When Sophie's Feelings Are Really, Really Hurt

by Molly Bang, Molly Bang (Illustrator)

Overview

In a sequel to her bestselling When Sophie Gets Angry..., Caldecott Honor Illustrator Molly Bang asks: What hurts your feelings, and what do you do about it?

Everyone's feelings get hurt, and it's especially painful in childhood. In this story, Bang's popular character Sophie is hurt when the other children laugh at her and tell her she's wrong. Sophie's face gets hot, and tears begin to flow. Then she questions herself and the value of the choices she's made.At issue is Sophie's colorful, expressive painting of her favorite tree. Sophie loves it, but her picture is different from the paintings done by the other students. "The sky isn't orange! Trees aren't blue! Your picture is wrong!" they tell her.In addition to the book's subtle art lesson (imagine the skies of Vincent van Gogh, for example), readers have the opportunity to compare and contrast all the paintings done in Sophie's class. In the end, the students learn there are many different ways to interpret the world — and each other. Here is a simple story that tackles the common issue of hurt feelings as it gently helps us to be more kind.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545788311
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	09/29/2015
Series:	When Sophie
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	349,141
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.10(d)
Lexile:	AD490L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Molly Bang has written and illustrated more than twenty books for young readers, including When Sophie Gets Angry — Really, Really Angry... ; Ten, Nine, Eight; and The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher, each of which were Caldecott Honor books. Bang divides her time between Falmouth, Massachusetts, and Northern California.

Editorial Reviews

★ 09/21/2015
The heroine of Bang’s When Sophie Gets Angry—Really, Really Angry returns more than 15 years after that Caldecott Honor–winning picture book. At school, Sophie’s class is asked to create pictures of their favorite trees from memory. When Sophie paints her favorite beech tree—the very one she took refuge in during the previous book—she colors it bright blue to show how happy it makes her feel. “You did it wrong,” accuses another student, bringing Sophie to tears, but Sophie’s empathic teacher intervenes: “Both artists looked carefully at their trees and made very different—and very special—paintings,” she says, showing Sophie’s painting beside the boy’s realistically colored tree. Bang’s thickly painted images exude energy and feeling, both in the children’s expressions and through the exaggerated dimensions, angles, and colors. It’s another lovely study in emotion from Bang and a thoughtful exploration of art-making. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

* "Bang's thickly painted images exude energy and feeling, both in the children's expressions and through the exaggerated dimensions, angles, and colors. It's another lovely study in emotion from Bang and a thoughtful exploration of art-making." —Publishers Weekly, starred reviewPraise for When Sophie Gets Angry—Really, Really Angry...Caldecott Honor BookJane Addams Honor BookALA Notable BookCharlotte Zolotow Award"Bang's evocatively illustrated book suggests no quick fixes; she treats childhood emotions with respect." —Publishers Weekly "Bang captures the intensity of Sophie's feelings with strong, broadly brushed forms and colors....Sophie finds a way to cope with her anger, quite laudably, without a helping adult hand." —Kirkus Reviews"Bang's double-page illustrations, vibrating with saturated colors...reveal the drama of the child's emotions."—School Library Journal, starred review"An elegant and thought-provoking book for...children learning how to deal with emotions." —New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher

2015-05-06
From the author/illustrator of Caldecott Honor book When Sophie Gets Angry—Really, Really Angry (1999) comes another book about coping with emotional upheaval. Sophie's a little older and her emotions, a bit more complex in this second, longer story. Her teacher gives the class an assignment to choose a tree to paint the next day. Sophie chooses her favorite beech tree, where she still finds comfort when she's angry or sad. Her tree's bark is gray, but using gray paint to represent it feels wrong somehow. Grappling with the challenge of conveying the happiness the tree gives her, she boldly paints it turquoise and makes the sky orange for contrast. She loves the way it looks, but her classmates laugh at her efforts, telling her that her painting is all wrong. Sophie is crushed and mortified. Bang uses perspective to great effect in a double-page spread showing Sophie from above, hands inert by her sides, shrinking away from both readers and her painting as the tears flow. Happily, the teacher steps in with a warm embrace and calmly talks the class through the different ways that their paintings all express their individual feelings about their trees. Bang's trademark striking colors and bold outlines enhance this welcome new book that's as much about the creative process as it is about emotion. (Picture book. 5-7)

Kirkus Reviews