Big Feelings

December 21, 2020
In All Are Welcome, collaborators Penfold and Kaufman celebrated the spirit of inclusivity. Now comes the hard part: getting stuff done. A diverse group of children share the goal of converting a trash-filled lot into a playground. But cooperation is seldom a given, and “big feelings”—positive and negative—threaten the project: “Feeling bold./ Feeling mad.// Goodbye, happy./Hello, sad.” (A pullout poster offers a list of emotions and attendant expressions.) The kids gradually realize that by acknowledging each other’s feelings and working together, they can be successful: “I have big feelings./ You have them, too./ How can I help?/ What can we do?” Though the book lacks the exciting immediacy of the creators’ previous effort, the little cast is expressive and energetic, and the reward for their hard work—a cleaned-up lot, a fabulous tire swing, and a gleeful, communal puddle splash—feels well-deserved. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Susan Ginsburg, Writers House. Illustrator’s agent: Alexandra Penfold, Upstart Crow Literary.

January 15, 2021
Penfold and Kaufman team up again to show children how to navigate overwhelming feelings. The diverse group of kids from All Are Welcome (2018) this time gathers in a vacant lot with tools in hand to clear the debris and make something new. But therein lies the rub: What should the something new be? While the exact nature of the disagreement is unfortunately not made clear to readers, the big feelings that the children exhibit are very clear (and for readers who need practice reading facial clues, there's a labeled chart of 15 in the frontmatter). This book's refrain is "How can I help? / What can we do?" And the answers, spread over several pages and not spelled out in so many words but rather shown in the illustrations, are: talk it through, compromise, and see things from another perspective. As a guide for dealing with feelings and problem-solving, the book is a bit slim and lacks a solid story to hook readers. But, as with its predecessor, its strength is again the diversity on display in its pages. There's a rainbow of skin tones and hair colors as well as abundant variation in hair texture, several children exhibit visible disabilities, including one child who uses a wheelchair, and there are markers of religious and cultural diversity. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 29.6% of actual size.) The story's slight but allows kids to practice identifying and dealing with their own big feelings. (Picture book. 4-8)

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.