Sinarski, Jessica. Riley the Brave’s Big Feelings Activity Book: A trauma informed guide for counselors, educators, and parents. . Illustrated by Zachary Kline. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2023.

Guide to categories: Kid Review – review of books for elementary-aged and younger children

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Summary

Roaring, grumping, knots in tummies…Making sense of big feelings can be tricky. Riley the Brave and his safe big critters are here to help! Enjoy60+ fun activities and trauma-sensitive strategies to help children understand the brain science behind those big MAD, SAD, and SCARED emotions…and what to do about it!

Bright illustrations and familiar characters encourage children as they dig into their prickly porcupine moments, timid turtle moments, and all the feelings in between. An introduction for grown-ups will help you make the most of this treasure trove of games, printable masks, colorful cards, word searches, action plans, and more! Work one-on-one or easily adapt these strength-based activities for group settings. Lesson plans and frequent “Try This!” sections make this the ultimate resource for parents, teachers, counselors, and anyone else supporting children with big feelings.

Purchase Riley the Brave’s Big Feelings Activity book on Amazon

My Kid Review

The opening pages of Riley the Brave’s Big Feelings Activity Book help adults better understand the children in their lives who live with sensory challenges. The second section includes activities to help children get to know their feelings. Another section helps the child better understand their brain. Four of the remaining sections of the book are devoted to activities to help children deal with the emotions of happy, mad, scared, and sad. The final section includes additional activities. The activities in this book would be beneficial for those helping children deal with their big emotions. 

One thing I would like to see the publisher’s offer is the permission to copy the pages for educators and counselors or for them to have an option for downloading the resources from their website. The price of the book, while well-worth it, is a little high for educators and counselors to pay when they have multiple students who need to work through the book (and often have to pay for this kind of material out of pocket). 

While parents, educators and counselors would benefit from this book, it is not appropriate for a school library since it is a consumable. 

I received a complimentary copy of Riley the Brave’s Big Feeling Activity Book. This is my honest review

About the Author – JESSICA SINARSKI, LPCMH

Jessica’s superpower is making brain science accessible and entertaining for children and adults alike. Extensive post-graduate training and 15+ years as a therapist, consultant, and educator led her to create the resource and training platform—BraveBrains. In addition to speaking engagements all over the country, Jessica partners with schools, child welfare agencies, and other organizations to help adults become healers for hurting children. She is also the mom of 3 busy boys.

Jessica created a framework based on the concepts introduced in her award-winning picture book, RILEY THE BRAVE, which is available in English and Spanish. The series has grown and is now empowering children and their “safe big critters” in over 20 different countries. Jessica serves on the editorial board for The Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma and on the board of directors at Cardinal McCloskey Community Services, the largest Head Start provider in the Bronx, NY. She is also the author of the Your Magic Backpack series, which helps kids talk about big feelings and tough topics.

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