Family Book Club: The Boy with Big, Big Feelings

Book cover for the picture book The Boy with Big, Big Feelings, written by Britney Winn Lee and illustrated by Jacob Souva

Title: The Boy with Big, Big Feelings by Britney Winn Lee and Jacob Souva (you can find an online read aloud version here, but remember to buy the book and support the author and illustrator if you can!)

Reading level: picture book

Synopsis: Meet a boy with feelings so big that they glow from his cheeks, spill out of his eyes, and jump up and down on his chest. When a loud truck drives by, he cries. When he hears a joke, he bursts with joy. When his loved ones are having a hard day, he feels their emotions as if they were his own. The boy tries to cope by stuffing down his feelings, but with a little help and artistic inspiration, the boy realizes his feelings are something to be celebrated and can be the key to making friends. 

Categories: feelings, anxiety, sensitivity, friendship

Questions:

  1. What's your favorite way of expressing what you're feeling?
     
  2. Have you ever gotten frustrated because you can't communicate how you feel? What made you feel better?
     
  3. What's you favorite way to feel? What makes you feel that way?
     
  4. What makes you sad, angry, or scared? What makes you feel better when you're feeling that way?
     
  5. How do you talk about your feelings with your family and friends?

Activity: Make your own feelings cards. Sometimes it's hard to say what we're feeling, so instead, you can show them. Using different colors of construction paper, make faces that represent a variety of feelings: joyful, scared, silly, mad, sleepy, bored, excited, sad—and more. That way, when you can't find the right words, you can pick a face card to speak for you.

Thank you so much to Red Balloon Bookshop for partnering with us on this series! If you'd like to see all of the Family Book Club picks in one place, check out their FBC page.