When Sophie Gets Angry -- Really, Really Angry...

When Sophie Gets Angry -- Really, Really Angry...

By Molly Bang

The Blue Sky Press, 1999

Grades: K, 1

Synopsis: Sophie is playing with her stuffed animal when her sister comes and takes it away. Sophie tries to get it back, but her sister will not listen and her mom insists it is sister's turn. So, Sophie gets angry -- really, really angry. She stomps and shouts, and then runs out of the house. The illustrations, especially the outline colors of Sophie, complement Sophie's mood perfectly.

Jump: While reading the story, students will recognize that Sophie's behavior is not always what she should be doing to help herself calm down. After reading and recognizing that Sophie calmed herself down by leaving the situation, students can then add more ideas to the list of good ways to deal with anger.

In addition to learning how to deal with anger, the illustrations can be used to focus on the range of emotions Sophie feels throughout the book. Because she is outlined in yellow at the beginning and then changes to orange to red to very thick red, students can talk about how the illustrations help show what the words say. A discussion could be had to talk about why the author chose red as an angry color and what the students think Sophie was feeling when she was yellow. Students can then choose a color that they think of as happy/sad/angry to illustrate and then write to tell a story about a time when they felt that strong emotion.