Books about feelings: compare a mood book with a character story

A happy hippo and an angry duck make rather different company on a page. A book about feelings can give you both: characters to notice, expressions to look at and a few words to share about what's happening. We'd choose the story for that conversation, wherever the reader wants to take it.

Several animals, or a little time with Pookie

Happy Hippo, Angry Duck moves among animal characters and different moods. The variety gives you expressions to notice and words to read aloud. You might linger over a particular animal, then see who's on the next page.

What's Wrong, Little Pookie? stays with one upset character while Mom tries to understand what's wrong. We'd consider this one for a reader who already enjoys Pookie, or for someone who would rather follow an exchange between two characters than move through a whole collection of moods.

Our Little Pookie guide includes bedtime, dancing and celebration stories if you'd like another book with the same small pig.

Keep the conversation with the character

You can point out what you see in an illustration and leave a little space after it. Perhaps the listener has something to say. Perhaps the next page is more interesting. We'd avoid turning an animal's mood into a label for the child, or asking for an explanation of their own feelings just because the story brought the subject up.

Humor can be part of the reading without becoming an instruction to cheer up. A funny duck is allowed to be funny, and a quiet reader is allowed to stay quiet.

A note about Tickle Time!

Tickle Time! brings a rhythmic text, a group of cats and a tickling theme. It's worth knowing that theme before choosing it as a gift, especially if you're picturing how the family might read it together.

The words and pictures can be the whole activity. Any actual tickling should be welcome, and a request to stop ends it. Reading a book about touching doesn't require anyone to be touched.

For a gift note, we'd describe the story plainly: a group of animals with different moods, or Pookie and a parent working out what's wrong. If the message you want to give is closer to affection, our affectionate-book guide is a better place to start. You can see the different themes together in our Sandra Boynton collection.