I think this was too much for my 7-year old's attention span. He just wasn't interested, and started playing with the stuffies on his bed rather than listen to me. I don't think it's a bad book, just not enough to hold his attention. Which is a shame, because handling emotions is always something I want him to learn about, and books are a great teaching tool.

A lovely book for a child dealing with emotions and also a book that is a kinder look at heavier emotions. practical and well written.

Unfortunately my children were not interested to look at this book due to the cover implying it would not be fun or happy, but I hope it finds its audience.
Thank you for the opportunity to read.

I love there's more access to literature created for children/preteens dealing with the harder emotions. I appreciated that the prompts asked about how they may feel while also making subtle suggestions about what can help. I found the questions to be age-appropriate and meaningful for reflection. The illustrations were also darling.

What a wonderful way to teach a preteen/child about chronic sadness or depression in a realistic, validating way. The story is relatable and I love the breaks in the book with therapeutic activities you can either do yourself or speak about with your. Hold to open dialogue. I’m recommending this book to my adolescent therapist buddies.

"Managing Sadness" is a self help book aimed for children but it can also benefits adult. This book follows Kyle as he navigates through difficult events that occur in his life one after another. We see Kyle's emotional journey in two parts. I'm not gonna lie, I was concerned at the beginning because Kyle's story seems to keep going downwards. But then going into part II, I realized it's such a clever way to show how to navigate through emotions. It emphasizes that life is not always rainbows and butterflies, sometimes it's filled with dark clouds and negative thoughts and that's okay. The key is to "manage" these darker times wisely. This advice could be deemed theoretical when there are no concrete actions but this book offers a compelling blend of theory, storytelling and practical activities to manage emotions.

As Kyle goes along these tumultous time, the reader (may it be a child or an adult) will be engaged in various activities that evoke important feelings and ultimately help you with self-discovery in managing sadness. This approach is valuable because even some adults struggle with sadness or lack awareness of their own emotions.

A Note: There is a mild bullying scene. However, this book remains a valuable tool for parents to help their children manage sadness, and even for adults to navigate their own emotions.

The concept of this book is lovely and the story running alongside activities for self reflection works well. However i have serious concerns about the impact this could had on children regarding some of the suggested coping skills. They put ideas in children’s heads that may not be there and raise a safeguarding red flag! This book would be perfect if these were reviewed which I hope they would be before publication.

I really liked this and would like to use it with some of the children I am working with. Thank you to the writer, publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to review this book

It’s a great read and to help student and or bio children how to manage or cope and learn ways to not negative self talk. I will be introducing this to my classroom to best help regulate them and find activities they love

I thought the book had a great story and was meaningful to the children who struggle with sadness, but I did not like the journaling aspect. I think incorporating the questions at the end would be more impactful.

I understand the point to this book but the first reply did make me feel depressed. I thought the activities in the book were well thought out, however when it came to writing and answering questions, I think it would be easier to ask one question at a time instead of bunching three questions at one time, it's emotionally overload. It can be difficult for a child to write their feelings and understand what they are feeling.
Interesting activity book

This book touches on a subject that most of us can relate too. It explains who you need to talk to when you need help and that others could have the same problem. If I got this book for my nephews I think it would be looked at once and given to someone else. It gives the option to write down how you feel about certain subjects, which for kids is important since saying how you feel outloud can be difficult, but this book wont be read more than once and writting in this book would mean giving it to someone who needs this message wouldn't have the same effect. There for I think answering the questions inside the book is unnesesary.
This book has a great message, it talks about how you can talk to people and to distance yourself from bullies however I find the parts where you can answer questions un nessesary and the art unappealing. Don't let this put you off reading this book, its still an important read, just some parts arent needed.

Lovely workbook discussing sadness, bullying & self respect. Would definitely recommend to be used in ELSA & Nurture Groups.

I thought this was just going to be a story with tips but this is actually a beautifully written guide on how it's okay to have feelings and the things you can do to feel better. In this story, a little boy is sad and his friends make fun of him, and one of the important lessons he learns is that he deserves better treatment from others. He accepts help from someone trained to help with emotional issues and he even learns how important it is to help others. The book ends with a long list of positive affirmations.
As someone who has worked with many different groups of children, I think this is an excellent resource. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

I found it very hard to rate children's books so everything is a 5 star read for me!!
I really loved this book, the illustrations are so beautiful and captivating that I found myself smiling through every page I read.
The story itself is very beautiful and inspiring <3

Managing Sadness would be a good book for a therapy group or for students to work through when they are struggling since it has the questions and spaces to write. I liked that it gave the words that I hear a lot in my students to describe their bad days, and it also gave ways to work through those thoughts.

How do you teach your kid how to manage sadness?

Talk to them. But what if they don’t tell you anything.

Maybe sneak this book into their life and make your and their life easier. This is a great book and something I would recommend every parent should get for their child, so they can learn how to manage sadness, overcome situations and find happiness within.

Rating - 4/5

I really loved the tips for parents and educators page along with the resource page for the hotlines that can provide help to kids. I believe this book would be may be too advanced for fourth graders but great for preteens and beneficial so they can explain what they are feeling with the coping skills, feelings list and feeling plans pages.

A comprehensive and compassionate book about dealing with sadness and stress for young children. It contains a story, tips, advice, and activities to empower children, build their resilience and overcome negative self-talk. The writing style is engaging and the content is informative, relevant, educational and practical. My 9 yo child and I enjoyed it and will be using the tips more in our lives.

This is a really wonderful book and resource for parents and kids. I would say this is aimed at an upper elementary, jr high level. I think it’s really powerful in the way it normalizes, and validates feelings and prompt parent and child on how to talk and cope with those emotions. Tons of actionable suggestions, prompts and preparing. The list of things to feel better, emotions, and affirmations is invaluable!