Book Review: Eepworm’s Emotional Day by Corinne Goyette

What a lovely find this was! I learned about this one through the IBPA (Independent Book Publishers Association). It was billed as a “Comforting Book and Toy Set [that] Helps Children Handle an Up-and-Down Day”. I have a six-year old, so am no stranger to up-and-down days, especially lately, so figured this was definitely one we should request – and review together. Especially when I read on to see that the book came with an accompanying toy – the eponymous Eepworm.

Here’s the official description: “With simple rhyming text and beautiful watercolor illustrations, this book delightfully demonstrates how children can experience many different feelings in a day and how challenging some of them can be. In the story, yellow eepworm feels impatient, excited, happy, annoyed, overwhelmed, remorseful, and peaceful, all on the day he visits his best friend, blue eepworm. Children will relate to yellow eepworm’s many different feelings and learn a valuable lesson about handling one of them.”

The book is a lovely paperback full of watercolor depictions of a playdate between Yellow Eepworm and Blue Eepworm. The story is simple and sweet: after waiting to play together, the friends are finally able to enjoy each other’s company. As is so often the case, all is well and good until it is time to go – then the drama comes. And the tears. And the yelling. And the unfortunate choices made by a small person feeling big emotions they don’t know how to handle. With a deceptively simple rhyming tone, Goyette does a lovely job capturing the difficulty that children feel when they are told they have to do something (i.e., end the fun) that they decidedly do NOT want to do. The back-and-forth between the friends is handled simply yet straightforwardly. The illustrations are lovely. And the strength of the emotions is explained, accepted, and addressed.

It was a wonderful way to open up a conversation with my daughter, who also has difficulty with the size and scope of her emotions when it comes time for the fun to end. We used her Eepworm to talk about feelings and how they can feel overwhelming, and to demonstrate how easy it is to lash out when we don’t know what else to do. It lead to an interesting conversation – I doubt all of our challenges with ending playdates and big emotions are resolved, obviously, but it was a great start!

And now to the part of the review you *really* want to hear: my daughter’s opinion. Because, let’s face it, what moms like and what kids are like are NOT always the same thing. So in her own words: “I love the toy!! The book was a[n] awesome, super-funny, happy story. The book was very funny and made my giggle-bone go all happy.” With praise like that, well, how can you not pick up your own copy??

The first Eepworm book (My Friend Eepworm) is currently available from Early Childhood Specialties. This one – Eepworm’s Emotional Day – will follow. Thank you to IBPA and the Goyettes for my obligation-free review copy of this delightful book and toy!