A preschooler can point to an angry face long before they can say “frustrated.” Good picture books about feelings close that gap by putting a face, a color and a word on what is happening inside. Here are 12 we trust for preschool, sorted by emotion, each with one circle time question. You also get a which-book-when guide and a 5-day feelings unit you can teach next week.
The short version
- Start with four feelings (happy, sad, mad, scared) and one book for each, read in five to seven minutes.
- Best first picks: The Color Monster for all feelings, Grumpy Monkey for mad, The Rabbit Listened for sad, Wemberly Worried for worry.
- Stop once on the biggest page and ask “How do you know?” so children notice eyebrows, mouths and colors.
- Pair each book with a 10-minute activity: mirror faces, a clothespin check-in chart, color jars or a brave tunnel crawl.
- Use the 5-day unit below: one feeling a day, Monday to Friday, one book and one activity each.
What makes a good feelings book for preschool?
Preschoolers feel everything at full volume and have very few words for it. The books that work in a classroom share four traits:
- One character, one big feeling. Children remember Grumpy Monkey, not a book that lists twenty emotions.
- Faces you can read from the carpet. Clear eyebrows, mouths and colors do half the teaching.
- Body clues. “Her face got hot. His tummy felt tight.” Naming where a feeling lives comes before naming the feeling.
- A way through, not a fix. The character feels it fully, then something helps: a breath, a friend, a light at the end of a tunnel.
Keep each read to five to seven minutes, with room to stop once or twice.
12 picture books about feelings, sorted by emotion
Each book comes with one circle time question. One good question beats five rushed ones.
The Color Monster: A Story About Emotions
Anna Llenas · All the feelingsA little girl helps a mixed-up monster sort his feelings into jars by color. Yellow is happy, blue is sad, red is angry, black is fear and green is calm. Ask: “What color are you right now?”
In My Heart: A Book of Feelings
Jo Witek, illustrated by Christine Roussey · All the feelingsEach spread describes one feeling by how it feels inside. It teaches a big idea in small words: feelings show up in the body first. Ask: “Where do you feel happy? Show me.”
The Way I Feel
Janan Cain · Feelings wordsShort rhymes and bold faces teach words past the basic four, like frustrated, proud, jealous and bored. Use it to grow your class feelings vocabulary. Ask: “Can you make a proud face?”
Today I Feel Silly
Jamie Lee Curtis, illustrated by Laura Cornell · Moods that changeA girl wakes up in a new mood each day, from silly to cranky to joyful. The message lands gently: moods come and go. Ask: “Did you feel the same way all morning?”
Glad Monster, Sad Monster
Ed Emberley and Anne Miranda · Faces and playCut-out monster masks make this one hands-on. Children hold up a mask and say what makes them glad, sad or mad. Ask: “What makes you feel glad?”
Grumpy Monkey
Suzanne Lang, illustrated by Max Lang · Grumpy and madJim the chimpanzee is grumpy for no reason, and everyone tells him to cheer up. Preschoolers learn that grumpy is allowed, and it passes. Ask: “What helps you when you feel grumpy?”
When Sophie Gets Angry, Really, Really Angry
Molly Bang · Big angerSophie's anger is drawn in hot reds and jagged lines. She runs outside until the wind and a big tree help her cool down. Ask: “What color is mad? What color is calm?”
Llama Llama Mad at Mama
Anna Dewdney · Mad and making upA bored little llama melts down on a shopping trip, and Mama helps him make it right. It shows that mad and loved can happen on the same page. Ask: “How did Llama and Mama fix it?”
Wemberly Worried
Kevin Henkes · WorryWemberly worries about everything, especially starting school, until she meets a friend who worries too. Read it before any big change. Ask: “What is one thing you used to worry about?”
Ruby Finds a Worry
Tom Percival · Worry that growsRuby's worry starts small and grows every day she ignores it. When she talks about it, it shrinks. Ask: “What makes a worry smaller?”
Rally Takes the Train
Kelsey Lizee Cecil, illustrated by Leslie Dunn · Scared, then braveOur own book, so weigh this entry knowing that: a real corgi rides the train with Mom and Dad, gets scared in a dark tunnel, then sees a big bright light. Scared is one page, not the whole book, so it is a gentle five-minute way to practice scared-then-brave. Ask: “What helped Rally feel brave?”
The Rabbit Listened
Cori Doerrfeld · Sad and disappointedTaylor's block tower gets knocked down. The other animals all have advice, but the rabbit sits close and listens. Ask: “How can we be a rabbit for a friend?”
Planning a brave-and-scared day?Rally Takes the Train gives you one dark tunnel page and one big bright light, in a five-minute rhyming read. Hand-painted watercolor, ages 0 to 8.
Buy on AmazonWhich feelings book should I read today?
Most teachers pick a feelings book because of something that happened at 10 a.m. Use this guide to match the book to the moment, then use the exact line in the last column.
| If this is happening | Read | Then say |
|---|---|---|
| A tower got knocked down and tears followed | The Rabbit Listened | “You can be sad. I’ll sit with you.” |
| Hitting or shouting all week | When Sophie Gets Angry | “Mad is okay. Hitting is not. What could Sophie do?” |
| A child is grumpy and nothing helps | Grumpy Monkey | “You don’t have to cheer up. Grumpy passes.” |
| First-day nerves, a move or a new baby | Wemberly Worried | “Lots of people worry. What makes yours smaller?” |
| The same worry keeps coming back | Ruby Finds a Worry | “Talking about a worry shrinks it. Want to tell me?” |
| Kids can’t name what they feel yet | The Color Monster | “What color are you right now?” |
| The room is wound up after a party | Today I Feel Silly | “How has your feeling changed since breakfast?” |
How do you read a feelings book at circle time?
With a feelings book, you read for the faces, not the plot. This five-step pattern works with any book above:
- Start with the cover. Say: “Look at his face. How do you think he feels?” Accept every answer.
- Stop once, on the biggest page. Pick the page where the feeling peaks. Don’t stop on every page.
- Ask “How do you know?” It is the most useful question in the unit. Children move from guessing to noticing eyebrows, mouths and colors.
- Make the face together. Everyone makes a worried face, then a brave one. Preschoolers learn feelings with their whole bodies.
- End with what helped. Say: “When Sophie was mad, she went outside and breathed. What can you do?”
For more prompts that fit two and three year olds, see our list of questions to ask toddlers during a story.
How do you talk to preschoolers about being scared?
Children bring “scared” to school often and talk about it rarely. Books help when the scary part is short and something good waits on the other side. In Rally Takes the Train, the train rolls into a dark tunnel:
“And although Rally was scared with nothing in sight, he quickly saw a big and bright light.”
Rally Takes the Train
Pause there and ask what helped. Children name the light first. Then someone notices Mom and Dad were beside him the whole time.
That is the real answer, and it is worth saying to a nervous class out loud: “Rally was scared, and he was not alone.” For children who fear the dark at nap time, share our guide for a toddler scared of the dark with families.
5 feelings activities for preschool (10 minutes each)
1. Clothespin check-in chart
Draw four faces on a poster: happy, sad, mad, scared. Each child clips a named clothespin on at arrival and again after lunch. Noticing a feeling changed is a lesson in itself.
2. Mirror faces
Pass a hand mirror around the circle and call out a feeling. Each child makes it. Then try harder ones, like proud and surprised.
3. Color jars
After The Color Monster, set out clear jars and colored pom-poms. Children drop in one pom-pom and finish the sentence “I feel ___ because ___.”
4. The brave tunnel
Set up a play tunnel, or two rows of children making arches with their arms. Each child crawls through, takes one big breath in the “dark,” and says something brave at the “light.”
5. Color the feeling
Print a page from our free coloring pages and activity pack. Ask children to color it the way the character feels on that page.
A 5-day preschool feelings unit
One feeling a day keeps it simple. Copy this into your plan book as is.
| Day | Feeling | Read | Do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Happy and silly | Today I Feel Silly | Mirror faces |
| Tuesday | Mad | Grumpy Monkey | Three slow “dragon breaths” |
| Wednesday | Sad | The Rabbit Listened | Listening partners: one talks, one listens |
| Thursday | Scared and brave | Ruby Finds a Worry | The brave tunnel |
| Friday | All of them | The Color Monster | Color jars and a class feelings chart |
For a reusable before, during and after template, our picture book lesson plan for preschool fits any book on this list.
Free feelings resources for your classroom
US preschool and early elementary teachers can request a free classroom copy of Rally Takes the Train. Our classroom page has more ways to use it.
The book has its own feelings story. Kelsey Lizee Cecil wrote it to finish a book her mom dreamed up before she died. You can read the story behind the book on our site.
When feelings stay big
Most preschool storms pass in minutes. If a child seems stuck in sadness, fear or anger for weeks, or the family is going through a loss, talk with the family. Their pediatrician can help, and books are a support, not a replacement.
Monday's circle time, sortedRead the tunnel page, ask “What helped Rally feel brave?”, then crawl through a brave tunnel. Five minutes of reading, ages 0 to 8, $13.99.
Get the bookQuestions teachers ask
How do you teach feelings to preschoolers?
Start with four feelings (happy, sad, mad and scared) and connect each one to a face and a body clue. Read one book per feeling and model the words during the day, like “I feel frustrated because the glue spilled.” Add a daily check-in chart so children practice naming how they feel, and teach one calming step for each feeling.
What emotions should preschoolers learn first?
Most early childhood programs begin with happy, sad, mad and scared, because children can see them clearly on faces. Once those are solid, add worried, excited, frustrated, proud, surprised and calm. Frustrated and proud are especially useful in a classroom. Preschoolers feel both many times a day but rarely have a word for either one.
What is a good book for a preschooler who is worried about school?
Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes is a classic for first-day nerves: a little mouse worries about everything until she meets a friend who worries too. Ruby Finds a Worry by Tom Percival shows a worry growing when it is ignored and shrinking when it is shared. Read either one before a big change, then ask what makes a worry smaller.
How do you help a preschooler calm down when they are angry?
Stay close and calm, and name the feeling for them: “You are mad because your turn ended.” Offer one simple body tool you have practiced when calm, like three slow breaths or squeezing a pillow. Talk about what happened only after the storm passes. Books like When Sophie Gets Angry give children a picture of cooling down to remember.
How long should a read-aloud be for 3 year olds?
Plan on five to seven minutes of reading plus a few minutes of talk. Three year olds can sit longer for a book with a strong rhythm or a clear feeling, and less for a long, wordy one. Stop once or twice at the biggest moment rather than on every page, then finish the story so the ending lands.
What is social emotional learning in preschool?
Social emotional learning is how young children learn to notice, name and manage their feelings and get along with others. In preschool it looks like feelings words, taking turns, calming tools and kind words for a friend. Picture books are one of the easiest ways to teach it, because children can study a character's face and talk about it safely.
At what age can children name their feelings?
Many children start using simple feeling words like happy, sad and mad around age 2 to 3, and begin to explain why they feel that way around 4 to 5. Every child moves at their own pace, and some understand feeling words long before they say them. Naming feelings for children out loud, all day, is one of the best ways to help them catch up.
What is a good picture book about being brave for preschool?
Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall follows a boy working up the courage to jump off the diving board, and it shows that brave can mean taking your time. Rally Takes the Train is a gentler pick: a corgi is scared in a dark tunnel for one page, then sees a big bright light. US teachers can request a free classroom copy.
How do you use picture books to teach empathy in preschool?
Stop on a page where a character feels something big and ask “How does she feel?” then “What could a friend do to help?” Children practice reading faces and thinking about someone else without the pressure of a real conflict. The Rabbit Listened works well here. Later, point back to the book when a classmate is sad: “Can you be a rabbit for Maya?”
What books should go in a preschool calm down corner?
Choose three or four short, familiar feelings books with clear faces, so children can look at them alone. The Color Monster, Grumpy Monkey and In My Heart work well because the pictures tell the story. Add a feelings chart, a soft pillow and a hand mirror. Rotate the books every few weeks, but keep one favorite there all year for comfort.