PPBF: F Is For Feelings

Last week, I found out I had won the December Giveaway over at

Free Spirit; today's PPBF is one of the treasures I found while I was on that incredible shopping spree. Thank you, Free Spirit, for this gem!

Title: F Is For Feelings

Authors: Goldie Millar and Lisa A. Berger

Illustrator: Hazel Mitchell

Publisher: Free Spirit Publishing

Date: July 7, 2104 (oops!) 2014

Suitable for: PreK through third grade

Non-fiction

Themes: feelings, emotions, empathy

Brief synopsis: Travel through the alphabet of feelings with these children as they experience emotional highs and lows.

Opening page: Every day I feel all kinds of feelings, in all kinds of places, with all kinds of people, in all kinds of ways.  

Resources:  Visit the author's website {here}.

Grab ideas from the book's Pinterest page {here}.

Read a review from An Unconventional Librarian {here}.

Sing along with My Feelings, a song I wrote {here}.

Compare and contrast the book with Visiting Feelings by Lauren Rubenstein.

Why I like this book:  D is for different. I like it because it's different from other feelings book on my shelf. The brilliant, energetic illustrations pair feeling words with actions and behaviors so that the abstract becomes concrete, so important for the little leaders under our care. A caregiver can't have enough of these books that help students understand, embrace and own their feelings when they show up. 

And then, there's the empathy piece. On each of these colorful pages, I can pose the question, "What would it be like to be him or her today?" 

For example, check out this J page:

Jealous is a hard word and an even harder feeling for some kids to manage. Isn't this awesome illustration and that simple explanation a terrific way to bring that feeling to life? That leads me to an extension possibility: Ask students, "what would your J page say?"  If you come by the Corner a lot, you might predict that I probably would have picked J is for Joy. Share that option (or your J pick) with your littles and ask them to imagine the illustration on a joy page instead of a jealous page. See where I'm going with this? You'll have another alphabet book before you know it. Make one as a class or let students make a personalized copy. 

Finally, I love the four-page the Guide for Parents, Teachers, and Caregivers at the back of the book for other enrichment activities and ideas.

Don't forget to head to Susanna's blog next for more PPBF picks.