When Sophie Gets Angry- Really, Really Angry... (Caldecott Honor Book)

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Summary: Teaching mindfulness to kids
Review: I am a parent and also a yoga teacher. I think this book very beautifully illustrates what anger may feel like, a volcano ready to explode! Sophie lets off steam by running... and crying... then she comes to her senses, seeing, hearing, feeling nature. "The wide world comforts her." "Sophie feels better now." She returns home to the warmth and familiar smells and sounds and sights of home. She is welcomed home. She is not her anger. This book really offers a way to open up dialogue about anger and other emotions. Kids can relate their feelings to colors, to things in nature. Mindfulness is about being aware of the present moment while you are in it. Coming to our senses brings us into the present moment. Mindfulness is a wonderful anger management tool, feeling the emotion in the body, focusing on the sensation rather than reacting from it. Teaching mindfulness allows for opportunities to respond rather than react. The thing to remember is that it is mindfulness PRACTICE!!! I think this book could help lessen tantrums, giving kids a sense of control over their anger. It is a chance to LEARN from anger. The illustrations are vibrant and engaging. My son is going on three, and he was definitely able to relate to Sophie. We just recently read this book together and I think it will serve us well! I highly recommend it!

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Summary: WV State College Student
Review: I am a student at West Virginia State College currently taking a class called Children's Literature. Our instructor required us to read a Caldecott Honor book as part of our assignment and write our personal view of the book.

This book is about a little girl named Sophie who is playing with her favorite toy gorilla and her sister decides she wants to play with it and grabs it from her. This causes Sophie to be angry and she runs out and climbs her favorite tree. Sophie feels better and returns home and everything is all normal.

This would be a great children's book to read aloud in a classroom. You can discuss with the children what they would do when they get angry and what would make them feel better. I would highly recommend this book for K - 2 grade students.

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Summary: Finding sympathy -- and wholeness!
Review: I got this book for my daughter, a little girl who, like Sophie, can get very VERY angry at times. We read it together, and then she went through it on her own, staring in amazement at the dazzling illustrations which show clearly the power of Sophie's rage. Our favourite was the one where Sophie, at the peak of her anger, fills the page with a giant R-O-A-R before heading off to console herself in her special tree.

The book's ending is absolutely perfect. When she's ready -- and not before -- Sophie is welcomed back into the warmth of her home; everything is back together again, the cat purring contentedly beneath Sophie's painting of her family, whole and perfect. For any child who might worry that he or she has done something unforgivably bad (don't they all, at some point?), this book will offer much-needed reassurance that their family will be waiting when their anger has passed.

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Summary: An excellent book on a too-little examined emotion
Review: Molly Bang's excellent "When Sophie Gets Angry . . . Really, Really Angry . . . " is a much-needed examination of a too-little looked-at emotion: anger. Everyone knows that kids get angry--sometimes furiously so--but they don't have the social and emotional skills to deal with their anger the way that most adults can. The result is scary for a lot of kids--they can feel hijacked by their anger.

Molly Bang gives us perspective with this book. She acknowledges right up front that kids get wacko angry, as Sophie does here when she has a disagreement with her sister. Bang does a superb and subtle job of representing the angry pages with hot, shimmering colors--a juicy lipstick red, a neon orange, and a glowing yellow. Then as Sophie bangs out of doors to take a walk and calm down, Bang begins to introduce cool, soothing colors in the blues-greens-purples range. It's a winning marriage of text and illustration.

When Sophie returns to her home, she is greeted with smiles and joy. She feels calmer, her anger dissipated, and she's back in the fold. The thing I love most about this book is that it takes childhood anger as a fact, not a problem, and shows children a good way to work through that anger. I recommend this very highly.

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Summary: When Sophie Gets Angry
Review: My 2-year old daughter loves this beautifully illustrated book about a little girl coping with a temper tantrum. I think it helps her label and understand her own feelings when things don't go the way she wants them to. As for it teaching kids to "run away" when they are angry--that's not the way I read it. To me, it describes getting out and doing something physical (running, then climbing a tree), and then enjoying nature, as a way to cope with angry feelings. My daughter also seems to find it deeply satisfying when Sophie goes back inside to a warm home where people are happy to see her, and she is able to join in the family's activities again, with no hard feelings. I think it's important for preschoolers to understand that angry feelings can be coped with and survived without harming either individuals or relationships.

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Summary: Pure Rage . . . Safely Vented
Review: When a young child gets frustrated, uncontrolled rage often follows. How can a parent help? I suggest reading this book together and discussing it while your child is in a good mood.

When Sophie Gets Angry was a Caldecott honoree for its remarkable illustrations in 2000. These illustrations combine the styles of Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Matisse in a vivid, bright, and effective way.

The book uses the metaphor of a "volcano, ready to explode" very effectively. Geologists would point out that a volcano without vents will explode as the water in the cone turns to steam with no place to go. With vents, all you get is a cloud of steam and gentle lava flows. Ms. Bang uses three illustration techniques to maximum advantage. First, she colors the page with the emotion Sophie is feeling. Second, she turns Sophie's words into physical expressions within the metaphor. Third, she changes her composition to show the transition that Sophie feels as she moves from within herself into touch with the world around her again.

My favorite two images in the book are when she first arrives at an old beech tree that she climbs into. The second has her sitting in the same tree while "the wide world comforts her."

This is one of the ten best illustrated children's books it has been my pleasure to view. I come to this conclusion based on the excellence of the style, the appropriate use of color, the fit with the story, and superb compositions. The quality is uniformly high in all these dimensions.

The story itself deals with a typical cause of childhood rage -- being asked to share when a child doesn't want to. Mom takes Sophie's sister's side, and then Sophie falls over a truck . . . hurting herself. That fans the flames! "She wants to smash the world to smithereens." "She roars a red, red roar."

Then Sophie does a positive thing. Rather than simply throwing a nonstop tantrum, she takes charge of managing her emotional state. Her reaction is to run. "She runs and runs and runs until she can't run anymore." "Then for a little while, she cries." At that point, she begins to come out of herself and her rage.

I liked the use of this method for handling anger, because researchers show that by changing our physiology we can change our mood. Also, exercising releases stress and anger.

Sophie's family lives near the seashore, so Sophie goes to a peaceful spot . . . where she has found solace before. I think this is an excellent example for your child, suggesting that a child find a place where she or he can be quietly alone where he or she finds peace. This can be a good place to visit, even when the child isn't angry.

Then Sophie comes home. "She feels better now." "The house is warm and smells good." "Everyone's glad she's home." So there are no further consequences except feeling loved. This is a marvelous way to encourage a child to take care of their emotions in ways that keep an even balance in family relations.

The messages that a child will get from this book are that anger is a natural reaction to everyday situations, that the anger can be defused by the child's own actions, and that this can all occur in a loving environment.

For a parent, it is easier to talk about Sophie's anger than your child's anger. But you can certainly ask your child what she or he thinks about Sophie's anger . . . and what Sophie should do. You can also ask your child if he or she has a favorite peaceful spot. You can also describe when you feel angry, and what you do about this. As a result, your child can begin to understand that there are multiple paths to defusing anger.

Please be aware that Sophie runs to a quiet place, not away from home. Certainly, you don't want your child to run away from home when angry. If you live in a small apartment, the quiet place may be a cozy corner in a room in the apartment near a window looking out on the beauties of nature. That's why you will want to have a discussion about appropriate quiet places.

Move toward peacefulness!