When Sophie gets Angry

Last week I told you that I have a hard time choosing my favorite books, there are just too many that are amazing, and perfect for different seasons, themes, lessons, situations – you name it.  When Sophie Gets Angry – Really Really Angry is one of my favorite social emotional stories, because it is so honest.  I was introduced to this book by the first teacher that I worked with after graduating from college. She had this story in her Peace Corner (at a Montessori School) and I read it to nearly every child in the class at some point or another. 

This book tells the story of Sophie, who gets angry with her little sister because her sister has taken her toys.  Sophie gets so upset that she yells and kicks things and then she runs out of the house.  It also tells about the ways that she calms herself down, by sitting in a tree, looking at all of the beautiful things around her, and taking deep breaths.  Finally it shows Sophie returning to her house, where her parents are waiting to welcome her back, and where she resumes her day.  

I love this book because at no point in the story is Sophie ever judged, yelled at, or disciplined for getting angry.  It shows children that it is ok to be angry, and that there are appropriate ways to show that particular emotion.  It also gives examples of appropriate ways to calm themselves down, and encourages them to take a few minutes to themselves to calm down.  

Anger, really strong anger, can be a scary emotion for young children, especially when they do not have a lot of experience with it.  It is also one of the first emotions that teachers and parents really have to help children work through because it can be dangerous if children do not know how to appropriately express it.  This story is perfect for introducing anger and starting conversations about how to deal with and express anger because it is short and to the point, it gets the message across quickly, so that children do not get so lost in the story that they forget about the issues that they were having in the first place.  

I spend a lot of time in the classroom talking about emotions, putting out fires that started because feelings were hurt, teaching vocabulary and phrases to describe emotions and feelings, and modeling socially acceptable behaviors and conversations.  There are a lot of teachers who will agree with me when I say that I can talk about something all day long, but only after I read a story about it do my students finally understand. This is one of those books that I can read and they will GET the concept, and that makes it very valuable! You can find When Sophie Gets Angry – Really Really Angry on amazon.com (Photo from amazon.com)