Cool Down and Work Through Anger (Learning to Get Along®)

I needed a good age appropriate book on anger for my 4.5 year old (who struggles with emotion regulation) that would hold their interest. I did my research. So glad I went with this one. This book is EXACTLY what we needed. It hits every major issue I wanted to cover. It gives concise and easy to understand, yet thorough, examples and explanations. It offers solutions that are simple, yet effective. (It also has great supplemental in-depth discussion points, games, and activities at the end for parents, educators, etc.) It makes it clear that certain behaviors are not acceptable. Meanwhile, the focus remains on the importance of empathy and relating to others. The illustrations are fantastic and make it inviting to read. I sympathize with another reviewer's concern regarding the representation of people of color. That is a concern to me, too. However, the book only has two scenarios in which other children specifically cause the main character to become angry. One "offender" is a person of color. And one, honestly, may or may not be. It's debatable. However, other supporting characters depicting positive behaviors are also diverse and include people of color. So, it seems to me that this book (and other titles by the same author) as a whole actually portray an overall diversity of various backgrounds and ethnicities and does not seem to exemplify or demonize any of the children in particular; either overtly or covertly. (If I come to any realization to the contrary, I'll amend this review.) They are all different, capable of exhibiting desirable and undesirable behaviors, and they all possess the ability to behave respectfully and value one another. I believe that is the very basis of this book. I would highly recommend it to anyone who might be interested and would gladly purchase another by this author.

Whoa! I am very pleased with this book. This has helped us to start a complete turnaround in our child. My daughter is 3, so she doesn't get some of the concepts such as respect and such, but she definitely understands the message of this book. This has helped us so much! I can easily see this as something we reach for a long time in order to assist her with her feelings! The book uses first person language, so if a child is reading it to himself it sound like an affirmation. When I read it to my child, it sounds like I'm telling her my personal experience, or if she's sitting in my lap and I read aloud, she sees the boy on the page and understands him and identifies with him since he is using words like I and Me. This is what she needed in order to see that she is not the only one with the feelings she has and that she can control them. The subject is presented in a matter-of-fact but non-threatening way. It doesn't get preachy or overbearing. It validates the child's feelings while offering suggestions for how to handle situations. Most situations are social situations children won't usually encounter until they are in school and begin making friends, but preschool age children can easily understand what is going on and grasp the main idea. We have this book and Respect and Take Care of Things which we also really love. Cannot recommend this more!

We have really enjoyed this whole line of books. We have an only child (4 yrs) and as he is preparing for Kindergarten, wanted to make sure that he was getting the basics of how to express his emotions with other kids, since he is so used to expressing them with mostly adults around our family. So I bought a few of these, and we've enjoyed them so much that I bought the whole set.We read one of them every night along with several other story time books before bed. We can talk about the situations in the books, and relate parts of the books to situations that he is currently going through in Pre-K. Having said that, it's not that we did not know how to teach our child manners... these books were also a way for us parents to get better ideas on how to discuss these situations with our 4 year old in a way that he can relate to. If the teacher lets us know that he was not sharing very well that day, we have a small discussing about the situation and then we read the "How to Share With Others" book before we go to bed. This in turn puts our son's mind at ease, and helps him better explain his feeling earlier on in the day and gives him ideas on ways that he can handle the situation next time it happens. Quite simply, they help us communicate better as a family... and honestly, sometimes show us parents ways that we need to handle our own situations as well. Excellent series of books! I would recommend them to any parents of 2-6 year olds!

This is a great book to help introduce and encourage little people to the idea of managing their angry emotions. Some of the elements that I like most include: - The book uses positive reinforcement in the manner in which it highlights all of the many positive routes to manage negative emotions. - The book is well illustrated and the colors and pictures definitely draw in the audience to paying close attention to the activities of each individual page. - The diverse children represented on each page is a huge plus. It is refreshing to see a book that demonstrates that children range in many different colors. The book celebrates that idea that diverse children coexist and thrive together. Keep in mind that the text is written in a fashion that would be best understood by a young child 3 years or older. I purchased and read to my 2 year old but there were some ideas that did not seem quite at his level.

There are a lot of reasons we can get angry. It's how we deal with it that makes the difference. Cool Down and Work Through Anger is a fantastic book that shows kids that it's normal to get angry. It begins with a few scenarios that might cause a kid to be angry - being left out of a play group, being treated with disrespect. Then it talks about the physical feeling of being angry - hot face, tense muscles, fast heartbeat. It talks about what you might want to do if you get angry, but then explains that these are not always the best choices. Finally, it gives some very helpful advice on what to do if you are feeling angry. The illustrations really do a great job in explaining what is going on in the book. Even if a child can't read, they can understand the book's message. As a parent, I really like the last part of the book - the discussion questions and activities. It breaks down the book by pages and gives questions to talk about with your kids like, "When is a time you felt angry?" and "When is a time you said 'I'm sorry?' How did it feel afterward?" There are also some wonderful cool-down activities kids can try when they are angry. I think the advice is also great for adults. I highly recommend this book.

I was looking for a series of books that could be teaching tools for my special needs son, he is 14 & he's having some difficulty dealing with emotions. He really relates to this book & asks me to read it over & over, the pictures & the script are right at his level of understanding & the first time we read it he had an aha moment, I could see the wheels turning in his head, it opens up great dialogue every time. I think this book would be an excellent tool for any child who is reactionary or has difficulty dealing with their feelings. It is easier for my son to have a meaningful dialogue when he is not the center of it, this book was so good, I bought 3 more by Cheri Meiner's, he loves them all so I may need to buy the entire series! I bought a few other books on the topic by other authors that were so abstract that he couldn't follow, this one will not disappoint.

This book was just the tool I needed for kindergarten students with explosive tantrums. It wonderfully explains feelings and cool down strategies, without getting too long or wordy for kindergarteners. I took aside a child who was very upset and quietly read this to him one-on-one. It was amazing to see his demeanor change. He inched closer and closer to get a good look at the sweet illustrations. I told him I would keep it in our classroom "cool down zone" for him to look at whenever he is feeling frustrated. We talked about how he's like the character in the story, and ways he can cool down. A few minutes later he asked if he could go look at the book again. Since that day, when he gets upset, he goes to the cool down zone and looks at this book and thinks about ways to cool down, instead of exploding all over the classroom and disrupting classmates the way he did for the first few months of school. I highly recommend this book and can't wait to get more books by Cheri J. Meiners!

I bought this book a couple of years ago for my 6 year old son, who was having behavior issues at school and at home. Not only did he love reading it, he would later remember the tips from the book whenever he was angry, and would successfully de-escalate himself. It was amazing. He's now 8 and such a great caring kid, he now reads this book to his 2 year old brother. Illustrations and written story are great and this book is truly a pleasure to read. Reading this to my kids, I often choke up a bit, because it makes me reflect on my own behavior, realize my own imperfections and re-focus my thinking in a positive direction. This simple book is truly a treasure.

This is a good book to help explain all the emotions little ones experience; and anger can be an overwhelming for them.

Highly recommend this book to those who wish their children to better their chances of getting along with others. children also learn how to displace their anger, when they come across hard situations, where they may not always get their own way. It teaches them to understand their feelings and how the process of getting upset is common to others, and that there are ways of dealing with it all, A must for schools and libraries, and care homes, fostering homes, including lending libraries, The material is put forth by a grandmother, who is learning from her grandchildren's behaviour. Many more books in this series, that are helpful also

Als ich mir das zum ersten Mal angeschaut habe, war ich etwas skeptisch, denn es klingt schon etwas Lehrmeisterlich. Aber meine Kids mögen es, vor allem, wenn sie die Bilder beschreiben können. Vielleicht hilft es ja wirklich, dass sie andere Strategien lernen, mit ihren Frustrationen umzugehen. Wir lesen es jedenfalls im Moment jeden Abend.

I use this book as an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant in school with pupils for Anger Management. The children enjoy the story which explains how to work through their anger, the pictures are colourful and you can discuss them with younger children. For primary school age children. Dispatch fast and seller communication was first class.

my little one really pictures himself as the little boy in the book. Lovely drawings and concepts well explained and analysed. I would definetely reccommend this!