The Color Monster is a stunning pop-up book which gently encourages children to make sense of muddled emotions. The googly-eyed monster sorts his mixed-up emotions, represented by different colors, into jars. Each page is a color, each color is an emotion, and each emotion has its own place. Sadness, anger, fear, happiness, and calm are all communicated sensitively in the pages of this book.
The interactive pages are beautifully crafted, with vibrant colors and unique pop-up features. My children, especially my son, are fascinated by how The Color Monster becomes animated with each emotion.
The author and illustrator, Anna Llenas has worked with a paper engineer to bring the book to life. And they have done a brilliant job. Sadness, is blue with rain falling from pop-up clouds. When the monster is angry, he blazes bright red. And when the monster is calm, he reclines in a green pop-up hammock. “When you’re calm you breathe slowly and deeply. You feel at peace.”
In the end, all the feelings are in their places, so they are easier to understand and articulate. It is a great book to help discuss feelings, and begin to put words, using colors, to name emotions. It is easy to read, yet sensitive as well. And it made me realise that we teach toddlers shapes, numbers, letters, seasons, animals, etc… but how often do we talk about emotions? Hopefully we will start that conversation and make sense of things even earlier!
ps Other great books that you may find helpful when dealing with emotions includes this book on the death of a grandparent, or an uplifting book about peace.
Lara x
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