I Am Angry
by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Robert Starling
Interest age: 2 to 5
Published by Walker Books, 2021
About this book
The little blue cat in this book is angry. They’re so angry that they’d like to bully bees, boil words and grind up games, squash the moon and terrify the sun. We’ve all been there. However, after all that anger, the little blue cat feels pretty tired. Perhaps it’s time for bed.
This fun rhyming tale acknowledges the big emotions that little ones experience and enables 2 to 4 year-olds to find a vocabulary for the way they feel when they get cross. Michael Rosen writes at the beginning of the book that the text was inspired as he watched his youngest child get angry one day, and explores the idea that, when you’re very little, anger feels like it can take over the whole world. Also, he observes, much of the anger experienced by little ones is often related to wanting to be bigger. By gently laughing at these big rages, Rosen hopes that he can reassure children that even if anger sometimes feels big, it usually doesn’t last very long.
Robert Starling’s expressive and big illustrations are a perfect match for this lovely book, as is the nice large, bold font which makes this a super accessible, fun read for toddlers and preschoolers.
About the author
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