The Mad Sad Happy Book: Emotional Literacy for Preschoolers

I’m a child psychologist in Manhattan. One of my goals in my practice is to help children identify emotions in themselves and others. If a young child is able to do this, he or she is better able to make and keep friends, forming bonds that help them weather the inevitable storms of adolescence and beyond. In fact, leading researchers have determined that being emotionally literate not only improves a child’s emotional well-being, but also improves a child’s academic performance.

This book is designed to foster social and emotional intelligence in your child. The first part of the book teaches different emotions, demonstrating them in the faces of the featured children. Your child is then encouraged to identify these emotions in themselves. Ask your child, when prompted, what makes them feel angry or sad, scared or happy. The answers may surprise you.

Finally, a game is included that asks your child to identify the different emotions they learned, guessing with only a small part of the face revealed.