Sometimes I'm Bombaloo

Author: RAchel Vail

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Anger Controll

Year of Publication: 2002

Publisher & Location: Scholastic Inc., Singapore

ISBN#: 0439669413
978-0439669412

Target Age Level: Beginning

# of Pages: 32

Quality of Illustrations: Good

Brief Summary:
katie talks about how she's generally a good person: "...I'm a really good kid. I smile a lot because usually I'm happy, and I give excellent hugs."
"But," she explains, "sometimes I'm Bombaloo." She shows her teeth, makes fierce noises and scrunches up her face." I use my feet and my fists instead of my words." After a time-out, she'll calm down and apologize to her brother. The book doesn't minimize the strength of the feelings: "While she is Bombaloo, she is not sorry, she is angry and hates everything and everyone. After Katie calms down she is sorry and a little frightened. She says that it is scary being Bombaloo. Her mother hugs her and helps her to clean up the mess.

The book neither excuses nor judges Bombaloo-style anger. Instead, it shows the feelings that occur before, during, and after it, and offers parents and kids the hope of resolution.

Activity: The child could list what makes them angry and then identify ways they could calm down.

Coping with Anger

Author: Pam Scheunemann
Year of Publication: 2004
ISBN # 1-59197-559X
Age Level: K-2 Pre-School
# of pages: 23 p.
Quality of illustrations: Full color photographs.

Brief Summary: Quote:

"These book offer brief explanations of what each topic means and then provide ideas about how to cope with various situations. They end with the same question: "What can you do to keep the peace?" Ideas for anger management include talking to someone, taking a time out, exercise, and writing or drawing your thoughts. Some suggestions for dealing with bullies include talking with an adult, staying away from aggressors, and finding new friends. The third volume explains that different families celebrate different holidays or speak different languages. It encourages readers to learn about other ways of life through their friends. Large, full-color photographs of children of various ethnic backgrounds clearly show their feelings through facial expressions. Functional books for use in classroom discussion or with counselors.–Sandra Welzenbach, Villarreal Elementary School, San Antonio, TX"

Activities: Charades.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Author/authors: Judith Viorst (Ray Cruz)

Type of emotional/crisis issues addressed: anger, conflict resolution

Year of publication: 1987

Publisher: Aladdin

ISBN#: 978-0689711732

Age level: Lower Elementary

# of pages: 32

Quality of illustrations: Good; excellent character expressions

Brief summary: Alexander has a horrible beginning to his day, getting gum in his hair, tripping over his skateboard, and dropping his sweater in the sink.  His day keeps getting worse and Alexander vows to move to Australia.

Activity: Write a class book about the worst day ever.  Have each student write one page and illustrate it about the worst thing that has happened to them.

When Sophie Gets Angry.. Really, Really Angry...

Author: Molly Band

Type or emotional/crisis issue addressed: anger /conflict resolution

Year of Publication: 1999
Publisher and Location: Scholastic Inc.
ISBN-10: 0439213193
Target Age Level: Pre K, lower elementary
# of Pages: 34
Quality of Illustrations: good

Brief Summary:

Sophie, a pre-school grade 2 gets angry when her sister demands a turn playing with a favorite stuffed gorilla. Things got orse Matters worsen when Sophie's mother says it’s her sister turn to play. Sophie trips over a toy truck and gets really, really angry. She kicks, screams, slams the door and runs "She runs and runs and runs until she can't run anymore. Then, for a little while, she cries." Gradually, a calmer Sophie begins noticing birds and ferns. When she returns home, relaxed again, her sister has abandoned the gorilla in favor of a tabletop puzzle.

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children:
A nice way of showing that anger is ok and that there are appropriate ways to deal with it without hurting other. This boos is a wonderful way of reinforcing the message that feelings can change and become manageable.

Activity: Discussion: coloring pictures with different colors that represents different stages of anger.

Posted by Nalu de Araujo Nun

Angry

Author: Susan Riley
Type or emotional/crisis issue addressed: Anger
Year of Publication: 2000
Publisher and Location: The Child’s World, Inc., San Juan Capistrano, CA
ISBN# 1567666671
Target Age Level: Elementary
# of Pages: 32
Quality of Illustrations: Photographs
Brief Summary: A child explains what angers him and how he sometimes angers other people.
Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children: Sometimes the child in the picture looks like he’s about to laugh rather than really angry.
Activity: Have the child discuss what things make him/her angry and what he/she can do to help resolve it.

Whirligig

Title: Whirligig

Author: Paul Fleischman

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Anger, Conflict Resolution

Year of Publication: 1999

Publisher & Location: Random House Publishing

ISBN#: 9780440228356

Target Age Level: Young Adult, Teens

# of Pages: 144

Quality of Illustrations: none

Brief Summary: In a drunken rage, 16-year old Brent leaves a party and inadvertently causes the death of a high school girl. For restitution, the girl’s family asks that Brent build a whirligig (type of windmill) on the four corners of the United States. As Brent travels, his anger is changed into repentance and ultimately his journey is one of healing.

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book: sensitive subject matter

Post Reading Activities: This book provides a reader with a sense of hope- hope that someone can change and become a “good person” even after committing a grievous act. This book could be used to help a person process their own emotions after an accidental or purposeful act that resulted in the harm of another person.

When Sophie Gets Angry-Really, Really Angry…

Type of emotional/crisis issues addressed: ANGER

Author/Authors: Molly Bang

Year of publication: 1999

Publisher & Location: Scholastic, Inc

Book title: When Sophie Gets Angry-Really, Really Angry…

ISBN #: 0-439-59845-1

Age Level: Lower Elementary

# of pages: 33

Quality of illustrations: bright and attractive

Brief Summary: Sophie is playing with her pet gorilla when her sister comes and takes it. Sophie becomes very upset so she kicks and screams. The book continues to describe how she feels when she is angry. Sophie then runs into the woods and begins to calm down until she is no longer mad. Once she feels better she returns home and she isn’t angry anymore.

Post reading activity:

1. While reading the story have the children use musical instruments to be loud while Sophie is angry. As Sophie begins to calm down, have the children use their instruments quieter and quieter for each page until Sophie is calm. After the story talk about the difference in how angry sounded versus calm.
2. Talk about what makes kids angry and how do they act when they are angry. Talk about what calms them down and makes them feel better.
3. Refer to the page where Sophie feels like a volcano. Brainstorm different ways anger can be described (a sunny day turning into a storm, turning into the Incredible Hulk, a comet falling from the sky and hitting the earth, etc). Give each child a piece of paper with a thermometer on it with 5 sections. In each section starting with the bottom, draw a picture of the visual of building towards anger. For example, if anger is like a storm, the first section would have a sunny day. The second one would have a sun partially covered in a cloud. The third one would only be dark clouds. The fourth section would have dark clouds with rain and the final section would have dark clouds with rain and lightning. Then have each child draw or write things they can do when their thermometer is getting higher.

When I Feel Angry

Author: Cornelia Maude Spelman

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Anger

Year of Publication: 2000

Publisher & Location: Albert Whitman & Company, Morton Grove, IL

ISBN#: 0-8075-8897-0

Target Age Level: Pre-K

# of Pages: 22

Quality of Illustrations: Good

Brief Summary: A little rabbit learns what anger is and how to control it.

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children: Describes anger in a way that young children can understand it.

Activities: Talk about scenarios that make us angry and then role-play how we feel and what we can do.

When Sophie Gets Angry -- Really, Really Angry

Author: Molly Bang

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Anger

Year of Publication: 1999

Publisher & Location: Scholastic, Inc.

ISBN#: 0439213193

Target Age Level: preschool, lower elementary

Quality of Illustrations: Excellent

Brief Summary: From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2-Sophie is playing with her stuffed gorilla when her sister wrests it from her, knocking her to the floor. When their mother agrees that it is her sister's turn to play with the toy, Sophie becomes so angry that "She wants to smash the world to smithereens." She kicks, screams, and eventually runs into the woods where she climbs a huge beech tree, looks out over the water, and is comforted by the "wide world." Calm, she returns home ready to participate in family life. The text is appropriately brief, for it is Bang's double-page illustrations, vibrating with saturated colors, that reveal the drama of the child's emotions.

Mad Isn't Bad

Author: Michaelene Mundy; Illustrated by R.W. Alley

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Anger

Year of Publication: 1999

Publisher & Location: Abbey Press; St. Meinrad, IN

ISBN#: 0-87029-3331-1

Target Age Level: Lower elementary

# of Pages: 32

Quality of Illustrations: colorful, non-threatening

Brief Summary: Book about an elf that is learning to deal with his anger. Discusses what causes anger in children/people, talks about why anger isn't "bad", and how to use anger positively. Talks about how to obtain help from adults and how anger can lead to negative and unhealthy behaviors.

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children: Good book to use for anger, but can also be used to talk about other negative emotions. Anger tends to be a common response to a variety of trauma or crises so this is a helpful book for children.

Activity:
1. Read book 2. Talk about a time the child was mad and how they dealt with it 3. Talk about options (both good and bad) of behaviors when the child is mad 4. Have the child draw or write out what they plan to do next time they get angy.

Touching Spirit Bear

Author: Ben Mikaelsen

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: fighting, stealing, anger, violence

Year of Publication: 2001

Publisher & Location: HarperTeen, NYC, NY

ISBN#: 978-0-380-80560-0

Target Age Level: Junior High, High School

# of Pages: 240

Quality of Illustrations: none

Brief Summary: Cole Matthews is angry. Angry, defiant, smug--in short, a bully. His anger has taken him too far this time, though. After beating up a ninth-grade classmate to the point of brain damage, Cole is facing a prison sentence. But then a Tlingit Indian parole officer named Garvey enters his life, offering an alternative called Circle Justice, based on Native American traditions, in which victim, offender, and community all work together to find a healing solution. Privately, Cole sneers at the concept, but he's no fool--if it gets him out of prison, he'll do anything. Ultimately, Cole ends up banished for one year to a remote Alaskan island, where his arrogance sets him directly in the path of a mysterious, legendary white bear. Mauled almost to death, Cole awaits his fate and begins the transition from anger to humility. Ben Mikaelsen's depiction of a juvenile delinquent's metamorphosis into a caring, thinking individual is exciting and fascinating, if at times heavy-handed. Cole's nastiness and the vivid depictions of the lengths he must go to survive after the (equally vivid) attack by the bear are excruciating at times, but the concept of finding a way to heal a whole community when one individual wrongs another is compelling. (Ages 12 and older) --Emilie Coulter

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children: This book is useful for use with angry adolescents. Can be used for adolescents with substance abuse problems, aggression, guns/weapons, and any kind of anger problems.

Activity:
Typically discussions about the book are best for this type of book. Assign the adolescent to read only a certain number of chapters, then have them "finish the story" (what they think will happen next). Discuss it, then have them read on. You can do this at different parts in the book.