my children were younger (it seems like a lifetime ago), and teaching them about emotions – how to recognize them and how to deal with negative emotions. My husband and I joke that sometimes our kids have “temper tantrums” and are still experiencing the “terrible twos.” Ha Ha.
I work with children (K-5th grade). I can see it in the younger children how they are unable to recognize and process their feelings properly. For example, I have one boy (kindergartener) who I caught biting his wrist very hard (leaving marks). After speaking with him I learned that he was angry and upset that his friend opted to make Valentine’s Day cards for her family instead of playing with him. He didn’t recognize that he was feeling angry and they only thing that made him feel better was to bite his wrist.
There is a newly published book about emotions that is a fun read for children. It’s called Feel Like Eggs? The books was written by Jeff Goodman and illustrated by Gabriella Urbina.
Here is a little background on the author, Jeff Goodman.
Starting with Editor’s Corner exercises in third grade, Jeff Goodman has long found joy in the magic of the written word. Drawn to the world of children’s literature for its unique ability to impart life lessons, Jeff wrote “Feel Like Eggs?” to help kids understand and express the feelings they experience in their daily lives.
As an award-winning journalist and school communications specialist, Jeff has written extensively about education, child development, and social-emotional learning. He currently works in communications at UCLA.
Feel Like Eggs? is the story about a dozen eggs. Each egg is experiencing a different type of emotion. The only way they can express how they feel is through the meal they are used to prepare.
The book let’s readers (children) know that it’s OK to feel the way they feel, and that our emotions are our own, and that we can experience an array of emotions throughout the day.
Each of the eggs feels a certain way, and the meal they are used for reflect that, silliness for scrambled eggs, happy for the sunny side up egg and angry like a grilled egg.
In a million years I would never think to use eggs – and food – the teach children about feelings. What an ingenious idea! I may also come as no surprise that after reading this book I was craving eggs. LOL!
The story rhymes, which is especially effective for children, and it makes the story even more fun to read.
The illustrations are darling and help to bring the story alive.
As a parent, as well as someone who works with children, I think this is a marvelous social-emotional learning tool for parents.
Feel Like Eggs? is available where books are sold including Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
You can check out Jeff Goodman on Facebook (@JeffGoodmanAuthor), Twitter (@JeffGoodman2 and Instagram (@JeffGoodman2).
Check out what others are saying about this delightful (and yummy!) book on social media with the hashtags #EggspressYourself and #FeelLikeEggs.
With Easter fast approaching, I think this would be an “eggcellent” book to include inside an Easter basket.
Feel Like Eggs? author Jeff Goodman
Kimberly
*I received a free copy of this book in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
