Thanks to Quarto Kids + NetGalley for the advance review copy of "Together Again" by Kochka, illustrated by Sophie Bouxom, and with tips for parents by Louison Nielman.

Social emotional intelligence is one of the most important skills we can teach our children, but also one of the most difficult to coach and work on - the "What a Feeling" series is a GIFT to caregivers, children, and educators.
"Together Again" is all about JOY. - the excitement, the anxiety, and the waiting that accompanies it. Children will be able to relate perfectly to Elliott who is counting the seconds until his sister Lucy comes home, parents will relate to kids constantly asking "when" in relation to an event they really really want to happen *now*. "Together Again" is a book you'll be going back to (both kids and adults) when joy is big.

The anticipation that the main character has for his sister to come during summer vacation is contagious. I thought this book was nicely written and the emotion of joy was evident,

This is a book that has simple, yet charming illustrations. Young listeners will get to know Elliott as he eagerly awaits his half-sister’s arrival. Waiting for Lucy seems to take so long but…oh, the joy of reunion. This is an uncomplicated book, for the youngest children, that is about happiness and anticipation. There is a helpful section for adults at the end.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

A tender exploration anticipation, friendship, and family that will leave readers saying “aww” over and over again.

A sweet story about the anticipation of the reunion of a sibling relationship. The book is sweet and bright and heartfelt.

A wonderfully illustrated book telling a fun,engaging story exploring joy. It is part of a series which explores emotions with young children which is so important and never more so than now. The addition of notes for adults about exploring the emotions with children is really great and I think this series would be a welcome addition to any bookshelf for young children.

With huge thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a joyful read.

Part of a series connecting the parent reader with their children' emotions, this brief tale has a kid hyper for the return from boarding school of his older sister. He finds it hard to get to sleep, then is wide awake too early, so we can easily imagine him falling back off and missing the great arrival. Spoiler alert – he doesn't, for there's a great visual joke of the sister being practically three times his height at the punchline. The only thing is, I don't really know how greatly this book would work. Two pages for the parent who needs tutoring in such things basically say 'let happiness reign, and show you're happy yourself', and the story, even if it looks great and is perfectly fine, is a read-once, share-twice kind of thing. From my non-breeder standpoint I didn't see either the education or the entertainment here as anything essential, to such an extent that four stars seems too high. And yet I still liked it, though...