Prometheus Books This 67-page children's book begins with a note to parents saying "Feelings are the essence of our being. They mold and shape who we are" (p. 7). The book then contains 26 poems intended to help children understand and express their feelings. They are a valiant effort by an adult to put in child terms what a child feels. However, they suffer from a fundamental reality. When an adult has acquired adult cognitive capacities and language, it is impossible to return or go back to the level of child capacities. Also, the assumption that feelings are the essence of being is not supported by the well replicated research on emotion. Emotion is caused by what we think and do not exist independently. The book is not likely to help children know their feelings or to express them. Reviewed by Ralph Underwager, Institute for Psychological Therapies, Northfield, Minnesota.
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