By Laura Ennis, BK Story Voyager Librarian
The Color Monster: A Story About Emotions
By Anna Llenas
(for readers in grades Preschool–Third Grade)
We will face many unknowns and uncertain feelings about school restarting in a COVID-19 world. For The Color Monster by Anna Llenas is a propitious read to help our children manage their feelings and emotions. The book starts with Color Monster feeling all mixed up and wearing all the colors of his various emotions at once. A young girl offers to help the monster sort out his feelings. Each feeling is a color with attributes that match the emotion it symbolizes. Yellow is happiness as, “it shines yellow like the sun and twinkles like the stars.” As they look at each color/emotion separately the monster’s appearance becomes unmottled and takes on one color at a time. As a result, he becomes less muddled on the inside. This is a helpful metaphoric message for children, and hopefully they too will feel the color/emotion Color Monster ends the book with.
The narrative of The Color Monster guides your child to find vocabulary for the different emotions they experience — from sadness, to fear, to anger. The monster is a relatable, as many children struggle to identify how they feel at any given moment. The illustrations are approachably simple with collage-style elements and shading so they have a pop-up book quality. Children will be able to draw their own color monsters after reading!
If your child has mixed feelings about returning to school or returning to remote learning, The Color Monster is a beneficial read. It encourages one to see each emotion for its qualities, which is essential for inner well being!
The Greenline 