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I think this book very beautifully illustrates what anger may feel like, a volcano ready to explode! Sophie lets off steam by running… and crying… then she comes to her senses, seeing, hearing, feeling nature. “The wide world comforts her.” “Sophie feels better now.” She returns home to the warmth and familiar smells and sounds and sights of home. She is welcomed home. She is not her anger. This book really offers a way to open up dialogue about anger and other emotions. Kids can relate their feelings to colors, to things in nature. Mindfulness is about being aware of the present moment while you are in it. Coming to our senses brings us into the present moment. Mindfulness is a wonderful anger management tool, feeling the emotion in the body, focusing on the sensation rather than reacting from it. Teaching mindfulness allows for opportunities to respond rather than react.

The classic story about searching for somewhere to belong, from four-time Caldecott honor winner Leo Lionni. Elephants are gray. Pigs are pink. Only the chameleon has no color of his own. He is purple like the heather, yellow like a lemon, even black and orange striped like a tiger! Then one day a chameleon has an idea to remain one color forever by staying on the greenest leaf he can find. But in the autumn, the leaf changes from green to yellow to red . . . and so does the chameleon. When another chameleon suggests they travel together, he learns that companionship is more important than having a color of his own. No matter where he goes with his new friend, they will always be alike.