Growing Feelings: A Kids’ Guide to Dealing with Emotions about Friends and Other Kids is a funny, useful, and empowering guide that gives kids (ages 6-12) the answers they need to understand, cope with, and communicate about the full range of feelings that come up with friends and other kids. Written by psychologist and children’s friendships expert Dr. Eileen Kennedy-Moore and health writer Christine McLaughlin, it’s filled with relatable cartoons, research-based tips, and silly observations from a cat and dog who have their own (questionable) ideas about what might help.
Evaluation comments:
“My initial thoughts when flipping through the book were that it looked like a very kid friendly book. My 9 year old and I both appreciated how there are lots of comic drawings with real life situations, like friends arguing while playing video games and accusing each other of cheating. Each chapter goes through different feelings and makes it easy to flip to if you happen to find yourself going through that feeling.”
“This is a great tool for parents and kids to have in their back pocket to help get through the social/emotional growing pains. When reading through some of these scenarios, it reminded me of big feelings I had in school when friendships began changing, and dynamics began shifting. I love how the book breaks down each real life situation. The authors name and define each emotion and walk the reader through how it could turn out if they remain in a stuck emotion. The authors then give an alternative to finding a resolution or ways to find peace by changing one’s mindset in a certain situation.”
“While my son liked the comics the most, I liked how each scenario was so relatable. The authors did such a great job in illustrating how you can get stuck in a cycle of your own perceptions without realizing it. They call them “Feeling Stories,” that break down a scenario (i.e. my friend had a playdate with another friend and now I’m jealous), into a loop that you can get stuck in if you don’t stop to recognize the root of why you might be feeling that specific way.”
“Identifying and defining emotions is a key component to developing successful relationships with yourself and others, and needs to be encouraged. This is a great resource.”
