Emotive books for a toddler

October 20, 2014 3:04 PM

I'm looking for book recommendations for books filled with emotions, but not about emotions, for our toddler.

Our toddler loves a little 101 dalmatians picture book, and we're fairly sure it's because he's using it to learn all kinds of feelings (Cruella mad, Pongo sad, Lucky scared, etc. etc.). Basically every page has a character with a strong emotion. However, we're fairly anti-Disney in general because of the problematic gender roles.

He's pretty much over the books just about feelings we've got (Duck and Goose Feelings, Happy Hippo Angry Duck, etc.), though those have all been enjoyed. He seems to be looking for stories with actual plots, rather than just examples.

We've recently discovered Mo Willems with great success. Do you have other recommendations?

He's good with paper pages (so not limited to board books). Bonus points for books with a diverse representation of cultures, races, genders, etc.

posted by lab.beetle to Human Relations (19 answers total)

When she was about 2 1/2, my daughter loved Howling Hill by Will Hobbs, about a wolf pup who gets separated from her family (and is reunited with them at the end.) She experiences a lot of emotions during the course of the book.
posted by Redstart at 4:00 PM on October 20, 2014

I think Today I Feel Silly would work nicely. Each page talks about a different emotion or two.
posted by sacrifix at 4:11 PM on October 20, 2014

Sometimes I'm Bombaloo

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
posted by mermily at 4:28 PM on October 20, 2014 [1 favorite]

I came to say Mo Willems!

I like You Are Not My Friend But I Miss You but some people seem to think it is scary.
posted by BibiRose at 4:30 PM on October 20, 2014

the patchwork cat
posted by Sassyfras at 4:33 PM on October 20, 2014 [1 favorite]

The Monster at the End of this Book did this for me as a child.
posted by Riverine at 4:34 PM on October 20, 2014

I think maybe my recommendation was still too explicitly about emotions whereas your kid likes books where emotions drive the story. Strange as it sounds, I think maybe a book of fairy tales-- suitably retold for the toddler set; you can find a selection in bookstores-- might hit the spot. Myths too. Often there is a powerful emotion at the core of the story.
posted by BibiRose at 4:52 PM on October 20, 2014

For toddlers, I love Olivier Dunrea's books. In particular, Gossie, a story about lost boots and finding who had them and all the emotions that go with that would be good for this. (Though I also love BooBoo, the gosling who loves to eat everything.)

Please, Baby, Please is good for exploring parental frustration and tiredness. It's also funny.

And if your child has a long enough attention span for them, Kevin Henkes books explore a lot of emotions in their stories. Chester's Way is about making friends with people both like and unlike you and all the messy confusion that can go into whether you even want to be friends. Julius, the Baby of the World about siblings, both rivalry and family connection. I'd recommend any of the mouse featuring books.
posted by Margalo Epps at 5:09 PM on October 20, 2014

Perhaps One by Kathryn Otoshi?
posted by cleverevans at 5:22 PM on October 20, 2014

Two favorites we have with lots of emotions:

1) One Morning in Maine. Sal is a 5-6 year old girl in Maine who loses a tooth and rides a boat into town with her father for groceries. That's it for plot, but Sal is an expressive kid and is (in approximate order) happy, sad, thoughtful, embarrassed, happy again, very disappointed, curious, hungry, and cheerful. Featuring Robert McCloskey's gorgeous illustrations.

2)Our whole family also enjoys the Yotstuba manga. It's mostly goofy little slices of life of a quirky 4-year-old Japanese girl, and is full of emotion as most 4-year children are. Very expressive and silly and sweet.

These may both be a little advanced depending on the age of the toddler, but my son was enjoying them between 2 and 3.
posted by tchemgrrl at 5:36 PM on October 20, 2014 [1 favorite]

Have you tried the Llama Llama Red Pajama series? The stories revolve around dealing with negative emotions (e.g., fear, envy, frustration).
posted by Cecilia Rose at 6:07 PM on October 20, 2014 [1 favorite]

The emotions don't drive the story per se and the books are out of print, but we did a TON of talking about emotions with the Meg and Mog books, because the drawings are simple but expressive. They are totally awesome books, and the first books my son started retelling me the story from.

We have a used copy of the treasury I linked (as well as several of the paperbacks, some my own originals) and I can endorse the selection contained within.
posted by telepanda at 7:10 PM on October 20, 2014

Our daughter loved The Grouchy Ladybug at that age.
posted by dr. boludo at 7:31 PM on October 20, 2014

Response by poster: Thank you all for the suggestions. It's off to the library for us.
posted by lab.beetle at 7:58 PM on October 20, 2014

+1 Llama Llama Red Pajama. My daughter woke up from some sort of doozy of a nightmare last night and today she made me read it to her five times. She loves when Llama Llama gets so upset that his mom comes running up the stairs.
posted by town of cats at 8:38 PM on October 20, 2014

A birthday for cow
posted by lilnublet at 8:58 PM on October 20, 2014

I also came in to recommend Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day.
posted by ocherdraco at 9:24 PM on October 20, 2014

Mr. Pusskins runs the gamut of emotions: love, contempt, regret, hope, anger, shame, etc., all in one little story about a cat and Emily. It's pretty silly also (at one point the cat calls home using a pay phone. Pshaw! There aren't such things as pay phones anymore).
posted by daisystomper at 1:22 PM on October 21, 2014

Hello Sailor is just terrifically wistful, happy and then totally wistful again
posted by Middlemarch at 11:35 AM on October 23, 2014