Your Feelings Matter

Your Feelings Matter by Jess Sanders, illustrated by Alice Buckingham (Affirm Press 2026) HB RRP $24.99 IBSN: 9781923419391

Reviewed by Sylvia Forbes

From the award-winning and bestselling author of the Life Lessons for Little Ones series comes the ultimate emotional wellbeing guide for children (and their grown-ups).

Calling this book the ultimate emotional wellbeing guide for children is a big claim. It says this is the best and only book you will need in this category. After reading it — and finding it so in-depth — I tend to agree.

Written in an easy-to-comprehend, child-friendly format, Your Feelings Matter helps children understand what they are feeling, why they are feeling it, and what that feeling is trying to tell them. It then offers practical tools and strategies to help them respond to their emotions in safe, healthy ways — essential for ​emotional literacy and mental health.

Jess Sanders' warm, reassuring voice shines through from start to finish; it's like she's talking directly to you—not at you—which goes a long way toward making potentially sensitive or difficult topics easy for kids (and their grown-ups) to navigate, absorb, and understand. The narrative goes on to talk about caring for other people's feelings — extending care for self to care for others. Once children can feel and name their own emotions, they can recognise what someone else is feeling. This builds empathy.

One of my favourites is the hot chocolate breathing — such a genius method to help overwhelmed children focus on their breathing and regain calm. And I love that the book describes how different emotions might feel in different parts of the body (bubbles, butterflies, a beating drum, a heavy backpack), offering children a mind/body approach to help them connect with and more accurately identify their feelings.

Alice Buckingham's bright and inclusive illustrations support the text beautifully. Through a handful of characters in familiar settings (home, school, and playground), her artwork brings feelings to life. They give children a visual map of how they might look when they feel certain emotions—helping them recognise themselves in similar situations and emotional states.

For generations, children have often been encouraged (communicated verbally or non-verbally) to minimise and hide their feelings, to just 'get on with it'.  But this brilliant book completely flips that notion on its head. It says a big YES to emotions and empowers children to feel, express and process them — safely — and without shame.  By acknowledging and embracing their emotions, children learn how to move through them — this in itself is super empowering and confidence-building. It says, ‘I am capable. I am resilient.'

Upbeat and never didactic, Your Feelings Matter is a compassionately written, wonderfully illustrated picture book that quite honestly could be read and appreciated by anyone — at any age. It includes discussion prompts and practical tips for parents and educators, making it an ideal resource for social-emotional learning and an invaluable addition for both home and classroom use.

Highly recommended for children aged 3-8+