An Emotional Menagerie : Feelings from A-Z

California Reading Association’s 2021 EUREKA! Nonfiction Children’s Book Awards - Gold Award Winner

Emotions are like animals:

No two are quite the same.
Some are quiet; some are fierce;
And all are hard to tame.

Children experience all sorts of emotions: sometimes going through several very different ones before breakfast. Yet they can struggle to put these feelings into words. An inability to understand and communicate their moods can lead to bad behavior, deep frustration, and a whole host of difficulties further down the line. Like adults, they need help to recognize and verbalize their inner state. The greater their emotional vocabulary, the more likely they are to grow into happy, healthy, and fulfilled adults.

An Emotional Menagerie is an emotional glossary for children. A book of 26 rhyming poems, arranged alphabetically, that bring our feelings to life—Anger, Boredom, Curiosity, Dreaminess, Embarrassment, Fear, Guilt, and more. The poems transform each emotion into a different animal to provide a clear and engaging illustration of its character: how it arises; how it makes us behave and how we can learn to manage its effects. Boasting a rich vocabulary, the poems also give children a wide variety of options for describing their feelings to others.

Filled with wise, therapeutic advice, brought to life through musical language and beautiful illustrations, An Emotional Menagerie is an imaginative and universally appealing way of increasing emotional literacy.

• AN EMOTIONAL GLOSSARY FOR CHILDREN: with 26 rhyming poems, arranged alphabetically.
• ILLUSTRATED BY RACHAEL SAUNDERS: whimsical and humorous full color illustrations throughout.
• TEACHES CHILDREN EMOTIONAL LITERACY: through imaginative poems connecting different animals to common emotions.
• IMPROVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS: by helping children articulate their feelings.
• FOR AGES 5 AND UP