Jessica Sinarski

The children of Sunnyvale Elementary carry a lot in their backpacks : big and heavy books representing their thoughts, feelings and emotions. As their day goes on, they all experience anger, triggered by different situations.

Hello, Anger explains what anger is, and how we experience it differently. Every young protagonist of the story feels anger during their day : Ana feels hurt when her friends don’t play fair, Ben feels embarrassed when he makes a mistake and Grace feels different when show more nobody chooses her for their team. I love how Jessica Sinarski selected simple situations that every child may experience at school, making it easier for them to relate to the story.

The author not only explains how to identify the feeling of anger, but also how to deal with it in a healthy way. Each situation experienced by the students of Sunnyvale Elementary is described, explaining every thought and feelings that led to the emotion of anger. Even the teacher, Mrs Miller, shares with her pupils why and when she feels angry, showing to young readers that adults go through that emotion as well.

Using the idea of emotions and feelings being like books, Jessica Sinarski invites every reader to unpack their backpack, taking the time to examine what it contains. I really found that concept interesting and believe it can be the starter of many conversations with children. I love how the author also included tips for caring adults at the end of the book, explaining how to deal the best we can with anger. Macky Pamintuan’s illustrations are really beautiful and represent well the diversity we can find in a classroom. show less

Review of eBook

Zoey carries some heavy books in her backpack . . . worry, unsafe parent, shame . . . and struggles to deal with the traumatic issues that she has experienced. Fortunately, her mom, her teacher, and the school counselor all have some very good advice for Zoey.

How will the advice help Zoey? Will she be able to set aside her worries and concentrate on playing basketball with her friends?

In a perfect world, children would never feel worry or shame or know the scary feelings that show more come with having an unsafe parent. But the world isn’t perfect and “What’s Inside Your Backpack?” suggests some ways that adults might help the children living lives touched by trauma.

Listening and talking with the child can help develop resilience as it provides the child with the needed coping skills. By using the representation of books and backpacks . . . something familiar to every schoolchild . . . the author provides an easily-understood context for the worries the children carry inside themselves. By encouraging them to share the things that are so heavy, they can ease their concerns as they discover their own strength and courage.

Tips for adults to help children cope follow Zoey’s story.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from National Center for Youth Issues and NetGalley
#WhatsInsideYourBackpack #NetGalley show less

This is an interesting. Much like the Boy’s Town Press the reader is given an issue and a way to deal with it, which is been repeated by example at least three times. However, in this book there is this magic backpack concept with each book in the backpack reflecting a different emotion. I think concept is a hard to follow and the story is confusing because of it. The concept is great for an educational setting, but I think in general is does not work very well.

While growing up we are taught there are 5 senses: touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing. But for some people there are more, and when all these senses get together and are out of balance it can cause a calamity. This book not only teaches about other senses like balance, and introspection, it also teaches ways to deal with sensory overload.