Customer Reviews

When Sophie Gets Angry -- Really, Really Angry . . .

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

This is one of our absolute favorite books. I have given it as a gift to many friends upon the birth of a sibling or a sad family event such as parental separation. It's so important for children to know that anger itself is OK and that there are appropriate ways to defuse it that don't hurt others. Even as adults we can use the visually compelling reminders that physical exertion, time alone and being in nature can help to soothe angry or hurt feelings. As for the fact that Sophie runs out of the house, I have only two comments: (1) children, especially small ones, are probably better able than adults to grasp metaphor (my children have read this book hundreds of times and never attempted to leave the house alone); (2) Sophie is a big girl living in a safe seaside area and is apparently quite well able to handle leaving the house alone. We should all be so lucky. Completely agree with one reviewer's observation that the change in colors in the book, particularly in the outlines of trees and figures, is a wonderful way of reinforcing the message that feelings can change and become manageable. One of my all-time favorites!

When Sophie Gets Angry-Really Really Angry... by Molly Bang, is a picture book about a little girl named Sophie who becomes angry with her sister for trying to play with the stuffed gorilla that she wants to play with. When Sophie gets angry at her sister, she runs away from her house and climbs a big beech tree where she watches the waves and lets the calm breeze comfort her. When she feels better she climbs down and goes happily back home. The illustrations in this book are drawn in a way as to reflect her mood at that time. They are not drawn with fine lines and a lot of detail. They have wide outlines and vibrant color. In a way, they look as if they were made by a child using crayons or finger paints. They start out, before Sophie becomes angry, with more calm colors such as green. When she begins to get mad at her sister the background changes from green to hot pink and when she is at the peak of her anger, the background changes to bright red to symbolize her anger. Sophie's anger also changes the sizes, proportions, and perspective of the pictures. The book starts off showing Sophie, her sister, the cat, and a few things on the floor and in the background. Then as her anger grows the pictures get closer in and shows more of her face. One of the pictures when she is most angry has a red background and her face takes up two whole pages. The size of the picture emphasizes how big and powerful her anger has made her feel. When Sophie is stomping around her house in a fit of anger, the author helps the reader imagine the noise she is making by writing different sounds on the page as she is making them. She doesn't just type them in, but she draws them and tries to incorporate them into the picture. One illustration shows Sophie roaring with anger. Instead of just writing that she roared with anger, there is a picture of little Sophie standing in the corner of the page and the word "roar" coming out of her mouth in the form of flames going across the entire page. As Sophie is running through the woods to the beech tree, many of the trees are drawn diagonally to show Sophie's unstable mood. As she is running through the woods the colors and the perspective of the illustrations gradually change. The colors go from bright angry red back to more calm colors. In the end when Sophie is sitting on the beech tree the sky is bright blue and Sophie is small again compared to the other things in the picture. Overall this book is great to read to children. The illustrations on their own can tell the story. This book can also be useful in helping children understand how certain colors can make them have a certain feeling toward something. Just the illustrations alone in this book make it worthwhile to read.

When a young child gets frustrated, uncontrolled rage often follows. How can a parent help? I suggest reading this book together and discussing it while your child is in a good mood.

When Sophie Gets Angry was a Caldecott honoree for its remarkable illustrations in 2000. These illustrations combine the styles of Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Matisse in a vivid, bright, and effective way.

The book uses the metaphor of a "volcano, ready to explode" very effectively. Geologists would point out that a volcano without vents will explode as the water in the cone turns to steam with no place to go. With vents, all you get is a cloud of steam and gentle lava flows. Ms. Bang uses three illustration techniques to maximum advantage. First, she colors the page with the emotion Sophie is feeling. Second, she turns Sophie's words into physical expressions within the metaphor. Third, she changes her composition to show the transition that Sophie feels as she moves from within herself into touch with the world around her again.

My favorite two images in the book are when she first arrives at an old beech tree that she climbs into. The second has her sitting in the same tree while "the wide world comforts her."

This is one of the ten best illustrated children's books it has been my pleasure to view. I come to this conclusion based on the excellence of the style, the appropriate use of color, the fit with the story, and superb compositions. The quality is uniformly high in all these dimensions.

The story itself deals with a typical cause of childhood rage -- being asked to share when a child doesn't want to. Mom takes Sophie's sister's side, and then Sophie falls over a truck . . . hurting herself. That fans the flames! "She wants to smash the world to smithereens." "She roars a red, red roar."

Then Sophie does a positive thing. Rather than simply throwing a nonstop tantrum, she takes charge of managing her emotional state. Her reaction is to run. "She runs and runs and runs until she can't run anymore." "Then for a little while, she cries." At that point, she begins to come out of herself and her rage.

I liked the use of this method for handling anger, because researchers show that by changing our physiology we can change our mood. Also, exercising releases stress and anger.

Sophie's family lives near the seashore, so Sophie goes to a peaceful spot . . . where she has found solace before. I think this is an excellent example for your child, suggesting that a child find a place where she or he can be quietly alone where he or she finds peace. This can be a good place to visit, even when the child isn't angry.

Then Sophie comes home. "She feels better now." "The house is warm and smells good." "Everyone's glad she's home." So there are no further consequences except feeling loved. This is a marvelous way to encourage a child to take care of their emotions in ways that keep an even balance in family relations.

The messages that a child will get from this book are that anger is a natural reaction to everyday situations, that the anger can be defused by the child's own actions, and that this can all occur in a loving environment.

For a parent, it is easier to talk about Sophie's anger than your child's anger. But you can certainly ask your child what she or he thinks about Sophie's anger . . . and what Sophie should do. You can also ask your child if he or she has a favorite peaceful spot. You can also describe when you feel angry, and what you do about this. As a result, your child can begin to understand that there are multiple paths to defusing anger.

Please be aware that Sophie runs to a quiet place, not away from home. Certainly, you don't want your child to run away from home when angry. If you live in a small apartment, the quiet place may be a cozy corner in a room in the apartment near a window looking out on the beauties of nature. That's why you will want to have a discussion about appropriate quiet places.

Move toward peacefulness!

My 3-year-old is a very sensitive little girl who is scared of her own anger and scared when my 5-year-old throws tantrums. She absolutely loves Sophie, and loves seeing how it is possible that Sophie can get angry and then calm down and come back, and the family still loves her, she's still okay, and she can go back to being happy again. We received this for Christmas, and my daughter has made us read it to her every single night. She tells me she wishes she had a tree to run to. I think it's a wonderful book, and I think that children should be free to express the full range of emotions, including anger. This book certainly makes it seem normal and reassures children that it's okay to be angry sometimes.

As a children's librarian I sometimes have the delight of being in a first row seat for that most awesome of toddler performances: the tantrum. Tantrums come in a variety of different forms for a variety of different reasons. In a way, "When Sophie Gets Angry", is a kind of ideal adult fantasy of how a very particular toddler (Sophie) deals with her own anger. As with any book in which the title character acts in a less than truly saintlike manner, you will hear objections to this story because... well... because Sophie gets angry. Really really angry. And criticizing a children's picture book because it does exactly what it said it would do in its title is just the teensiest bit ridiculous, in my opinion.

In this book, little Miss Sophie is happily playing with her toy gorilla when her older sister sneaks up behind and grabs it with a forceful, "MY TURN". When that wisest of arbitrators, Sophie's mom, insists that it is indeed her sister's turn after all, Sophie falls headlong and painfully onto the truck that gorilla was in just moments ago. This does not improve Sophie's mood in the least. She boils with anger at the injustice of it all. She feels ready to explode. She lets loose a "red, red roar" then runs as fast as she can into her expansive backyard. There, surrounded by nature, and after having a good cleansing cry, Sophie calms down and looks about her. High up in an old beech tree, "The wide world comforts her". Ready for civilization once more, Sophie returns to her family (who is glad to see her) and helps them complete a puzzle. "And Sophie isn't angry anymore".

How you, personally, want your child to express his or her anger is entirely up to you. In the case of this book, the parents have obviously told Sophie in the past that if she wants to be angry she can do so in their park-sized backyard where she's free to express herself without bothering anyone. Maybe you prefer your child to punch a pillow or scream into their bedsheets. This is Sophie's solution, and it's a good one. Though she does let out one particularly nasty roar, she doesn't flop down onto the ground in a screaming fit or pound her sister with her little fists. Her method is to be brought back to herself by interacting with nature. There are far worse ways to deal with anger out there.

Molly Bang as an artist has a range that is to be admired. Though this is perhaps her best known book, the first Bang creation I ever laid my eyes on was her stunning, "My Light". In that book she spends an unaccountable amount of time painting tiny dots of light and energy. In this book, she spreads thick primary colored paints out to convey the emotions of the story. Everyone in this book carries about them a thin sheen of one color or another that shows their mood. When the book begins, Sophie's a mild orange/yellow. The minute she encounters her sister's greed, however, that orange turns a brilliant vibrant red. It ululates off of her in waves, coloring the world around her. Only when she finds herself surrounded by the calming purples and blues of the trees in the forest is Sophie able to come to herself once more. By the end, everyone in the home is a soft yellow (including the cat) and Sophie plays once more. There aren't any tiny details or meticulous fine point drawings here. This is a story that demand big bold colors in big bold pictures, and it delivers.

Of course, not all parents are going to like, "When Sophie Gets Angry". This isn't one of those universally beloved picture books out there. Still, for certain kinds of parents who raise their children in certain kinds of ways, this is a charming purchase and a necessary addition to any personal library.

Molly Bang has really outdone herself with this book. The vibrant colors reflect the heat only anger can create, and the colors cool as Sophie's temper cools. This book is excellent in showing a visual transformation from anger to calm, and is an "Read Aloud" book- a wonderful candidate for storytime. The story shows children one way of effectively dealing with angry emotions. Two thumbs up!

When I first looked at this book, it didn't strike me as one of Molly Bang's best but I tried it out with my 4-year-old daughter, she loved it and has asked for it again and again. It's quickly become her favorite book! And with repeated readings, it's really grown on me as well.

I think this is another case (like Where the Wild Things Are) of kids "getting" the book immediately because they're not as literal as adults. My four year old's responses have certainly helped me come to appreciate the book. She's taken it to her preschool and it's been a big hit with her teachers and classmates as well.

I purchased this book with intentions of using it for classroom guidance. However, Sophie's running alone into the woods to vent her anger is too troubling to me. Teaching our children to leave anger-provoking situations is important, but this is not the appropriate example. I can't present my students with a book that demonstrates potentially dangerous behavior to them.

My 2 year old was having a tough time understanding sharing until he read this book. Since then he has a clue. Also, every time he gets angry we read this book and amazingly he soothes and is even able to talk about it in a toddler way. His 3 and 5 year old cousins were hijacking the book on a recent vacation, they adored it too. And, it's a fun book for a parent to read.

The pictures are bright and eye catching. The words are simple, vivid and few. The story is soothing.

I couldn't recommend this book more highly.

Molly Bang does a wonderful job of using a child's own perspective to identify with strong emotions and to suggest how to deal with them. I am an artist and a librarian. I am a temperatmental person. This book entirely appealed to me in its use of emotive color and emotive words. I was a child like Sophie; I would get really angry and cool down quickly with a walk in nature. I felt in some ways that it explained and validated my emotions. I would absolutely recommend this book for families with emotional, temperamental children, or just children who like wonderful pictures. Molly Bang shows massive amounts of creativity and sensitivity to the individualites of children in this book.