Feelings Books for Children: 32 Picture Books About Emotions, by Age

The best feelings books for children help kids name and handle emotions at their own level: simple board books like Making Faces for babies, The Way I Feel and The Color Monster for preschoolers, and The Rabbit Listened or Each Kindness for ages 5 to 8.

Feelings books for children give kids something they often lack in the middle of a meltdown: words. A toddler who has heard “frustrated” many times in stories has a better shot at saying it instead of throwing a block.

Below are 32 picture books about emotions, each verified for author, year and publisher, grouped by age and by feeling, plus how to read them and how to choose.

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Feelings Books for Children at a Glance

Titles, authors, illustrators, years and publishers were checked on publisher pages, author sites and library catalog records in November 2026. Age ranges are a guide: you know your child best.

Best Feelings Books for Babies and Toddlers (Board Books)

Under 3, keep it simple: bright pictures, real faces, few words, and pages your child can grab. See also our bedtime stories for kids.

• Making Faces: A First Book of Emotions (Abrams Appleseed, 2017): Photos of real babies showing happy, angry, surprised, silly and sleepy faces, with a mirror so your child can copy each expression. It is on the AAP and Reach Out and Read infant list.
• Baby Happy Baby Sad (Leslie Patricelli; Candlewick, 2008): A bald, cheerful baby swings between little joys and small disasters, like a fall or a lost balloon. Easy to name the feeling on each page.
• Duck & Goose, How Are You Feeling? (Tad Hills; Random House, 2009): Two familiar friends show feelings such as happy, sad, scared and proud in simple, warm pictures.
• The Feelings Book (Todd Parr; Little, Brown, 2000): Bold, bright pages pair real feelings like mad and scared with silly ones. It is on the AAP and Reach Out and Read list for ages 1 to 3.
• Calm-Down Time (Elizabeth Verdick, illustrated by Marieka Heinlen; Free Spirit, 2010): Simple ways to settle big feelings: a calm spot, a hug, slow breaths. Pair it with a calm down corner at home.
• Hands Are Not for Hitting (Martine Agassi, illustrated by Marieka Heinlen; Free Spirit, 2000): It fills the pages with the good things hands can do: say hello, play, create, help. A natural partner to the swaps in our redirection techniques guide.
• Teeth Are Not for Biting (Elizabeth Verdick, illustrated by Marieka Heinlen; Free Spirit, 2003): A short board book for the biting phase.
• Llama Llama Mad at Mama (Anna Dewdney; Viking, 2007): A long, boring shopping trip ends in a full llama meltdown, then Mama helps him calm down and they make the trip fun together.

Books That Help Kids Name Their Feelings (Preschool, 3 to 5)

Preschoolers are ready for more feeling words than happy, sad and mad, and for the idea that feelings can be mixed.

• The Way I Feel (Janan Cain; Parenting Press, 2000): Vivid pictures and short verses introduce feelings like disappointed, jealous and proud, presenting each one as neither good nor bad. The publisher lists it for ages 2 to 8.
• Today I Feel Silly & Other Moods That Make My Day (Jamie Lee Curtis, illustrated by Laura Cornell; HarperCollins, 1998): A girl moves through a different mood each day, from silly to angry to excited.
• Glad Monster, Sad Monster (Anne Miranda and Ed Emberley; Little, Brown, 1997): Die-cut monster masks let kids try on each feeling, which turns emotion talk into play.
• In My Heart: A Book of Feelings (Jo Witek, illustrated by Christine Roussey; Abrams Appleseed, 2014): A girl describes what each feeling is like inside her body, from light and bouncy joy to heavy sadness. First published in French in 2013.
• The Color Monster: A Story About Emotions (Anna Llenas; Little, Brown, US edition 2018): A monster wakes up with all his feelings jumbled together, and a little girl helps him sort them by color.
• My Many Colored Days (Dr. Seuss, illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher; Knopf, 1996): A rhyming book that matches each mood with a color. Try asking, “What color is your day?”
• Big Feelings (Alexandra Penfold, illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman; Knopf, 2021): A group of kids hit a frustrating snag in their plans, then talk it through, compromise and see each other’s point of view. See also cooperative play.

Books About Anger and Frustration

Read anger books on a calm day, not mid-meltdown.

• When Sophie Gets Angry, Really, Really Angry… (Molly Bang; Blue Sky Press, 1999): When her sister grabs her toy, Sophie’s anger explodes, and she runs outside until the quiet of nature helps her cool down. A 2000 Caldecott Honor book, it shows anger as a real, big feeling that passes.
• Sometimes I’m Bombaloo (Rachel Vail, illustrated by Yumi Heo; Scholastic Press, 2002): When Katie loses her temper she becomes “Bombaloo,” and her mom helps her find her way back.
• Grumpy Monkey (Suzanne Lang, illustrated by Max Lang; Random House, 2018): Jim the chimpanzee is grumpy for no clear reason, and his friends’ efforts to cheer him up only make it worse. Sometimes it is okay to just feel grumpy.

For the moment itself, see gentle parenting.

Books About Worry, Fear and Separation

• Wemberly Worried (Kevin Henkes; Greenwillow, 2000): Wemberly the mouse worries about everything, and starting nursery school tops the list.
• Ruby Finds a Worry (Tom Percival; Bloomsbury, 2019 US edition, first published in the UK in 2018): Ruby’s small worry grows bigger every time she ignores it, until she talks about it. The AAP and Reach Out and Read list it for ages 3 to 5.
• Owl Babies (Martin Waddell, illustrated by Patrick Benson; Candlewick, 1992): Three owlets wait anxiously in the dark for their mother to come back. Comforting for toddlers going through separation anxiety.
• The Kissing Hand (Audrey Penn, illustrated by Ruth E. Harper and Nancy M. Leak; Child Welfare League of America, 1993): Chester the raccoon is nervous about starting school, so his mother gives him a special way to carry her love with him.
• Jabari Jumps (Gaia Cornwall; Candlewick, 2017): Jabari is sure he is ready to jump off the diving board, until he is standing at the top. His dad helps him find courage.
• What to Do When You Worry Too Much (Dawn Huebner, illustrated by Bonnie Matthews; Magination Press, 2006): An interactive self-help workbook for school-age kids that uses cognitive-behavioral techniques, with drawing and writing activities. Best read with a parent.

Books About Sadness, Loss and Grief

• The Rabbit Listened (Cori Doerrfeld; Dial, 2018): When something sad happens to Taylor, the animals all have advice, but only the rabbit, who simply listens, really helps. Its honors include a 2019 Charlotte Huck Honor and a 2019 SCBWI Golden Kite Honor, according to the publisher.
• The Invisible String (Patrice Karst; DeVorss, 2000; newly illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff, Little, Brown, 2018): A mother explains that people who love each other are connected by an invisible string, no matter how far apart.
• The Heart and the Bottle (Oliver Jeffers; Philomel, 2010): After losing a special grown-up, a girl puts her heart in a bottle to keep it safe, and slowly learns to take it out again.
• The Memory Box: A Book About Grief (Joanna Rowland, illustrated by Thea Baker; Sparkhouse Family, 2017): A child fills a box with keepsakes and memories of someone who died. Its parent guide is written from a Christian perspective, so preview it.

Books About Kindness, Empathy and Inclusion

Empathy books pair well with affirmations for kids about kindness.

• Each Kindness (Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E. B. Lewis; Nancy Paulsen Books, 2012): Chloe and her friends leave out a new girl, Maya, and Chloe realizes too late what kindness could have changed. The publisher lists the Charlotte Zolotow Award and the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award.
• The Invisible Boy (Trudy Ludwig, illustrated by Patrice Barton; Knopf, 2013): Quiet Brian feels unseen at school until he welcomes a new classmate. A gentle look at how small acts of inclusion help a child feel noticed.

Books for Big Changes: A New Sibling or the First Day of School

Reading about a change before it happens gives your child words for it afterward.

• Julius, the Baby of the World (Kevin Henkes; Greenwillow, 1990): Lilly is certain her new baby brother is the worst thing that ever happened, until a visiting cousin insults him.
• Peter’s Chair (Ezra Jack Keats; Harper & Row, 1967): Peter’s old baby furniture is being painted pink for his new sister, so he rescues his little chair, and discovers he has outgrown it.
• First day of school: Wemberly Worried and The Kissing Hand (above). A visual schedule helps too.

How to Read Feelings Books With Your Child

The AAP says shared reading builds a loving, nurturing relationship and supports social-emotional, language and literacy development, and it recommends reading with children from birth. Its feelings book list adds that books help kids recognize emotions, build empathy and start conversations, and that talking about feelings on calm days prepares kids for stressful ones.

• Pause and name the feeling: Stop on an emotional page and ask, “How do you think she feels?” With babies and young toddlers, point to the face and name it yourself: “He looks surprised.”
• Look for clues: Ask how your child can tell: the face, the body, what just happened.
• Connect it to their day: “Have you ever felt like Sophie? What helped you?” Linking the story to their own life is where the learning sticks.
• Keep it short: One or two questions, then keep reading.
• Name your own feelings: Model it in daily life: “I’m frustrated the car won’t start. I’m going to take a breath.”

These tips follow guidance from the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) and the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations, which also suggest using varied feeling words like proud, frustrated and lonely. A feelings book fits nicely into a toddler bedtime routine.

How to Choose a Feelings Book

• Start with what is happening now: A new baby, a loss, a run of meltdowns? Pick a book for that.
• Check that all feelings are allowed: Avoid books that suggest kids should not feel sad or mad.
• Preview heavy topics: Read grief and trauma books yourself first.
• Choose books your child can see themselves in: The AAP encourages culturally diverse books that help children talk about identity and belonging.

For your own shelf, see the best baby sleep books.

Related Betteroo Guides

• Best Baby Sleep Books
• Affirmations for Kids
• Calm Down Corner
• Redirection Techniques
• Bedtime Stories for Kids
• Separation Anxiety in Toddlers

The Bottom Line

The best feelings books for children match your child’s age and the feeling they are working through right now. Start with one or two, read them on calm days, pause to name feelings and connect the story to your child’s life, and let your child choose favorites to read again and again.

Books are a helpful tool, not a treatment. If your child’s worries, sadness or anger last for weeks, or get in the way of sleep, eating, school or friendships, talk with your pediatrician.

Frequently Asked Questions