How storytelling can help pre-schoolers explore their big feelings

Esther Marshall, Author of the Sophie Says Series ©Esther Marshall

As part of our ‘Marlo Meets’ conversation series, our founder Rebekah Clark enjoyed speaking with Simon Confino and Esther Marshall, two children’s authors whose books help children navigate big feelings. We return to some of the highlights of those chats, looking at how storytelling can provide a safe and nurturing space for little ones and their caregivers to explore emotions.

Simon’s book Cuddles the Colourful Cuttlefish has been written for three to six-year-olds, as a way to help them name and acknowledge their feelings. Cuttlefish are the world’s most intelligent colour changers, which fascinated Simon, leading him to use different colours to represent a wide range of emotions, and inviting children to use their imaginations when considering how different feelings show up for them.

“Cuttlefish are amazing! They’re the world’s most sophisticated colour changers, with chromatic skin that changes colour and even their texture instantly!

I just thought we’re a bit like that, we change colour on the inside, and you can see it in the way we talk about feelings — red for anger, green for jealousy or envy — our language is full of colour, so I thought there’s something here about feelings.”

Simon wrote a first draft of the book 13 years ago, but it wasn’t until last year that he decided to share it with the world. In this first story, our hero Cuddles goes on an adventure to find his family who he has lost for the day, and experiences a range of feelings on his journey back to them.

The book is filled with vivid imagery and clever language, encouraging children to name and give meaning to their emotions. At the thought of his family going on a picnic without him, Cuddles becomes so angry that he “turns red, red as a fire engine” and when thinking of swimming through the rocky reef to find his family, Cuddles gets so scared at the thought of getting eaten by a hungry monster that he “turns yellow, yellow as a bowl of cold custard!” These colourful word associations are a fun and easy way for children to learn to identify their emotions. The book also provides interactivity for parents and guardians to have broader conversations about feelings with children.

“I wanted to create an experience for children, where the adult or whoever is reading with them can then say, “So, what colours have you felt today?” said Simon, “It’s an opportunity for you to have an important conversation with your children about something that happened which may be upsetting them, and to resolve it.”

This first book marks the beginning of adventures with Cuddles. There are likely to be more stories in the series, and Simon is working with an eco-friendly toymaker to design and produce a Cuddles cuddly toy.

Esther Marshall is the author of the Sophie Says series. Rebekah and Esther chatted during last year’s Mental Health Awareness Week, when Esther was busy preparing a new set of educational resources available for schools and families. Mental Health is an issue close to Esther’s heart after she sadly lost her sister to mental illness. She was also inspired to develop Sophie Says when she noticed a lack of diverse narratives available to young children. With an extensive corporate background in diversity and inclusion she decided to write the book she couldn’t find.

“Two and a half years ago I had my son, and I went on maternity leave, and I just thought I’ve been doing diversity and inclusion for adults and employees for years but my goodness, children’s literature is way further behind than the corporate world!” explains Esther. She wrote It’s Okay Not To Be Okay whilst on maternity leave. The Sophie Says books aim to build emotional resilience in children, so they may grow up to be healthier and stronger adults.

Both Simon and Esther are doing important and much needed work. It’s clear, and studies evidence this, that young children are really struggling with managing their emotional health, and sometimes the adults who care for them don’t know where to start to support them. Storytelling is such a big part of our culture, and children in particular respond so well when they are able to delve into their imaginations, and learn through fun and playful ways.

“I’ve had so many messages from parents saying this book has helped them understand themselves better and that they wish they had had this book growing up, which I think is really powerful” said Sophie. “As the saying goes, in life you have all these job interviews but with a child, you get given them and they’re the job interview! You’ve got to learn all these skills, and there’s huge pressure on parents, which can sometimes be too much. If we can approach helping children through their emotions in a way that also helps parents, then I believe it can be game-changing.”

We couldn’t agree more.

The Sophie Says series is available to purchase now.
Cuddles The Colourful Cuttlefish is currently being piloted by The Story Project in schools across the UK, and will be published later this year.