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

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
Everybody gets angry sometimes. But it's not always easy to cope with this emotion — especially for kids. Now, Caldecott Honor illustrator Molly Bang delivers a thoughtful, simple story — filled with exquisite illustrations — to help parents and children understand how to handle the common problem of anger. Little Sophie's experiences — why she gets angry and what she does to express herself and find comfort — can open up a dialogue between parents and children, and teach kids how to manage their anger...and thrive.

When Sophie's sister swipes the toy gorilla she's been playing with, Sophie gets upset. To make matters worse, Sophie trips over another toy and falls. Now Sophie's angry. Her first reaction is rage: "She kicks. She screams. She wants to smash the world to smithereens. She roars a red, red roar." The fiery illustrations further convey Sophie's anger: Molly Bang uses a palette of intense orange and red hues and depicts Sophie's "roar" with a stream of fire coming out of her mouth, destroying everything in its path. This image — as well as that of Sophie as a volcano, ready to explode — is very effective and brings Sophie's anger to life.

Finally Sophie races outside — and runs until she's completely exhausted. Then she cries for a while. These are effective means of dealing with her anger, and she releases the worst of her rage in the process. Then Sophie starts to notice the comfort of nature that surrounds her. She climbs a tree and "she feels the breeze blow her hair. She watches the water and the waves."Consequently,Molly Bang's illustrations become more soothing — colored in white, greens, and blues — as Sophie appears to calm down. When Sophie feels better, she returns home to the loving welcome of her family.

By observing how Sophie reacts to — and copes with — her anger, parents, teachers, and children will be inspired to talk about all the different things people do when they're angry. When Sophie Gets Angry — Really, Really Angry... is a beautiful, useful book that shows kids that everybody gets angry now and then — but that they shouldn't let this frightening emotion get the best of them.

Reading level: Ages 3-7

Susan Marie Swanson

Two aspects of the author-artist's craft give this book spark. The first is obvious from the start: color&#33...The second highlight is a text rich in gentle sound-effects.
— Riverbank Review

NY Times Book Review

...[E]legant and thought-provoking....[P]erfect for sparking conversations about feelings...

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Raw zigzags of color convey a girl's rage in this compassionate volume, which proposes a cure for anger. Sophie's temper flares when her sister demands a turn playing with a favorite stuffed gorilla. Matters worsen when Sophie's mother passes judgment ("It is her turn now, Sophie") and Sophie trips over a toy truck in the resulting tug-of-war. Infernal shades of orange, yellow and red liken Sophie to a shuddering volcano; a gray cat with jagged fur wisely gets out of her way. With the "PABAM!" of a slammed door, the girl races outside. "She runs and runs and runs until she can't run anymore. Then, for a little while, she cries." Gradually, a calmer Sophie begins noticing birds and ferns. When she returns home, relaxed again, her sister has abandoned the gorilla in favor of a tabletop puzzle. With minimal text, Bang (Common Ground; Ten, Nine, Eight) gives a realistic account of embattled siblings and prescribes self-imposed solitude. Edgy illustrations with roilingly patterned foreground shapes and looming, dark backgrounds convey Sophie's inner violence; in particular, a quiet image of a ghostly gray beech against a midnight-blue sky is reminiscent of Van Gogh's Japanese-print-inspired scenes. Bang's evocatively illustrated book suggests no quick fixes; she treats childhood emotions with respect. Ages 2-7.

Publishers Weekly

"Raw zigzags of color convey a girl's rage when her sister takes her toy in this compassionate volume, which proposes a cure for anger," PW said. "Bang treats childhood emotions with respect." Ages 3-up. (June) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot

It is often difficult for kids to talk about their feelings, especially anger. Bang offers a great opportunity for parents and kids to discuss anger and how Sophie handles it. The situation is typical; Sophie's sister has taken her toy, which makes her very angry. The vivid colors and illustrations likening Sophie to a volcano get the point across. So too does the resolution that Sophie finds, by escaping outdoors to climb her favorite tree. There she calms down and the world becomes a quieter place bathed in soothing green and blue.

NY Times Book Review

...[E]legant and thought-provoking....[P]erfect for sparking conversations about feelings...

Kirkus Reviews

When Sophie has to surrender one toy to her sister, stumbles over another toy, and gets no sympathy from her mother, she runs furiously out into the woods, first to cry, and then sit in a huge old beech, watching the ocean until the tempest abates. Bang (Common Ground, 1997, etc.) captures the intensity of Sophie's feelings with strong, broadly brushed forms and colors: images of flames and a volcano; blue eyes glaring up from a red background that looks as if it's exploding; then harmonious, leafy greens and browns; and concluding scenes of domestic amity. This briefly told behavior-management episode explores well-worked thematic territory, but as in Hiawyn Oram's Angry Arthur (1989) — and in contrast to the child in Betsy Everitt's Mean Soup (1992) — Sophie finds a way to cope with her anger, quite laudably, without a helping adult hand. (Picture book. Ages 5-7)