*God, I Feel Sad* is an excellent addition to any child’s library. It’s not just a book about feeling sad—it’s a book about understanding, processing, and finding comfort in both one's emotions and faith. Whether used at home or in a classroom, it’s a valuable resource for fostering emotional intelligence and spiritual growth in young children.

God, I Feel Sad is a cute book that helps kids put words to their big feelings, and teaches them it's ok and completely normal to have those feelings. I read this book to one of my kids mid-meltdown and she stopped to listen intently. The book ties in religious aspects (like why does God let us feel sad) and helps kids feel less alone. It's well written and has good, inclusive illustrations.

This was such a sweet book teaching children about feelings, in particular sadness. I loved the beautiful, artistic, and fun illustrations. I especially loved the truths it shares about the necessity of different emotions as well as God's hand in feeling sadness and hope. What a beautiful book! I want to buy it for my children now! As a parent raising children, some of whom are dealing with anxiety and depression, this book has a powerful message I want my children to receive.

Such a great book on teaching little ones about feelings! It uses simple words and feel images are really engaging.

A sweet introduction to the feeling of sadness for young children. We are in a season of grief and some of the descriptions in the book are helpful to our children. I appreciate that the book shared that it’s ok to be sad and cry, but that it’s also ok to look for things to help you feel better - like prayer.

God, I Feel Sad by Michelle Nietert and Tama Fortner is a fantastic book and resource to teach kids from a Biblical perspective. I like how beautifully written and illustrated the book is and the expertise that is in the book. I love how the Authors explain what sadness is and how we can experience sadness. I love the suggestions of how one can deal with sadness, especially talking to God about being sad. I love the note that is in the back of the week and the associated website. I highly recommended this book and am looking forward to more resources from these Authors. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read this book. My review is also on Goodreads.

Zonderkidz has published another terrific and timely book. The full title of this 32-page picture book is Bringing Big Emotions to a Bigger God: God, I Feel Sad. This is the first in the series.

I got this book to read to my five-year-old grandson. He was sad because the things he counted on—his family and his routine, were not “right” due to his little brother having surgery. Not only did this book encourage him, but the two-year-old little brother really honed in on it as well He was experiencing a great deal of sadness too, due to pain and not being able to play or eat like he wanted. I was surprised by how intently they both focused on this book from the beginning to the end.

The book begins by stating the facts. When God made you, He gave you emotions.
Then, the emotion of sadness is discussed using examples with which children are familiar.
The authors do an excellent job of helping children identify what sadness may look like on their faces and what words they sometimes say that convey their sadness.
Children are reminded of the different ways sadness makes them feel. Then, they are given some suggestions on how to express those feelings.
They’re encouraged not to pretend the sad feelings aren’t there, but to feel them.
After that, children discover different ways to begin feeling better. Talking with someone who cares about them, talking to God, expressing themselves through art and music, and many more suggestions are given.
At the back of the book is a special note to parents which includes another wonderful way for parents to teach their children how to cope with sadness.
The illustrator, Nomar Perez, does a beautiful job illustrating emotions. He expertly captures the nuances of sadness. I love the bright colors he used throughout the book, which gives a nod to the ever-presence of hope.

Oh, how I love this book. One of my favorite sections is the explanation of how sadness can trickle in like a tiny wave on our toes. But sometimes the waves are big and “soak you with sad all the way through. It might take a little longer, but those big waves will roll back out too.”

Throughout this book, the authors acknowledge the reality of children’s sad feelings. But, they also show them many ways to cope. Also, they remind them sadness means something isn’t right in their world, but God doesn’t want them to be sad forever. I highly recommend this book. It’s unique and helpful. Most of all, it’s a warm reminder of how God loves and cares about us when we feel sad.

It is such a sweet book! Children who are sad will find a lot of solace in this book, which also teaches them how to understand and talk about their emotions. It also expressed the idea that our feelings are valid. I absolutely appreciate how it conveyed its point while using such a lovely and diverse illustration.

God, I feel sad is an incredible resource for children, and the adult's who love them. It can be challenging to help children understand the big, hard feelings they experience. This book makes it simple. This is a book to buy for your child, their teacher, Sunday School teacher or their school library!

The story is well written, clear and full of hope. This beautiful little book helps normalize our sadness and even better, it gives us a clear way to process it. The illustrations are fun, diverse and inclusive.

If you are looking for a book for a child you love, a child going through hard things or a SEL program, this is the book for you!

As a social worker, I am seeing children experience more intense emotions and parents struggling to help them regulate and manage these big feelings. This book can help us all find our way through!

The audible version has bonus sections that are really helpful!

“With each message of hope, God is saying, ‘I’m here with you, and it’s going to be okay.”
This is a wonderful book about an emotion that is important to process with kids (even though we all wish we didn’t have to): sadness.
From the first pages, this book really speaks to a child’s heart. It goes into many examples and “sizes” of sadness that will feel very familiar to kids. And though it doesn’t shy away from the hard, it provides plenty of hope and helpful tips, too.
The book’s simple messages—Sadness happens to all of us, God cares, We can talk to God, God gives us messages of hope—make sadness an approachable topic for any parent, teacher, or caregiver to discuss with kids. It also helps kids think about words for sadness, how sadness may look on someone’s face or feel in their bodies, and how they can work through it. (It's evident that a mental health expert and a prolific children’s author teamed up for this one.)
My favorite part is how it encourages kids that God is with them and to look for his care in their everyday lives. Highly recommend!!
Thank you to NetGalley and Zonderkidz for an advanced digital copy. All opinions are whole-heartedly my own.

"God, I Feel Sad" is a wonderful picture book for children. This book explains the feeling of sadness and gives tips for dealing with it. Michelle Nietert and Tama Fortner did an excellent job of describing different reasons we feel sadness; how it can creep in slowly, or come quickly when you're in a situation you didn't expect. And I love how they related it to God. That's what makes this book stand out in this genre of childrens' books about feelings, and the major reason I applied to join the launch team! Nietert and Fortner also give helpful prompts for children to express their upsetting feelings. The book ends with ways to help you move past your sadness and tells the reader that "God sends us messages of hope" in different ways. I think that may be my favorite part of the book. I can't wait to read this with my own children. I think this is a perfect book for children starting around age 4 up to 10 or 11; it would probably have some good reminders for young teens. Thank you so much to the authors, the publisher Zonderkids, and Netgalley for my review copy. All of these thoughts are my own; I was not required to write a positive review.

This little book thoroughly explores sadness and how to process it. While completely kid-friendly, it will help more than a few adult readers too. Not only do authors Fortner and Nietert give practical tips on working through sadness and its ebbs and flows, they also gently remind readers of God's presence with them and His gifts of hope--which come in a variety as extensive as God's creativity. This is a must-have for your library.

As a preschool director and long-time educator, I appreciate the tender approach Michelle Nietert and Tama Fortner take while introducing a challenging feeling to young children. Not only do the authors provide a variety of synonyms little ones can use to label sadness, but they also share several descriptors that explain how their bodies may respond to the emotion.

This book is a must for families with young children, faith-based preschools, and therapists helping children manage "big feelings".

I love this book! Finding quality Christian, children's books is hard. There are very few that keep children engaged at the same time as pointing them back to God. This one achieves both goals! Keeping God at the center of it is what matters the most.

What a terrific book on a difficult emotion. Perfect for the little ones in your life to help them understand their feelings a little more and what they can do. The illustrations are so cute.

I recommend this book to parents and teachers for kids ages 3-8. God, I feel Sad can be a great tool when talking about big emotions with kids. It can be an introduction to conversation starters such as What can you do when you feel sad ? The Illustrations are colorful and fits the words perfectly. The book talks about different things such as reasons someone gets sad, that is is okay to be sad, and what you can do to make yourself feel better when you are sad. This book is very thorough on being sad and would make a great addition to any home library or a read a loud for teachers, church leaders or even librarians. I read this book with my son who is 5 years old and we both enjoyed it. I like that it has a spiritual aspect to it as well. I would rate it a 10 /10.

Professional counselors, teachers, school counselors, and parents now have a kid-friendly resource to walk a child through the emotion of sadness. The co-authors, one a licensed professional counselor and the other a bestselling author, offer a gem that teaches, identifies, and gives hope to the child struggling with this big emotion. They delicately deal with all ranges of sadness, from falling and scraping a knee to the death of a loved one. I wish this book had been available when my child was young.

Do you ever feel as though you don't know how to help your child manage the "harder" emotions, like sadness, in particular? I've certainly felt this as a parent. We want our kids to feel better when they are sad. But maybe in our desires to help them feel better, we rush the process and don't really help them to *feel* what they're feeling. Or maybe our kids know the pressure to put on that "happy face." I don't think I myself learned until well into adulthood, that emotions aren't "good" or "bad;" they're just indicators of what's going on inside us. And they are all *okay* to be feeling. They're actually vital for helping us understand ourselves, and navigating life!

The marvelous team of Michelle Nietert, LPC-S and Tama Fortner have coauthored this quite remarkable picture book that will help you and your children understand that emotions are important and God-given. The lyrical prose, accompanied by lovely and meaningful art, shows kids what their emotions are and what they might feel like. The illustrations even show the reader what the book's specific emotion, sadness, can look like on a face. And it shares what we might say aloud, in various situations, when we feel sad.

All of these things are so incredibly important; but "God, I Feel Sad" also tells kids how to identify their own emotions; how they might wish to experience them; and how to process them so that they can healthfully move past the sad. And the book ends with precious reminders of God and His care for kiddos--really, for all of us!

I admit to you that this book deeply touched my heart and even brought tears to my eyes. It is beautiful, yes; but it's also an incredible toolbox packed into a lovely picture book. I highly recommend it: for your children, maybe even your teens, and for you, the parent! What an important and even crucial reminder for us all.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions shared here are my own honest ones.

This is a book that should be in schools, churches, counseling offices, and homes everywhere. It shows young children how to identify the emotion of feeling sad by providing real life examples that are age appropriate, with beautifully colored illustrations. Then it shows what kids should do when they have that sad feeling, and again by providing age appropriate examples.

I appreciate the fact that children are encourage to acknowledge the feeling and even told it's ok to cry. Too often children will try to hide their emotions, and that is not healthy. In addition, readers are reminded that God doesn't want us to stay sad permanently, something I feel is equally important to learn. This would be such a great book if there is a traumatic event that happens in the child's life. Something they can read with a caregiver and have a conversation about.

Since it is a longer book, and because of the nature of the topic, I wouldn't recommend this as a bedtime or naptime read. However I think it is appropriate to read with your child alone, in a classroom setting, or in a therapy session if appropriate. And have a discussion with them afterwards, or while you are reading. I think it's a great conversation starter!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I cannot express how much I love this book! As a mother, I love that there is a book (and authors) that helps my children know it’s okay to have positive and negative emotions and how to go about dealing with those confusing feelings. This book discusses what it’s like to be sad in terms young children can understand and offers healthy options to help cope with their sadness. I love the Christian aspect and how ultimately we should all bring our emotions to Him and He will carry us through. I cannot wait to read other books by these authors!

**I received a temporary digital copy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**