Emotions in Motion

Emotions in Motion by Rose Stanley, illustrated by Lisa Allen (Starfish Bay Children’s Books)

PB RRP $14.99

ISBN 9780994100290

Reviewed by Leigh Owen

Emotions in Motion is a picture concept book suitable for sharing with 4-8 year olds. On each double page spread an emotion is assigned a colour, a face and a feeling. Rose Stanley’s descriptions of feelings are particularly insightful and imaginative: Confusion feels like walking in a maze of trees that all look the same.

Ten emotions, both positive and negative, are covered.

Lisa Allen’s illustrations are simple yet show some delightful details that children will love to spot (look out for the dragon).The sweet line-drawn characters clearly convey facial expressions and colour washes are either soft or vibrant, to complement each feeling.

There are exercises and discussion points in the back of the book; however, a more natural approach would be to talk about each concept as read. The use of the ‘colour wheel’ at the end of the book doesn’t seem to add value to the core topic of emotions. Also the colour for ‘Peace’ is somewhat inaccurate – that is, stated as bright, sky blue but more of pastel green in the main illustration and wheel. This might be confusing for children still learning their colours.

The value of this book lies it its capacity to promote discussion in which children can verbalise their own feelings and begin to understand the strange and sometimes overwhelming forces that are emotions.