15 Spanish/Bilingual Books about Feelings
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How many feelings can your students name? We tend to ask our students how they feel or how a situation made them feel multiple times per day (especially during recess 😌) and the response we usually get is sad, angry or mad; but when you ask students to describe those feelings it is hard for them to recognize,express and deal with a particular emotion, this might happen because they are dealing with a different or difficult situation like when they are dealing with a loss, feel stressed, or experience jealously or anger.
Here is a list of books that can help your student (or child) to not only recognize how they are feeling, but also to express and deal with those emotions. It also reassures them that they are not the only ones that feel that way, which is a great conversation starter.
Share this with your school librarian or a bilingual teacher. Here is a list of all of these bilingual books we found to build your classroom or home library.
15 Spanish or Bilingual Books About Feelings
1. El monstruo de colores by Anna Llenas (The Color Monster: A Pop-Up Book of Feelings)
We teach children how to identify colors, numbers, shapes, and letters—but what about their feelings? By illustrating such common emotions as happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and calm, this sensitive book gently encourages young children to open up with parents and teachers.
The English version has a 3-D pop-ups on every page.
You can find all the books here Kinder Bilingue's amazon wish list store.
2. El Pez Pucheros by Deborah Diesen (A Pout-Pout Fish Adventure)
This is great when little ones are in a bad mood but don't know why. On this book, they swim along the Pout-Pout fish as he discovers that being glum and spreading "dreary wearies" isn't really his destiny. Bright ocean colors and playful rhyme come together in this fun fish story that's sure to turn little pouts into big smiles.
You can find the original English version here.
3.Cipariso: No se olvida lo que se muere, se muere lo que se olvida by Marta Sanmamed (Cyparissus: That which dies is never forgotten; that which is forgotten,dies)
This is geared towards upper elementary grades (Lexile level:1010L) and it is such an important topic that we wish children shouldn't go through. It helps children cope with the loss of a pet and overcome the grief process learning to confront other losses they have in their life.
You can find the original English version here.
4.Cuerpo de nube by Ana Eulate (Little Cloud Lamb)
A touching and sensitive story for all ages, about accepting differences and dealing with the loss of a loved one.
You can find the original English version here.
5. Los sentimientos (Feelings) by Stephanie Reid
In this wordless book, children will be inspired to tell their own stories with this filled with engaging, colorful images that show children all types of different facial expressions. This book allows for a wonderful shared reading experience for children who do not yet know how to read or who are just beginning to learn. The images tell a story of their own.
6. I Have Feelings / Tengo sentimientos by Bobbie Kalman (Bilingual)
This book explores the world of emotions and helps children identify their own feelings. Entertaining photographs show young readers what emotions look like on children's faces.
7. Prudencia se preocupa by Kevin Henkes (Wemberly Worried)
Kevin Henkes shares Wemberly's story, a little mouse that is worried about everything, big and small things, all throughout the day. When it is time to start school she is even more worried, the story shows that being worried is a normal feeling, but it also shows that when you are having fun you tend to worry less.
8. El peor día de toda mi vida/ The WORST Day of My Life EVER by Julia Cook (Bilingual)
When students are having a bad day and feel it is the worst day of their lives, they will connect with Rico (RJ in the English text) he wakes up with gum in his hair, misses recess because he s late to school, and kicks the ball into his own team's soccer goal! After his mom helps him learn the skills of listening and following instructions, Rico finds that he can have the BEST day of his life. Tips for parents and educators on how to reinforce the skills with children are included. Each colorfully illustrated page includes both the Spanish and English text.
Great to use with children in grades K-6 who are learning to speak and read either language.
9. Una vez tuve mucho miedo by Chandra Ghosnh Ippen (Once I Was a Very Very Scared)
A little squirrel announces that he was once very, very, scared and finds out that he is not alone. Lots of little animals went through scary experiences, but they react in different ways. Turtle hides and gets a tummy ache, monkey clings, dog barks, and elephant doesn’t like to talk about it. They need help, and they get help from grown-ups who help them feel safe and learn ways to cope with difficult feelings. This story was written to help children and grown-ups understand how stress can affect children and ways to help them.
10. ¿Cómo dicen ESTOY ENOJADO los dinosaurios? by Janet Yolen (How Do Dinosaurs Say I'M MAD!)
R-O-A-R! What happens when little dinosaurs get mad? And how do they calm down? Brimming with humor, this sparkling new book handles a timeless children's topic with wit and wisdom. Romp and stomp! Roar and slam! Almost everyone gets angry. But how can young dinosaurs also learn to calm down, take a time out, and behave?The award-winning team of Yolen and Teague have created a fun, engaging book sure to help children handle anger and frustration. Readers will laugh at the antics of an Afrovenator's tantrum and a storming Pachyrhinosaurus.
11.Cuando Sofia se enoja, se enoja de veras by Molly Banks (When Sophie Gets Angry---Really, Really Angry...)
Everybody gets angry sometimes. For children, anger can be very upsetting. Parents, teachers, and children can talk about it. People do lots of different things when they get angry. In this Caldecott-honor book, kids will see what Sophie does when she gets angry. My students really like this book, because with color, Molly Banks shows what it feels like to be really, really angry.
12. Asi me siento yo by Janan Cain (The Way I Feel)
The illustrations and story is very entertaining and well written. If I could only change one thing about this book would be the Spanish translation for the word silly. On the book, is is translated as tonta which means dumb, I would instead use for the word chistosa(o).
This book uses words and situations familiar to children to describe a wide variety of emotions, some seldom attributed to kids. The language is nonjudgmental, and free of bias and slang, and there are whimsical characters that appeal to both boys and girls.
13. El niño nuevo by Lauren Child (The New Small Person)
Elmore Green starts life as an only child, as many children do. He has a room to himself, where he can line up his precious things and nobody will move them one inch. But one day everything changes. When the new small person comes along, it seems that everybody might like it a bit more than they like Elmore Green. And when the small person knocks over Elmore’s things and even licks his jelly-bean collection, Elmore’s parents say that he can’t be angry because the small person is only small. Elmore wants the small person to go back to wherever it came from. Then, one night, everything changes. . . . In her signature visual style, Lauren Child gets to the heart of a child’s evolving emotions about becoming a big brother or sister...
14.Cool Down and Work Through Anger (Cálmate y supera la ira) by Cheri J. Meiners M.Ed. (Bilingual)
Reassuring and supportive, this book helps elementary children learn concrete social skills for anger management and discover that when they cool down and work through anger, so they can feel peaceful again.
15.Escuchando a mi cuerpo: Una guía para ayudar a los niños entender la conexión entre las sensaciones y los sentimientos by Gabi Garcia (Listening to My Body)
Escuchando a mi cuerpo is an engaging and interactive picture book that introduces children to the practice of paying attention to their bodies. Through a combination of story and simple experiential activities, it guides them through the process of noticing and naming their feelings and the physical sensations that accompany them, while helping them build on their capacity to engage mindfully, self-regulate, and develop a better sense of well-being.
Escuchando a mi cuerpo is a wonderful resource for parents, counselors and teachers!
You can find the original English version here.
I hope you enjoyed the list. Did I missed your favorites? Let us know what book you use in your classroom to talk about feelings. If you enjoyed this list, check out our book list about kindness and Spring.
Bilingual Activities About Feelings
Frases de emociones (Bilingual)
This is an emotions chart wheel, you can laminate and display in a central part of.....
Feelings & Emotions in Spanish
This resource includes 39 student pages in Spanish: Me siento cuando estoy...
Juliana S.
K-5 GT Bilingual Teacher/ Content Creator Kinder Bilingüe
- Juliana Suarez
Comments 2
Challa
Isabella’s Hair and How She Learned to Love It by Marshalla Ramos-Inde is a book that centers on feelings related to identity and colorism. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1477468986/?coliid=I159UR9J02KS34&colid=RI98XEUCWCPQ&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
Kelly Millner
When I’m Feeling Happy/ Cuando estoy contento
When I’m Feeling Sad / Cuando estoy triste
When I’m Feeling Nervous/Cuando estoy
When I’m Feeling Scared/ Cuando estoy miedo
When I’m Feeling Kind/ Cuando estoy amable
When I’m Feeling Jealous/Cuando estoy celoso
When I’m Feeling Lonely/ Cuando estoy solo