I Will Make Miracles

This book is one of my new favorites.  The author is Susie Morgenstern and the illustrator is Jiang Hong Chen.  The book begins with a boy who is somewhat bothered by the question everyone keeps asking, "when you get older, what will you be?"  He says a plumber or pilot but he doesn't really know.  On one particular morning he wakes to a sunrise and he imagines that it might be fun to wake up the sun.  His thoughts race to even bigger and grander ideas. He wants to make miracles like feeding the hungry, healing the sick and ending all wars.  The boy's thoughts return to the present and he says that, "to change the world from dark to bright, first I should learn to read and write."  The colorful watercolor illustrations are simple and accompany the text beautifully.  A touching story that will be a wonderful addition to both your personal and classroom libraries. 

When Sophie Gets Angry- Really, Really Angry

Molly Bang is both author and illustrator of this colorful picture book that tells the story of a little girl named Sophie who is happily playing with her stuffed gorilla until her sister grabs it away.  Sophie becomes really, really angry when her mom agrees that it is her sisters turn to play with the gorilla.  Sophie explodes, raging first in the house and then running outdoors. She eventually cries then becomes calm looking at the world around her.  She happily returns home joining her family in play, completing  a puzzle that says, "Everything's back together again."

This is a story that young children can easily relate to.  It is written at the level of the child and not the adult, which makes this book special.  It depicts a range of emotions and how a child might experience them.  You can experience joy, anger, rage, sadness and still be OK.  Molly Bang uses intense colors in the illustrations to mirror Sophie's emotional state throughout the story.  

Emotions can be scary for young children.  This is  simple but important book that can open the door to exploring emotions with your students (preschool - 2nd grade).