A few weeks ago we interviewed the lovely Rachel Bridge (who is a a child psychologist), and she mentioned that she has used this book as part of her therapy sessions. Intrigued, we ordered ourselves a copy and we’re very glad we did!
‘In Your Heart’ is an in-depth but age-appropriate look at the wide array of emotions which we experience as humans. Each page takes a specific feeling, spells out what it might feel like in your heart and then names it. This not only helps your child understand what they may be going through but also gives them the language they need to articulate that feeling back to a grown-up.
The book covers happiness, courage, anger, calm, heartbreak, sadness, hope, fear, silliness and shyness and it explains really nicely that all of these feelings live in our heart and we all have experience them in different ways at different times. The underlying message is that it’s good to talk about your feelings and to ask others how they are feeling too.
As well as being a lovely little primer in emotional development, this book is BEAUTIFUL. The illustrations perfectly capture the mood of the text and there is a wonderful cut out of a heart which runs right through the centre of the book and helps underline the feelings which are being described.
This is one of those books that I think all small children should have access to as it really is outstanding. Since we’ve added it to our reading rotation Ivy, who is two, has twice told me “I’m scared” (once with a large spider in the garden and once in a fairly dark room in a museum). Previously she would have just cried, leaving me to work out what was wrong, so I genuinely feel like it has helped her put her feelings in to words.
Buy from Bookshop.org and support independent bookshops: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/155/9781419713101
Buy from Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2sEbv4q
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