(This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 29.6% of actual size.) There’s a rainbow of skin tones and hair colors as well as abundant variation in hair texture, several children exhibit visible disabilities, including one child who uses a wheelchair, and there are markers of religious and cultural diversity. But, as with its predecessor, its strength is again the diversity on display in its pages. As a guide for dealing with feelings and problem-solving, the book is a bit slim and lacks a solid story to hook readers. This book’s refrain is “How can I help? / What can we do?” And the answers, spread over several pages and not spelled out in so many words but rather shown in the illustrations, are: talk it through, compromise, and see things from another perspective. But therein lies the rub: What should the something new be? While the exact nature of the disagreement is unfortunately not made clear to readers, the big feelings that the children exhibit are very clear (and for readers who need practice reading facial clues, there’s a labeled chart of 15 in the frontmatter).

The diverse group of kids from All Are Welcome (2018) this time gathers in a vacant lot with tools in hand to clear the debris and make something new. Penfold and Kaufman team up again to show children how to navigate overwhelming feelings.

Big feelings by alexandra penfold