Review: In My Heart (A Book of Feelings) By: Jo Witek Illustrated by: Christine Roussey

This book was an adorable book all about a little girl and her big feelings. Children will love the cutout cover of different sizes of hearts. Each colored heart represents a different feeling. She has big feelings, small feelings, quiet feelings, quick feelings and even slow feelings. Her feelings are described as a house, with all of the feelings living inside.

Children sometimes have a hard time expressing their feelings, especially when they are young.  Children experience complex feelings just like us; anger, excitement, gratitude, frustration and joy.  Children are not born with the ability to label how they are feeling.  Often, we see their emotional expression shown through facial expressions, body language, and behaviors. Some of the more complex emotions include frustration, loneliness, grief, jealousy, anticipation, wonder, gratitude, hope and peace. The reality is that it is just plain hard being a child.  Navigating their emotions is a very difficult part of growing up.

This book demonstrates all kinds of emotions. The illustrations bring a lot of fun and color to the book. When her heart feels full of giggles and wiggles, it is time for a bit of fun, displaying a big purple hate.  Sometimes she hides her heart away where no one can see.  She doesn’t want anyone to look at her and stays safe on her swing. This is when she feels shy.

I felt the author did a great job of describing the feelings and emotions of a child.  I also believe that this book would be a great way to approach this subject, in a loving and playful way.