The Monster Parade: A Book about Feeling All Your Feelings and Then Watching Them Go

An engaging story that helps children work with difficult emotions by imagining them as playful monsters in a parade (ages 3-7).\nWatch as the anger monster passes and the sadness monster disappears--it’s all part of the parade of feelings we experience every day. Instead of holding on to their emotions, kids can acknowledge them and let them go on their way.\nWhat’s happening in your parade today?\nHere’s the angry monster
Headed this way
It growls so loud
But you know it won't stay\nFrom School Library Journal\nK-Gr 3-O'Leary and Landry beautifully lay out a path to help children navigate emotions. The story begins with the colorful image of young children pointing at monsters of all shapes, colors, and sizes as they ask about the parade of monsters representing all the various feelings that crop up all day long, no matter who you are. Being scared is demonstrated through children hiding in the dark under a blanket with the shadows of the monsters behind them, followed by the feeling of happiness reflected in smiling faces of the children on the page. As the story continues to portray the many emotions that march past, O'Leary instructs readers to take deep breaths so as not to let the emotions become overwhelming. The illustrations feature a diverse cast, human and otherwise, that makes the story relatable to preschoolers and elementary-age children alike. VERDICT In a world where things have become ever more challenging for children, this book does a marvelous job of explaining emotions and how to work through them.-Katie Callahanα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.