Kids Devotional Review: Managing Your Emojis - 100 Devotions for Navigating Your Feelings by Michelle Nietert, LPC-S and Lynn Cowell
* I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, Zonderkidz. All thoughts are my own and I was not required to write a positive review. This blog post includes affiliate links. View my affiliate disclosure here.
Managing Your Emojis
100 Devotions for Navigating Your Feelings
by Michelle Nietert, LPC-S and Lynn Cowell
Published by Zonderkidz
Ages: 8 - 12
God calls us to live lives of joy, but sometimes we feel mad, sad, or scared. Managing Your Emojis, a 100-day devotional, teaches kids that God loves them no matter what they’re feeling, and Scripture can empower them to manage their emotions.
Learning to manage our emotions is a critical life skill, yet we’ve often missed equipping kids with these valuable skills before situations intensify into mental health issues. Managing Your Emojis will help kids discover that emotional control and happiness come from God’s love for them. Through short, accessible devotions kids will be encouraged to observe, name, and release their emotions while turning to God for the strength, love, and care they need as they begin the fast-moving process of growing up.
Managing Your Emojis will empower your child to find acceptance and approval from God as they come to know that God made them just as they are; intense emotions and all.
MY THOUGHTS:
WOW! This amazing, well-formatted devotional, designed for kids is jam packed with fantastic content that touches on so many different emotions readers might experience. It’s like mini-counseling sessions packed into each devotion!
I love that the authors use personal experience and short stories of their own to make the devotions relatable and explain how they felt. It’s clear they have a heart for children and the professional experience to be an authority on these matters.
here are thought provoking questions that gently and calmly encourage readers to consider their own feelings and experiences and connect with them. At the end of each devotion is a subtle, yet sometimes profound depth that encourages the reader to process their emotion from a Christian perspective while using biblical principles. I love that it encourages readers to bring their emotions to God and seek him in their big feelings. Depending on the situation, sometimes the book encourages readers to reach out to trusted people around them, to practice mindfulness, seek help or try one of many practical suggestions for mental health strategies (such as a creating a calming playlist, journaling or deep breathing).
This book is calm, reassuring and encouraging! It lets children know they are not alone in their feelings and there is hope when things feel out of control.
There is Scripture highlighted in each devotion that will point readers to God’s Word and His promises, offering assurance, hope and applicable words of grace, as well as a short, sweet prayer that helps readers present their emotions to God and seek His help.
I love this little book and believe it will be a valuable resource in our family. In addition, I believe it would be a great gift for children who’ve entered foster care, been adopted or are navigating any type of life-changing experience (parental divorce, loss of a loved one, big move, new school, etc). This book can span multiple ages and be something that readers will return to time and again. Overall, a definite recommendation from our family to yours!
