Twenty-Two Feelings from Nice to Nasty

Elizabeth Levin is a professor of psychology at Laurentian University.

The idea of a book for younger readers that explores various emotions is
a sound one. Unfortunately, Twenty-Two Feelings from Nice to Nasty does
not live up to its promise to assist children in getting in touch with
their feelings. Alternating between a negative emotion and a positive
one, 22 feelings are presented, ranging from secure and respected to
desperate and envious, though “nice” is not one of them.

The stories are presented as tongue twisters, such as “Hoping to help
halt homelessness, Hattie houses hamsters in her huge hair,” “Anger
gives Annie an amazing appetite,” and “Eva’s envy escalates,
eroding Eva’s enjoyment.” Having each emotion explained using words
beginning with the same letter only seems to make the emotion harder to
understand. Each vignette is accompanied by a colorful illustration, but
these are not enough to hold a child’s attention for a cover-to-cover
reading of the book. While one might want to refer to the book to
discuss a particular emotion with a child, this would not be a
first-choice purchase.