Where do your kids go when they are dealing with a BIG emotion? Where did you go when you were young? What did you do? I remember going to my room crying and wanting to be alone but not wanting to be alone. Today we are sharing a book about a young girl dealing with a big emotion and using creativity to overcome it. The book is Nunu and the Sea by Isabella Kung. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8 and is being released tomorrow!
About the Book:
In this whimsical picture book, a misunderstood girl with overwhelming emotions creates an origami boat and journeys to sea where she can feel free. Fans of Where the Wild Things Are will adore this fantastical tale of big feelings and boundless imagination."Nunu reminds all of us that emotions can feel as big and as vast as the sea--if we hold tightly and sail on, the way forward becomes clear."--Cori Doerrfeld, author-illustrator of The Rabbit Listened
"A powerful journey through the highs and lows of emotions, reminding us all of the strength found in rebuilding ourselves."--Cindy Derby, Caldecott honoree
Nunu doesn't understand, so when her emotions feel too big for her, she makes her boat out of paper origami and sails away. Out at sea, she navigates somewhere new and with the help of her origami friends, she is able to mend what is broken and find her way home.
With exquisite, immersive illustrations, this near-wordless picture book is an ode to big emotions, origami, and the hope inside all of us.
From Me:
We don't know what upset Nunu. It doesn't matter. She just wants to escape. She runs to her room and jumps on her origami boat in the sea of emotions. She is off to somewhere new and when she is in the middle of the sea she realizes she is all alone and lonely. She knows what to do. She makes some origami friends. She makes so many that they fill the boat and there is not enough room. She decides to try something else and leaves the safety of her boat. She rides the sea in a different way until it recedes, and she finds her way home.
I love that this book is almost wordless and doesn't give us details about why Nunu is upset besides that she didn't understand something. When you are young this is often why the reaction is so big. It is a misunderstanding. The sea represents the emotions that can be felt in this moment. Nunu is trying to escape them and discovers she is alone and needs friends, so she makes more. The illustrations are beautiful, and I love the origami details including some of the background things like the star in the picture above.
The only thing I think would make the book better is if there were some origami tutorials to make the projects Nunu is making although they may be hard for kids in the age range of 4 to 8. I love the messages of this book. We all have big emotions and sometimes it is too much for each of us. We can use our creativity to help us recover from the big emotions and find our way back to try again.
The colors in the illustrations are perfect for the journey as well. The colors when Nunu is most upset are dark and dull and as she is coming out of it they turn to more colorful colors like a sunrise or sunset. At the end of the book is a note from the author that explains how this is inspiration from her own childhood and how she used creativity to soothe her when her emotions were so big. This book is perfect for every child or to be read in a classroom to discuss big emotions. I know as I read the book it brought me back to my childhood and those big emotions and how I dealt with them. I can imagine many teachers using this book to help introduce some self-soothing methods with young children.
