Dr. Color Monster and the Emotions Toolkit by Anna Llenas (Review)

Title: Dr. Color Monster and the Emotions Toolkit
Creator: Anna Llenas
Type: Fiction
Genre: Children’s, Picture Book
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Date published: May 7, 2024

A complimentary physical copy of this book was kindly provided by Hachette Book Group Canada in exchange for an honest review.

Today, Nuna doesn’t feel quite right. So, she pays a visit to the Color an emotions doctor who helps diagnose big, challenging feelings. After he recognizes and gives a name to what we feel, this kind and gentle Monster (with the help of his emotions toolkit!) leads Nuna and readers down a path of mindfulness, self-healing, and mental well-being.

This vibrant companion to the international bestseller The Color Monster includes two giant foldout pages featuring more than 30 effective, accessible, and practical tools for soothing strong emotions—strategies for readers of all ages to calm and center hearts and minds. Drawing from her background in art therapy and featuring her endearing, standout artwork, Anna Llenas brings the bestselling Color Monster series to a whole new level with a story both reassuring and transformative. Backmatter for caregivers about understanding emotional regulation is included.

⤖ My Review ⬻

What first caught my eye about Dr. Color Monster and the Emotions Toolkit was the cover design—especially the bright colours. The other thing that caught my eye was that there was a monster involved in the story somehow and that it had an emotions toolkit that sounded useful for little ones and grownups alike. The vibrant cover immediately drew me in, and I was curious to see how the monster and emotions would be integrated into a story for children.

Diving into Dr. Color Monster and the Emotions Toolkit, I found that I liked the balance of text and colorful illustrations. And I especially liked that the illustrations looked like 3D cutouts that were combined to tell the story. It made said story feel more dynamic somehow, as well as engaging. As predicted, I found the emotions toolkit to be useful to me as an adult reader, so my hope is that it would be great for little ones struggling through their emotions too. I can’t wait to experience this book again when my partner and I have little ones of our own!