Celebrating National Reading Month: The Color Monster
March is National Reading Month, a time to celebrate the stories and ideas that inspire learning, creativity, and connection. At Children’s Institute, we’re joining in by sharing book recommendations that support children’s social-emotional growth and spark meaningful conversations.
We're featuring a book recommendation by Carolyn Feinberg, Children's Institute's Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant. Carolyn thoughtfully chose this book because it encourages emotional awareness and supportive adult-child conversations that strength relationships. She loves that the book acknowledges that all feelings are ok.
Featured Book: The Color Monster by Anna Llenas
Recommended Age Range: 3-5
Description: This story introduces emotions through a friendly monster who learns to sort feelings into colors such as happiness, sadness, anger, calm, and scared. The visuals make emotions easy for young children to understand.
Why This Book Helps Children: The book builds emotional vocabulary, supports self-regulation, and helps children talk about their feelings.
Suggested Use:
Pair with a calm-down area or regulation tools
Use after challenging behavior to help children reflect on feelings
In a classroom: Introduce during circle time with a feelings chart or song about emotions
To learn more about Children’s Institute’s behavioral supports programming, visit the Behavioral Supports for Children webpage.
Ready to help create a positive, supportive environment for your early childhood classrooms? Reach out to Elizabeth Devaney at edevaney@childrensinstitute.net to discuss options for your school or district!
