Here’s a social skills book for kids to help them understand that there is always a reason behind things. Through personification, it explains the idea that like a puppet show, sometimes there is behind the scenes stuff going on. “You can see the puppets, but you can’t see how they move.” It gives some examples the character experiences and has some great strategies for parents and educators in the back.

The message in this book is great! Many children struggle when understanding why things don't go their way and this book helps with that. I loved that it was in a school setting, so it could be a good social story for school. It also had a lot of very good representation of characters!

Gabe once resembled a few of my elementary-school students. They aren’t many, but they are insistent! I’m picking on them for no reason! The fact that they have just yelled out, gotten out of their seats, harassed a nearby student, climbed under their table, made annoying and distracting noises, distracted the class through tomfoolery, played around instead of finishing their assignment — take your pick — what has that to do with the reprimand I delivered? I’m just picking on them for no reason!

This cute picture book explains that there’s always a reason, whether dealing with teachers, your parents or the craziest of classmates. It may not make sense to you, but the reason(s) are there! Great book for children.

Missing the Meaning: Learning What “for No Reason” Really Means is but one in a series of social-skills books from Boys Town Press Publishing.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, Boys Town Press Publishing and the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA in exchange for an honest review.

This book offers a valuable lesson for children - and adults - in figuring out why something is happening that is frustrating, angering or upsetting. The character Curt is both silly and endearing, so I think kids will appreciate the bit of comic relief while working through this difficult topic. I appreciate the tips at the end of the book for parents and educators!

Thank you NetGalley and Boys Town for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I thought that this book was really good and we really enjoyed the story.

I read the book with my 6 year old daughter and we used the book to char about thoughts and feelings and why people do some of the things that they do and whilst she may not think that something was done without though and “for no reason” there is normally something behind that prompted the person to act they way they did and for her to think about the reasons the same as Gabe does in the book.

She was able to read the book to me and really enjoyed it from start to finish. The story was easy for her to follow and it was a great way for us to spend some time together – we do love our reading time and she takes after me with her massive love of books!

The illustrations were great for the book and really brought the story to life.

It is 4.5 stars from me for this one, rounded up to 5 stars for Goodreads and Amazon – very highly recommended!

Great message of teaching kids what to expect behind certain actions and behaviors. The illustrations were great

A super thoughtful guide to help kids understand the motives behind people’s reasons. I know my kids struggle with seeing anything beyond how they feel about another persons actions. This book teaches them to pause and reflect on the “why” for another’s actions!

This book teaches a great lesson and I think it’s important to be able to share this with kids. It helps with a hard situation.

This book teaches an important lesson, but the method felt stilted and obvious. I can see the book being useful to teachers, but students will have a hard time reading the book without an adult to help them through it.

There may have been a better way to phrase it but this is an important lesson for kids. Instead of getting angry and frustrated, they can use their words and pay attention so they understand why the people around them are acting the way they do. It's a good lesson, too, that maybe we don't know why someone is doing something we don't like, but there's still a reason.
This is not a bedtime book, but it would be terrific for a daycare or preschool read-along and for new young readers.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.

I liked the concept but this was really text heavy for my kids at bedtime. Additionally, this isn’t a phrase they use often so it simply didn’t resonate.