Sometimes I feel scared. Sometimes I feel like celebrating my birthday, even though it's not today. Sometimes I feel like staying in the bathtub all day. Todd Parr gives each feeling a little one has its own bright page, from very mad to wanting to wear funny underwear, and treats every one of them as completely normal.

That is what makes it such a good first book about emotions. A child who cannot yet put a big feeling into words can point to the page that matches it, and because the silly pages sit right next to the hard ones, the conversation stays light and easy.

The pictures are pure Todd Parr: thick black outlines and bold, flat color, printed large on pages close to ten inches wide and tall, so they carry across a story time rug as well as they do on a lap. A 32 page paperback for ages 3 to 6. Little, Brown designed it to encourage early literacy and emotional development, which is why it belongs on a preschool classroom shelf as much as at home.