There are more than 34,000 emotions humans can experience, according to a theory by psychologist Robert Plutchik and the newly released book “The Totally Not Boring Book of Feelings,” which teaches children about 40 of them.
Written by Jolie Taylor and illustrated by Brandon Dorman, “The Totally Not Boring Book of Feelings” is a book with 40 short stories each sharing a fictional story relating to a feeling that kids frequently have.
Dorman is a New York Times Best Selling illustrator and has worked on books like the “Goosebumps” series, “Fablehaven” and “Dragon Watch.” Taylor has been working to become an author for 12 years and this is her first published book.
The book features common feelings like anger, sadness, love and more infrequently talked about emotions like sentimental, unique and accepting that allow parents and teachers to start conversations about complex emotions with their children.
“I think it's going to get kids excited about reading and help them get to longer books, especially that transition from picture books to chapter books,” Taylor said. “But I think also for them to buy it for their kids so that the kids do understand that those uncomfortable feelings are normal and healthy and they're just human to feel and then also to talk about them.”
The book is geared toward elementary children and the characters. Each story is two to four pages long and complies with the attention span of most kids. The characters and illustrations are based on the different feelings addressed in the book.
“I just hope people enjoy and have fun reading and looking at the pictures and putting those two together,” Dorman said. “This is a book that, you know, out of all the books that I've done or illustrated if you're going to have a few Brandon Dorman books on your shelf, I would definitely pick this one.”
The book was released today and can now be purchased at Amazon, Deseret Book and most book suppliers.