This book is designed to help children to understand and articulate the emotions they might experience – feelings of anxiety and worry, pride, joy and excitement, sadness, anger and jealousy – and provides simple strategies for managing their mental health. Full of monster-themed stories, activities and downloadable worksheets, it is ideal to use individually or in group settings with ages 5-9. Children will meet characters like Thomas, the big purple monster who has a heavy backpack full of his worries, and Geronimo, who inconveniently creates small floods with his tears all around Icicle Island.

The second part of the book is a detailed guide for adults with explanations of key concepts, support for delivering the activities, suggested discussion points and drama activities to consolidate learning. 

Author Bio:

Amie Taylor has 15 years’ experience making and delivering theatre and storytelling projects with and for children and young people. Her theatre company, The Shadow Makers, have created 4 shows for children aged 4-9, including Ice Island, about feelings, emotions and mental health, which inspired the book. She has also been a speaker for The Self Esteem Team, delivering talks on mental health in youth settings, and the drama lead for Our Time, a charity working with young people living with a parent or carer with a mental health issue.

Review:

“Worries as tiny paper aeroplanes, solutions to sadness in a suitcase and friendship milkshakes! Three of many images that Amie offers to engage young people in starting a conversation about their feelings. We all have them, and now we have an activity book to help us deal with our emotions” – David Gumbrell, author of The Amazing A-Z of Resilience.