Includes six books:
Being Cranky is No Fun
There’s No Need to Feel Guilty
It’s Okay to Not Come First
Being Stubborn isn’t Fun
It’s Okay to be Wrong
It’s Okay to Feel Left Out
Targeted for age five plus, this storybook collection comprises six books, each of which addresses a different emotion. Sonia Mehta has used animal characters living in ‘Foggy Forest’ to introduce emotional challenges—dealing with failure, not being stubborn, accepting mistakes, feeling left out, managing guilt, and overcoming crankiness. While the series is titled Dealing with Feelings, each of the books focuses on helping children deal with social-emotional situations that feelings bring.
In Being Cranky is No Fun, Yoyo unicorn is always whining. His crankiness causes his friends to exclude him. With a change in perspective, he learns to appreciate life and is welcomed back.
In There’s No Need to Feel Guilty, Zee Zee Zebra’s birthday party is planned by all the animals. Higgledy Hippo bakes a cake, but trips and drops the cake. Feeling guilty about spoiling Zee Zee’s birthday, Higgledy decides to skip the party. Her friends convince her to accept that dropping the cake was an accident and she shouldn’t feel guilty, as another cake is available.
In It’s Okay to be Left Out, Tippy, the turtle, is left behind by his faster friends on a hiking trip. He makes use of this time by making natural paints. He realizes that one can also enjoy alone as much as one enjoys socially.
In It’s Okay to be Wrong, Ooblek, the Owl, thinks that he is the wisest and can never be wrong. He misses the signs of a storm. The rest of his friends save their homes and, in the end, provide shelter to Ooblek. He realizes that it is okay to be wrong.
Rinkydink racoon, in Being Stubborn isn’t Fun, always wants his friends to agree with everything he decides. Fed up of always agreeing to him, his friends leave him alone to do his own thing. He soon realizes that he misses his friends and should have to let go of his stubbornness.
In It’s Okay to not Come First, Kibbledoo Kangaroo loses to Hoppity Hare in the hopping race. Kibbledoo’s friends help her realize that she is good at many things and it is okay to not win a race.
A common thread across all the books is the idea of reflection on one’s attitude and behaviour. Some follow up discussion questions can be: why is Yoyo cranky? Is exclusion justified? Higgledy Hippo was not at fault but the story doesn’t explore guilt when one is at fault. Is it okay to leave behind Tippy, who can’t match pace? Why did Ooblek think that he is always right? Is acceptance of one’s error dependent on being supported by friends? Would Kibbledoo have felt differently if her friends had won? Are competitions about winning? These are important questions to be explored with children.
The books raise important concerns that children face. The use of animal characters is bound to resonate with them. Whether they—as young as five years—experience guilt, or being left out, is subject to debate. If parents and caregivers feel that foundational stage learners (3 to 8 years) are ready, the stories and activities can be powerful tools. The vocabulary building activities can be initiating points for building a deeper emotional understanding. Other activities support motor skills and problem-solving. The illustrations will enrich personalized read aloud sessions. Each story and activity book must be followed by discussions around the take away messages.