Inspector Croc’s Emotion-O-Meter, by Susanna Isern/Illustrated by Mónica Carretero, (May 2018, NubeOCHO), $22.95, ISBN: 9788417123079
Recommended for readers 7-10
Inspector Croc, the great emotion inspector, is here to help kids identify and manage their emotions in this entertaining and insightful book from NubeOCHO. Accompanied by Yippee, an Emi (emotion) from a large family of emotions, kids will learn what an emotion is, how to identify behaviors associated with emotions, and read through Inspector Croc’s case files; 10 cases where emotions came into play. He introduces his Emotion-O-Meter, allowing kids to identify whether they are feeling emotions on a low, medium, or high level of intensity, and gives kids the ability to put their feelings into words. Finally, we get “recipes” for working with both good and bad emotions, and the Inspector explains that sometimes, emotions like sadness are good and right for us to feel, but that we also have to learn how to let them go when it’s time.
It’s a smart book that addresses ideas that can be tough for kids to identify and express; author Susanna Isern respectfully talks to readers and uses empowering language to promote understanding and courtesy. Mónica Carretero’s animal artwork is cartoony and light, but don’t dismiss that: she illustrates, in detail, various emotions and uses facial expressions to illuminate the physical changes our emotions bring about. It’s a very mindful book, and encourages self-exploration. The book has a dust jacket with an emotion-o-meter on the back cover, but if this book is used in a classroom or library setting, it’s not going to last: do yourselves a favor, and make this a great class project/library program. This would go wonderfully with a viewing of Pixar’s Inside Out (2015).
Inspector Croc’s Emotion-O-Meter is also available in Spanish.
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