*For Welsh review see language toggle switch*
(suggested) interest age: 1+
(suggested) reading age: 5/6+
Genre: #healthandwellbeing #emotions #anger
Illustrations: Joe Berger
Now that we're halfway through the summer holidays, I'm sure many parents across Wales will be familiar with sulky face on the cover – especially those who are parents of a toddler!
Temper tantrums. Cranky. Stranking. Furious. Livid. Goin berserk. Crazy – there are so many different ways to say someone is angry!
Life’s ok when things are going right isn't it? But sometime, life just isn’t fair! No matter how calm and chilled out you think you are, there's always something that's bound to annoy or wind you up from time to time.
Sometimes, things just go wrong, and other times people just do things that just make you lose your rag! For me, the red mist monster rears it’s head when I’m driving. The Road Rage just comes out when other drivers do stupid things!
Of course, whilst most adults and older children have learned how to manage or control their feelings, not everyone is in the same boat. Young children in particular sometimes haven’t yet learned how to control and make sense of these powerful feelings. Of course, there are also some who grow up still not being able to manage these overwhelming feelings.
This is a light-hearted, rhyming hardback book which just confirms basically that yes, life can be difficult sometimes, andthat it’s quite natural to get angry from time to time.
We see a little girl who struggles to control her temper when things don't go as she wants them to. There's a good opportunity to hold a discussion on strong feelings like ‘anger.’ I can see this book as a useful tool in class and at home, not only with children in the early years, but with older pupils who would benefit from the opportunity to discuss these emotions. This is certainly an useful resource for any parent trying to hold a conversation about these feelings.
Whilst the book is useful, I think it misses a trick to offer more useful strategies for controlling temper. I would have liked to get a bit more for my £12.99 if I'm being honest. This is probably one I’d get from the library, if I’m being honest.
One thing the book is dead right about – a cwtsh or a hug with a loved one can work miracles. There really is nothing better than a big embrace to calm things back down.
Note:
As stated on the cover, as with many rhyming bilingual books, it’s an adaptation of the original, and is not a direct translation.