I Feel Happy

April 1, 2013

PreS-Gr 1-Each volume in this mediocre set introduces a basic emotion through a story about a common childhood event. For example, a boy feels sad when he has to move and a girl feels lonely when her friends are not at the park. The table of contents refers to chapter headings that do not exist in the text. On each spread, the verso contains simple sentences that are appropriate in structure and vocabulary for emerging readers, and the recto show an unattractive cartoon illustration. Vocabulary words are occasionally defined in context; the picture glossaries, which do not have verbal definitions, frequently include items young readers would already know and omit the more difficult words. Given that this series will only be marginally helpful with the Common Core State Standards, Todd Parr's The Feelings Book (Little, Brown, 2000) is just as good and more enjoyable.

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