Moody Moody Cars

by Eileen Kennedy-Moore PhD, Michael Furman

Overview

Freewheeling! Full of feelings! Traveling near and far. HONK if you see me. I'm a moody moody car! 

Hop in and ride along as our auto-friends personify the twists and turns of feelings. This rhyming picture book shares various expressive classic cars and invites readers to figure out the emotions, from excited to angry and more, behind the facial expressions. This is a playful, approachable way to teach kids about feelings and emotions and to develop an essential skill as kids travel along in their social world.

An answer key in the back to help readers identify all of these moody, moody cars; included are a 1956 Jaguar XK-0, a 1948 Delahaye, a 1959 Buick Electra, a 1965 A.C. Cobra, a 1938 Delage Coupe, a 1956 Buick Centurion, a 1955 Indianapolis, a 1938 Bugatti 57SC, a 1939 Buick Model 40, and a 1929 DuPont LeMans.

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781433837005
Publisher:	American Psychological Association
Publication date:	04/26/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Eileen Kennedy-Moore, PhD, is an author, psychologist, and speaker based in Princeton, NJ. She has written many books about children’s feelings and friendships, including Growing Friendships and Kid Confidence. Eileen has been a featured expert multiple times for The New York Times, Parents magazine, and Live with Kelly and Ryan. Her blog on Psychology Today has over 4 million views. Visit EileenKennedyMoore.com, DrFriendtastic.com, psychologytoday.com/blog/Growing-Friendships, @Eileen.Kennedy.Moore.PhD.Author on Facebook, @PsychAuthorMom on Twitter and Instagram, and EileenKennedyMoore on YouTube.

Michael Furman is an internationally recognized automotive photographer. ‘He is the author of a number of automotive titles and his photography has been the centerpiece of celebrated books on automotive design including The Art and Colour of General Motors,Curves of Steel, The Face of Change, and Speed, Style, and Beauty: Cars From the Ralph Lauren Collection. He lives in Philadelphia, PA. Visit MichaelFurman.com and @MichaelFurmanPhotographer on Facebook.




 

Editorial Reviews

05/01/2022

Gr 1–3—Through large text in bold colors paired with photographs of classic cars, feelings are ascribed to the headlights, bumpers, and grills. On the left, each feeling (surprised, friendly, angry, sad, happy, jealous, worried, excited, disgusted, and sleepy) is described from a car's perspective, whether driving to the circus (surprised), having a full tank of gas (happy), or being behind a garbage truck (disgusted), with the featured word and some synonyms. On the right, there is a staged shot of a classic car on a white backdrop. The book lends itself well to reading aloud; however, it is difficult to see the car's faces in the photographs without flipping to the page at the end of the book that traces the car's features to show readers what they are supposed to see. As a publication from the American Psychological Association, the explanation for the methodology behind the book and the developmental stages for children is an added bonus. A number of books, such as Anna Llenas's The Color Monster: A Pop-Up Book of Feelings, Jo Witek's In My Heart: A Book of Feelings, and Jamie Lee Curtis's Today: I Feel Silly: And Other Moods that Make My Day, also list emotions and do a better job of showing through images what facial expressions look like. VERDICT Though other titles may handle this better topically, this is a good addition to libraries and classrooms as a way to normalize talking and recognizing feelings and broaching emotional intelligence with the added bonus of a subject many children obsess over.—Vi Ha

School Library Journal

2022-03-02
The secret emotions of automobiles are revealed in a rhyming picture book about their many moods.

While it may be no revelation to any young reader who’s seen Disney's Cars movies, motor vehicles have feelings too. They can be sad, joyous, angry, or even envious. In this book that uses different colors to symbolize sundry emotions, various automobiles talk to the reader in singsong-y verses expressing how they’re feeling. A photo of a different vintage car is shown on each recto page. A 1956 A.C. Cobra, for instance, is sad, “with tears on its cheek,” after losing its favorite parking spot (the car’s chrome front bumpers look like tears); a 1938 Delage Coupe is happy since its gas tank is full; and so on. An answer “key” (a pun that the author fully intends) at the end of the book reveals the car models and manufacture years, with superimposed yellow lines showing how each car’s front trimmings resemble a different facial expression. The concept is clever, and the cars look great, though it’s unlikely that young readers will be familiar with the stylings of mid-20th-century Bugattis and Jaguars unless they’re also already subscribers to Hemmings Motor News. The backmatter stresses the importance of facial emotion recognition in child development and explains how pareidolia (our tendency to see faces in everyday objects) can foster children’s emotional literacy. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A fun concept well executed, this picture book feels like a joyride. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews