In an increasingly digitalized world, body language, spatial awareness, and general crowd behavior is being lost for the new generations. With evolving body language, it's difficult to place exactly what body language means in every situation.

While this book is a really good introduction into what body language is, and how to read body language, I think it lacks the ability to evolve body language, introduce that body language varies between individuals, especially neurodivergent individuals, and that sometimes body language can't be read at all.

However, I do think that this is the right stepping stone to introducing how to read that and to create a bigger conversation between adults and children that body language exists and it can help children be more successful in sharing their own words and experiences with others. It's also a great way to introduce how body language can be read between children and between children and adults.

The illustrations are colorful and engaging, and I loved seeing the different ways that emotions were portrayed between the characters.

I'm going to be brutally honest: I can't tell if this book is supposed to be a joke or not. All of the body language examples and meanings seem both overused and outdated. My main takeaway from this book is that 80% of seated positions indicate that you are insecure or scared. Additionally, this book is so rigid, for lack of a better word. What I mean by this is that the author mentions one, maybe two, meanings for each action even though, in the real world, there are many reasons why people move like they do, and many ways to interpret gestures. My first example of this is crossing your legs. For some, it might suggest insecurity, but it just might be comfortable for others. Another example (which bothered me a lot) was the personal space bubble. This *definitely* varies from person to person, and I felt confused since these measurements don't correlate with my own rules. All in all, I think that there is a good idea here but there isn't enough information or depth within this book to make it useful.

A straight forward and humorous introduction to Body Language. This is a good book for kids, and is nicely written and illustrated. How "scientific" all of this is is open to question. But this is a good first book on the topic and I enjoyed it. The illustrations are light and humorous.

Personal space and body language are often used to understand others and improve interactions. However, in this book, some of the body language interpretations felt overly generalized. At times the characters provided narrative explanations of their emotions that seemed a bit unrealistic.

(3.5/5, rounded up)
Not only a great idea but illustrated with precision. Adam Wolf, bravo!

Body language can feel like a "you had to be there"-type concept when explaining it to someone, so I wasn't sure if there was any way to succeed in conveying movements and gestures like they wanted.

My complaints are:
1) Sometimes the reasoning is stated as fact vs making it explicitly clear that it's only what the person doing the language <i>thinks</i> about themselves - not an actual trait they possess. For example, one says "I've achieved little in my life, and I believe I have nothing to offer." I totally understand where they're going with this - but I'm 29. My concern is that a child, whose brain thinks much more literally, could jump from feelings of insecurity to an assumption they've never achieved anything. Per usual, there's a chance I'm giving this too much thought and it be a non-issue. But thinkin' too much is why they pay me the big bucks ($0). ;)
2) It wouldn't be a bad idea to mention the real possibility of meeting someone who doesn't follow a few, most, or even all of these patterns. Providing this information so rigidly can backfire. Providing the exception of other cultures and their differing customs is not enough.

With those better addressed, this would be an easy 5/5 for me, added to my family's bookshelf upon publishing.

{Thank you bunches NetGalley, Stepanka Sekaninova, Adam Wolf, Publisher Spotlight and Albatros Media for the DRC in exchange for my honest review!}