Mixed Feelings

Sure, it’s possible to experience unbridled enthusiasm, raw anger, and absolute bliss. But many emotions, Finck (You Broke It!) smartly asserts through minimal text and a series of squiggly-inked, spot-colored vignettes, are a mixed bag. On an opening page, one child is “mostly happy” to be heading out for what looks like a beach day, “but a little sad” about leaving the family dog behind. Another kid feels “stuck inside” as a storm rages outdoors, but is also “getting cozy” thanks to a couch pillow fort. Yet another is “mad at so many things” (people, animals, a sweater, and even a chair)—“and maybe also a little bit hungry.” Some spreads play off the central premise by focusing on the jumble of fleeting feelings we all experience, including “just in the mood to pretend to be a horse” and a fervent “like no one ever listens to me.” Life, the book assures, is like that: even when one may not “know the words” for a feeling, emotions come and go and blend together. But each one is valid, and discerning them can be part of the experience. Characters are portrayed with a range of skin tones. Ages 3–5. (Jan.)