Book Two in the series, How To Help Your Children Learn What Their Feelings Mean, is a read-along activity book designed to build communication between adults and young children. This book series helps build a child's Feelings Vocabulary in storybooks that follow the adventures of their Friends. Help young boys and girls put a name to feelings all experience but are often unable to express in words. Encourage a close bond with discussions about those feelings. A child who understands their own emotions and can articulate them is able to show tenderness and empathy toward others. Identifying and encouraging positive emotions with a word inspires confidence and self-acceptance. Acting out in ways that don't honestly express what is going on with your child can lead to unacceptable behavior. Children are less frustrated when they can describe what they are feeling, and parents and other adults can reassure children about what those feelings mean. Building a Feelings Vocabulary helps children mature in positive ways. Learning to express feelings in young childhood gives a head start to becoming successful adults, with family, friends, relationships, careers, and in life. The Friends' adventures describing over one hundred feelings offer the unique opportunity for adults to help young children begin building a Feelings Vocabulary. "CHILDREN WHO UNDERSTAND THEIR FEELINGS AND LEARN TO HANDLE THEIR EMOTIONS DO BETTER IN MANY WAYS: * THEY FORM STRONGER FRIENDSHIPS WITH OTHER CHILDREN. * THEY CALM THEMSELVES DOWN MORE QUICKLY WHEN THEY GET UPSET. * THEY DO BETTER IN SCHOOL. * THEY HANDLE THEIR MOODS BETTER AND HAVE FEWER NEGATIVE EMOTIONS. * THEY BOUNCE BACK MORE QUICKLY FROM STRONG EMOTIONAL EVENTS. * THEY GET SICK LESS OFTEN. --John Gottman, Phd. Author of "Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child" Ages 5-9
About the Author: SUZANNE M. HUGHES Writer/Illustrator A published writer in other genres and magazine articles, Suzanne's interest in children, children's emotional growth, and family and adult interaction with children has been a lifelong passion. Believing that maturity in adulthood is a natural outcome of children feeling good about themselves as they grow up, this series of books is about helping young children learn about their emotions, how to express them, and begin building a Feelings Vocabulary. The biggest challenge for Suzanne in creating "Adventures In Feelings" was that the subject of children's feelings not only required an ability to compose the stories but also to create characters that would artistically define the feelings and emotions of each one. Never believing herself to be artistic, but also believing, if somewhat doubtful, that maybe she could do the drawings, her daughter removed the doubt by saying, "You can do it, Mom." And so Suzanne the Illustrator was born. Grandma Moses began painting at age 80 and so too has Suzanne. A mother, grandmother, and recently a great-grandmother for the first time, she believes it is never too late to learn something new. Suzanne lives and creates on the Central California Coast.