Pistes d'exploration

Share personal experiences of anger. Discuss what makes you angry, how you react and how you resolve your anger.

As the teacher reads, close your eyes and visualize the scene outside Sophie’s house (rocks, trees, water, breeze). Notice the feelings in your body as you visit this serene setting in your imagination.

Notice the use of colour and line in the illustrations. On a large sheet of paper divided in half, use markers, pastels or paint to represent feelings of anger versus calm.

Brainstorm and list different kinds of emotions.

After the read-aloud, look at the pictures again. Discuss how Sophie’s emotions are illustrated, noting the colours and fonts.

Discuss feelings: What do you do when you are angry? How can you calm down? Make a class list of useful words.

Draw a tryptic using colours, lines and fonts in the style of the illustrator. In the first box, show what makes you angry and how you express it. In the second box, draw how you calm down. In the third, draw yourself feeling better. Write a legend at the bottom. Explain your art to a peer.

Happy, In My Heart: A Book of Feelings

Mots-clés

Picture book , anger , brothers and sisters , family life , feelings , self-expression , sharing

Commentaire descriptif

Children will relate to Sophie’s anger and sense of injustice when her sister grabs her toy, making her fall down. Hurt, frustrated and, above all, really mad, Sophie’s process from slow-burn to explosion is beautifully conveyed in both language and illustration: “She wants to smash the world to smithereens.” The image shows Sophie stamping—her shadow casts a giant, intimidating fist. When Sophie runs outside in a rage, the healing power of nature begins. The brightly painted illustrations use strong forms, with outlines in unexpected colours. They emit a powerful sense of place; city children may marvel at the large territory Sophie freely roams. She sits high in a tree, overlooking the bay. A lighthouse and village can be seen, while the wind blows whitecaps along the water. Back through the woods again, young readers will recognize the same landscape from a new perspective. They’ll likely spot Sophie’s house and vegetable garden. Yellow-outlined evergreens point the way home. The final image shows both girls in their parents’ laps, all doing a puzzle: “Everything's back together again.”