Picture Books About Emotions for Preschoolers

Picture a three-year-old in full meltdown mode at the supermarket, red-faced and teary while their parent crouches beside them, desperately trying to name what's wrong. "Are you tired? Hungry? Angry?" The child can't answer because they don't have the words yet. They're drowning in a feeling they can't name, and that makes it even more frightening.

This is where picture books about emotions become more than just bedtime stories—they become lifelines. The Color Monster: A Story About Emotions by Anna Llenas turns this exact scenario into something manageable. Through a fuzzy monster who wakes up with his emotions literally tangled together in a messy heap, children see their own emotional chaos reflected back in vivid yellows, blues, and reds. The genius lies in making feelings tangible—something you can sort into jars and examine one by one.

While The Color Monster takes a sorting approach, In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek goes deeper into the physical sensations of emotions. With clever cut-out pages that literally open into the heart, children discover that happiness can feel like sunshine spreading through their chest, while anger might be a volcano ready to explode. The interactive element gives fidgety preschoolers something to do with their hands while processing these big concepts.

For families wanting a rhythmic, poetic approach, The Way I Feel by Janan Cain offers simple verses that stick in young minds like nursery rhymes. "Sometimes I feel silly. Sometimes I feel mad. Sometimes I feel scared. Sometimes I feel glad." The repetition helps children recognise patterns in their own emotional experiences.

Glad Monster, Sad Monster by Ed Emberley and Anne Miranda takes interactivity even further with actual masks children can try on. There's something powerful about literally wearing different emotions, seeing how a sad monster face differs from a glad one. It transforms emotional learning into dramatic play.

When Sophie Gets Angry—Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang (note: the listing shows a Chinese edition) tackles the specific challenge of anger management. Sophie's fury builds until she needs to run, climb a tree, and let nature calm her down. It's a practical blueprint for cooling off that many families adopt as their own strategy.

I'd start newcomers with The Color Monster—its visual simplicity makes emotional concepts immediately graspable. For children who already recognise basic emotions, In My Heart adds nuance and vocabulary. Families dealing with specific anger issues should reach for When Sophie Gets Angry, while those wanting playful exploration will love the masks in Glad Monster, Sad Monster.

These books work because they never tell children how to feel. Instead, they offer mirrors, maps, and vocabulary for the emotional territories all preschoolers must navigate. In a world that often tells children to "stop crying" or "calm down," these stories say something revolutionary: your feelings are real, they have names, and they're nothing to be ashamed of.