Author Renee Gresock, inspired by the daily struggles that come with living with VonHippel-Undau Syndrome, offers up a collection of poems that tackle such themes as mental battles, hardening of the soul following heartbreak, and existential questions often stirred up in the midst of life struggles and subsequent emotional turmoil. She also touches upon some of the more stressful moments of motherhood, the tricky elements of co-parenting with an ex, the hurt of others making snap judgments without knowing your full story, broken marriage, and the exciting whirlwind of a fresh new love. 

Primarily set in rhyming verse, the writing itself is simple in form and flow, yet the messages still pack quite the punch. The tone of the various selections, led by the theme of many forms of heart hurts, alternates between hesitant optimism and borderline nihilism. It's a perfect collection to start with for readers new to the poetry genre.

My personal favorites from this collection:

✦ "I Should Be"

✦ "Gonna"

✦ "Echoes In The Breeze"

✦ "First Sight"

✦ "Life's Heartache"

✦ "Our Love"

A cute picture book about emotions and how they can affect people. This could be helpful for children that may need help on emotions and what they are feeling. I wish that this book would include what to do with your emotions, especially the negative ones, but it can be good for identifying emtions that children may not understand. 

Lexile: NP

Reading Level: Pre K- 2nd

This is a helpful story that was introduced to me by my Cooperating Teacher. It's about a little girl that gets angry at her sibling. Instead of yelling or lashing out, she goes outside and takes a walk. After she calmed down, she comes back to her family and she feels better. After reading this book to a kindergarten class, the students started following Sophie's example by walking away whenever they got upset. It really helped with hurt feelings and preventing meltdowns.

Lexile: BR340

Reading level: Pre k- 2nd

Max is a little boy who is sent to his room by his mom after doing many mischievous things without dinner. He uses his imagination to sail to where he becomes the king of the wild things. He begins to miss his mother's love and returns to his bedroom where his warm dinner is waiting for him.

Students can make their own Max and write about a time they felt like a wild thing!

Lexile: 740L