Puffy Puffs Up
Genres
Fiction
Content
Wildlife > Sea Creatures
Central Theme
Learning Concept
Race / Culture
Coping with anxiety
SEL > Feelings, Regulation Strategies
N/A
Author: Katie Ford
Illustrator: Emma Carpenter
Publisher: Confidence2Communicate Publishing
Summary
Puffy’s emotions are as big as the ocean’s churning waves, and sometimes they rise so high, her body can’t help but puff up! Determined to understand herself better, she embarks on an adventure across the sea, meeting new friends and discovering helpful ways to take control over the ebb and flow of her anxiety.
Review
For those seeking the right words to talk about big emotions, this is the book for you. Just like the ocean’s unpredictable waves, our feelings—whether it's anxiety, overwhelm, or fear—can rise and fall with little warning, and that’s what connects us all.
This book acknowledges and validates those emotions while offering tangible tools to navigate them, set to a fun and catchy rhyme! Children will practice deep breathing in a playful, silly way, all while discovering how each of us plays a role in supporting one another through life's changing tides. Together, we can ride the waves!
Language Facilitation
Inferencing: Before reading the page, prompt your child to guess Puffy’s emotions. Describe how these feelings look on Puffy’s face and emphasize the change in tone of voice.
Self awareness: Have you ever felt like Puffy? What helped you? Have you noticed it in others?
Make an action plan: If you child feels comfortable identifying a time or place when they have big feelings, ask them to select a tool they’d like to try next time it occurs, and practice together at home: taking deep breaths with balloons, speaking affirmations in the mirror, or practicing self-advocating and asking for space.
Access my FREE online game I’ve created to pair with this book. Your child can identify feelings and review mindful tools with interactive features and specific, immediate feedback. Access this game directly on my website.