Sensitive

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC of this title. An ode to sensitive children, this book delves into how it feels to be called sensitive or have people invalidate your feelings & emotions. It’s a powerful look at what it means when people try to tell force you to stop being sensitive and you decide to own it instead, with tips for a sensitive child near the author’s note.

This once sensitive girl knows sensitive kids that need this title in their lives! Thank you so much for writing this and making it a beautiful journey of self-discovery and not of masking. I love this book and will be recommending it to parents and children I know.

I loved this book so much. Often times adults see being sensitive as a flaw, when it’s not. What a wonderful story for children that may feel like their feelings are too much.

Bravo! Everything from the topic of this book to how it’s depicted was amazing. The artwork is stunning and it is such an important uplifting story with a lesson we all need to learn.

I am very greatful for books like this that normalize being sensitive and help children who are sensitive to make sense of their conflicting feelings and emotions. This book also gives them one tool for how they can deal and manage the overwhelming world around them.

Disclaimer: I adore children’s books.

And I absolutely fell in love with Sensitive, the beautiful story of a little girl who is constantly told she’s too sensitive, that she should smile more, play with other children - anything insensitive children and adults might say to a child like this little girl. She finds these comments hurtful, and she feels misunderstood a lot of the time. So she draws on her inner resources to discover what things she can do by herself that are interesting and that make her happy. In that process, she figures out how to make her way in a world “noisier” than her inner world and realizes that she can successfully inhabit both.

That’s a long description of a short, beautifully illustrated book, with the clear audience young children, but the situation and feelings the girl experiences are certainly experienced by adults. I know, because I was this girl not only as a child, but probably well into my twenties. When I discovered that I was an introverted and highly sensitive person, I suddenly understood myself and was able to boldly make my way through two full time careers and a retirement career.

I will probably buy this little gem when it is published, both for the sensitive telling of the story and the beautiful illustrations.

I received this book as an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley. I would love to see other collaborations by the author and illustrator.

Good book but the words were all jumbled together in the netgalley app. It was hard to read but a great concept. Some kids just have bigger feelings and this is a fantastic book for them so they don't feel so alone.

Have you ever been called too sensitive, too intense, or just too much? Levine offers a relatable protagonist who lives with a constant barrage of criticism that she eventually internalizes until she finds an outlet in creativity and solitude. Amini's multimedia artwork is a powerful accompaniment to the story and perfectly conveys the overwhelm the protagonist feels as she wrestles with the tension between unfair critique and her inner truth.

I was this little girl when I was younger, and in many ways, I still am. This book is for every child or adult that has ever felt like their big feelings are too much. The little girl learns healthy coping strategies for her big feelings and the books is full of affirmations that little ones (and adults) can come back to.

A young Asian-American girl comes to terms with the fact that she is sensitive.
The other children tease and taunt her for having thin skin and acting like a baby.
She learns that her feelings are real and she does not have to feel bad about her sensitivity. She writes her feelings out in a journal and realizes that being sensitive is actually her SUPERPOWER!
The author adds helpful tips for sensitive kids at the end of the story.

I can relate to the girl in this story because I was also a sensitive child. The author does an amazing job illustrating in words and pictures the feelings a sensitive child deals with.

The mixed-media illustrations are outstanding and add great value to the text.

I love the way the sensitive child writes in a journal to find joy and acceptance. She writes out her feelings and realizes that her sensitivity is not something to be ashamed of.

This is a wonderful book to read aloud to elementary school children. It could also be used by a counselor or mental health professional. I like everything about this story!!!

First of all, I want to thank the author and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Sensitive by Sara Levine is coming out on October 3, 2023.

What a great story about a little girl who is too “sensitive” or has too many feelings. The book has a great message for children and even adults to feel more confident in their feelings and to realize that having these feelings is not a bad thing. I absolutely loved this book and wish it was around when I was a child.

#Sensitive #NetGalley

Sensitive is a special children's book. It takes a commonly misunderstood label "sensitive" and sends you on a journey as a little girl comes to terms with bullying. As a child psychologist, I think that this thoughtfully written and powerful book will help sensitive readers to find the positive aspects of their special trait.

Sensitive is a story about a young girl who is repeatedly accused of being “too sensitive” or feeling too much. Reeling from all the bullying, she takes some time to herself and realizes she can reframe others’ negative words into something positive- because feeling and caring and having emotions are actually good things.

What a lovely little storybook for sensitive young ones.

This book is for anyone (child or adult) that has ever felt deeply and been called too sensitive. The story felt like a warm hug! I loved that the author provides tips for how sensitive children can learn to feel confident by just being themselves. What makes this book work so well is the colorful cutouts. There's a big focus on the words and texts with varying weights and sizes. You can feel the child being mentally overwhelmed through the illustrations. This is a book I'll be recommending for all parents to add to their emotional intelligence toolkits.

As always, I love children's books that deal with real emotions. Kids can have such big feelings and it's hard not knowing how to handle them. I also love that it gives tips for sensitive kids at the end, great ideas!

**received in exchange for review. opinions my own**

The story focuses on gaslighting, emotional regulation, and bullying. I appreciate its existence. The only thing that bothered me was her journal entry at the end, with the different fonts and colored letters. That kind of thing is inaccessible to a lot of people, visually overstimulating, difficult to read, etc.

I received an ARC of “Sensitive” from NetGalley and Lerner Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.

The author, Sara Levine, picked an excellent topic to write about in this PB. It’s been a long time since I was a small child, but I do remember many of the same things that other children (and adults!) said to me and others.

What I really love about this book in particular—and the current trends in the publishing world in general—is that the author reevaluates ‘old’ behavior. By ‘old’ behavior, I am talking about how, in the past, it was considered acceptable to tell people: quit acting like a baby; get over it; you’re too thin-skinned. Today, people are changing how they approach the differences that exist, whether it deals with differences in gender, ideology, or, in this case, personality. By publishing a book like this, we are teaching children that it’s okay to be different; that it’s okay to be sensitive.

This book obviously wouldn’t be complete without the illustrations. And Mehrdokht Amini’s illustrations really brought the author’s words to life. For example, when the other children were criticizing the girl’s sensitivity, the illustrator showed how the girl internalized those criticisms by writing all of the sentences in various colors over the girl’s face. I also like how the illustrator showed the girl’s jumbled overwhelmed feelings by creating a black scribbling. When I saw that scribbling, I immediately understood how she felt.

Levine did a fantastic job of showing children a way to organize the chaos of ongoing criticisms through the use of writing. And it was through that writing—an outlet—that the girl was able to find some inner peace. At the end of the story, the illustrator made sure that readers could visualize this by writing “Joy” on the girl’s face. I especially love how the author made sure that kids understand that sensitivity **IS** a superpower and even dedicates the final page to Tips for a Sensitive Kid.

I love this book and wish that it was available when I was a young child. It would have helped me and numerous other children as well. I certainly hope that libraries around the nation will purchase a copy of this book!

What a beautiful book both in what it says and the creative artwork. I can’t remember a book which combined such lovely art with teaching the reader about dealing with emotions. This would be a good gift for any young person in your life who is always being told not to be so sensitive. Be sure to read the author’s words written inside the heart plus the tips at the end of the book.

This book is absolutely beautiful, from the illustrations to the message. It is so easy for adults or even other children to call each other too sensitive or emotional, which can be very disruptive to a child. I love this book because it shares the importance and different ways a child can feel their emotions through being alone or writing everything out. This book is colorful, and the text moves around the pages making the reader take everything they see.
As social-emotional learning becomes increasingly popular in schools and with adults who professionally work with children, this book is a great start for parents or other adults to remind themselves that children feel at least as intensely as adults do and should be supported to feel those things. This book would also be useful for children to read even if they may not be feeling intense emotions (yet) but might know someone like that or one day become more intense with their emotions.

This was beautiful. This is just what so many children need. It’s what so many adults need(ed). To know that having feelings and being upset by the words/actions of others is completely normal and valid. It is also okay to not let others control our feelings in any way. This is wonderful!

Thank you to Lerner Publishing Group, Carolrhoda Books, and NetGalley for the e-ARC to read and review. I have always been "too sensitive" and told that I'd have to "grow a thicker skin" in order to survive, especially in the workplace and in friendships. This book beautifully frames the same phenomenon for kids, but encourages readers to just sit with those feelings and thoughts - not jump into being less sensitive or feeling bad for feeling bad! I'd recommend this for sensitive little ones, but also for those who may want to empathize better with hypersensitive folks!

Sensitive is a thoughtful, reflective book about how it's ok to have emotions and feel them strongly. I think this book is more appropriate for grade school kids than toddlers, and will really speak to the kids that are often told they feel too much and are too sensitive. The art style was great at reflecting the chaos and calm described in the book.

Thanks to Lerner Publishing Books, Carolrhoda Books, and Netgalley for the EArc in exchange for an honest review.

Sara Levine’s “Sensitive” is a sweet story about a girl who has big feelings. She is criticized for her sensitivity with words that press against her heart. Then, after some alone time and rest, she realizes that those words can be changed to affirmations to celebrate who she is as an individual.

Mehrdokht Amini’s collage illustrations help the reader visualize the impact of hurtful phrases and the joy of rest and recovery.


I love the acknowledgement that sometimes sensitive individuals need alone time to do quiet activities such as read books or just be in nature. If you have a sensitive kiddo or were a sensitive kiddo yourself, this book is for you.


This book is great for kids and grown-ups. It will help readers better understand themselves and those they might know who are more sensitive to the world.

Thanks to Netgalley and Carolrhoda Books for an advance reader copy in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are my own.