When I read this book to children, I usually begin by telling them that we all get angry, and we all have ways of dealing with it, and this is a book about a girl who got very very angry, and what she did. After I've read the book, I ask 3 questions:
- What makes you really, really angry?
- How do you know when you're angry? How does your body feel?
- What do you do when you get really, really angry?
I listen to everyone's response, just listen and nod. Then I go over the various steps in Sophie's anger: screaming and roaring, shaking, stomping and kicking, wanting to smash the world to smithereens, running until she was worn out, crying, climbing a tree and letting the "wide world comfort her". I ask them if they think what she did was helpful in getting rid of her anger, and what they might do instead. Is there anything her sister or Mom might have done instead?
For me, the basic question is:
How can we express our anger without
causing harm to ourselves, to others, or to any thing?
ISBN 0-590-18979-4
Blue Sky Press, a Registered Trademark of Scholastic, Inc.
Copyright © 1999 by Molly Bang. First Mulberry Edition 1992.
|
