You know the moment.
Your child comes home from kindy or school and seems perfectly fine. Then a sibling takes the wrong cup, a favourite toy can’t be found, or you ask them to put their shoes away — and suddenly there are tears.
You ask, “What’s wrong?”
And the answer is the classic:
For mums, dads and carers, helping young children talk about emotions can be surprisingly tricky.
Kids can experience frustration, worry, sadness, jealousy, embarrassment, disappointment and anger long before they have the words to properly explain what is happening inside them.
And when a child is already upset, asking question after question can sometimes make them shut down even more.
That’s where stories can help.
Books about feelings for kids give children a safe way to explore emotions through somebody else’s experience first. Instead of having to explain their own feelings straight away, they can talk about what a character is thinking, what happened to them and what they might do next.
How a Story Can Open a Conversation
See the emotion → give it a name → talk about why it happened → think about what could help.
That little bit of distance can turn an ordinary story into a surprisingly useful conversation starter.
Here are five simple ways to use stories to help children understand and talk about their big feelings.
1. Let the Character Talk About the Feeling First
Imagine asking your child:
“Why were you so angry after school?”
You may get a shrug.
Now try asking:
“Why do you think that character got so angry?”
Suddenly, you might get an entire explanation.
Young children often find it easier to recognise emotions in someone else before talking about themselves.
A character might feel left out when friends don’t listen.
They might become frustrated when something keeps going wrong.
They might feel nervous about trying something new.
Once your child has recognised the feeling in the story, you can gently bring the conversation a little closer to home.
Try asking:
- “What do you think they’re feeling?”
- “What made them feel that way?”
- “What do you think they need right now?”
- “What could their friend do to help?”
- “Have you ever felt a little bit like that?”
That final question can be especially helpful.
“A little bit” doesn’t put your child on the spot. It gives them room to share as much — or as little — as they want.
And if they don’t feel like talking after a long day of school, sport, homework and the general chaos of family life?
That’s okay too.
You’ve still helped them practise the language of emotions.
2. Show Kids That Feelings Aren’t Simply “Good” or “Bad”
Children can quickly pick up the idea that happy and excited are “good” feelings, while sadness, anger and fear are somehow “bad”.
But real life isn’t that simple.
A child can love playing footy and still feel nervous before a game.
They can adore their best mate and still be furious with them after an argument.
They can have a brilliant day at school and suddenly feel sad at bedtime.
One of the benefits of children’s books about emotions is that stories can show kids that uncomfortable feelings are a normal part of being human.
In the Zumblies story The Feelings Festival, different characters experience sadness, anger, fear, overwhelm and embarrassment.
Rather than pretending those emotions shouldn’t exist, the story explores the idea that feelings can tell us something.
Anger might tell us something matters.
Fear can tell us that we feel uncertain or unsafe.
Sadness might mean we need comfort, rest or connection.
The important lesson for children isn’t:
“Make this feeling disappear.”
It’s:
“I can notice this feeling, name it and decide what I need next.”
That’s a much more useful skill than simply being told to “cheer up”.
Something might feel unfair, frustrating or important to me.
Something feels uncertain, unfamiliar or worrying.
I might need comfort, rest or connection.
There may be too much happening and I might need some space.
Instead of asking, “How do we make this feeling go away?”, try:
“What might this feeling be trying to tell us?”
3. Use Stories to Practise Friendship, Listening and Making Things Right
Big emotions don’t only happen inside children.
They happen between them too.
“She won’t listen to me!”
“He started it!”
“She’s not my friend anymore!”
Anyone who has dealt with a playground disagreement knows how enormous a small argument can feel when you’re five, six or seven.
This is where social emotional learning for kids becomes incredibly practical.
Stories allow children to watch a conflict unfold while they’re calm, rather than trying to learn communication skills right in the middle of their own argument.
Several stories in Zumblies Season 1 explore this idea.
In The Power of Quiet, Whisper struggles to have her ideas heard because everyone else is busy talking. The answer isn’t for Whisper to suddenly become the loudest person in the room. Her friends learn that being a good communicator also means making space for quieter voices and genuinely listening.
In The Big DisagreementZUMBLIES, Sparklo and Giggles become so focused on defending their own ideas that they stop hearing what the other person is actually trying to say.
The story eventually comes back to three very simple ideas:
The 3-Step Friendship Reset
↓
💭 UNDERSTAND
↓
🤝 SOLVE TOGETHER
You don’t have to agree immediately. Start by understanding what the other person is trying to say.
Parents can also help children practise simple sentences:
“I felt upset when…”
“I wanted you to listen because…”
“Can I tell you what happened?”
“Can we try again?”
They aren’t magic sentences that will prevent every argument in the back seat or every fight over Lego.
But they give children useful language to reach for when their emotions are running high.
4. Help Children See Mistakes Differently
Some children can make a mistake, shrug and have another go.
Others react as though civilization itself has collapsed.
The drawing is “ruined”.
The puzzle is “impossible”.
They missed a goal, so now they’re “terrible at soccer”.
They’ve tried something twice and have officially decided they’ll never be able to do it.
For these kids, stories about mistakes can be particularly useful for building confidence and resilience.
One Zumblies story follows Sparklo after he repeatedly tries to create something new and keeps failing.
Eventually, he starts comparing himself with his friends, who seem to be doing much better.
But then something important happens.
His friends begin sharing the failures that came before their successes.
The good performance wasn’t always good.
The winning race wasn’t always a win.
The successful creation came after attempts that didn’t work.
That changes the conversation completely.
Sparklo isn’t the only one who gets things wrong.
Everybody does.
The Learning Loop
A mistake isn’t always the end of the attempt. Sometimes it’s information for the next one.
The difference is what they do afterwards.
Parents can use the same idea at home.
“Don’t worry, you’re really good at it!”
Try asking:
“What did this attempt teach you?”
Maybe the tower needed a wider base.
Maybe the shoelaces need a different technique.
Maybe they rushed.
Maybe they simply need more practice.
The goal isn’t to make failure fun every single time.
It’s to help children understand that getting something wrong doesn’t automatically mean they’re bad at it.
5. Turn Storytime Into a Gentle Daily Check-In
Bedtime can be one of the best times for children to talk.
The school bags are finally down.
Bath time is over.
Dinner is finished.
The house is becoming quieter.
And instead of announcing that it’s time to have a serious conversation about feelings — which is unlikely to thrill anybody — you can simply read together.
A short bedtime story for kids followed by one or two questions can be enough.
Try:
“What was your favourite part?”
“Which character would you want as a mate?”
“Was anything unfair?”
“Who had the hardest day?”
“What would you have done?”
“Who do you think was a good friend?”
You might be surprised where the conversation goes.
Your child may suddenly mention something that happened at recess.
Or someone who wouldn’t share at kindy.
Or something they’re worried about tomorrow.
The book isn’t necessarily the conversation.
Sometimes it’s simply what opens the door.
And don’t feel pressure to squeeze an important life lesson out of every bedtime story either.
Some nights, your child may just want to decide which character is funniest and go to sleep.
That’s perfectly fine.
You can always have another conversation tomorrow.
What Should Parents Look for in Books About Feelings for Kids?
Not every children’s book about emotions needs to feel like a lesson.
In fact, particularly for younger kids, it often works better when it doesn’t.
Look for stories with:
- A situation children can recognise
- Characters with different personalities
- Emotions that naturally appear as part of the story
- Friendship and communication challenges
- Opportunities to talk about choices
- Mistakes and problem-solving
- A satisfying ending rather than a lecture
- Enough humour and adventure to make children actually want to keep reading
The goal isn’t to finish a book and immediately quiz your child.
It’s to build shared language.
A character who struggled to say no might later help your child talk about boundaries.
A story about an argument might help after tomorrow’s playground drama.
A character who tried something repeatedly before succeeding might come to mind when homework gets frustrating.
That’s when a children’s story becomes something your family can return to again and again.
Where Zumblies Fits In
Zumblies is an illustrated children’s ebook series built around the social and emotional situations young children encounter while growing up.
The stories follow a recurring group of characters, with each adventure exploring a different idea through the story itself rather than presenting children with a traditional lesson.
The themes explored across the series include feelings, friendship, communication, curiosity, confidence, boundaries, listening, disagreements, mistakes and working together.
For example, Kindra’s Perfect Day explores what happens when Kindra spends so much time helping everybody else that she forgets to look after herself. She eventually learns that boundaries and self-care aren’t selfish — and that sometimes it’s okay to say, “I can’t help right now.”
The Power of Quiet explores what happens when a softer-spoken character struggles to be heard, eventually teaching the group that good communication isn’t only about speaking — it’s also about listening.
The Big Disagreement focuses on conflict, showing two friends learning to explain how they feel, listen without interrupting and understand the other person’s point of view.
And The Feelings Festival explores a range of emotions, including sadness, frustration, fear and embarrassment, while reinforcing that uncomfortable emotions still deserve to be recognised.
Families can explore all ten stories in Zumblies Season 1, while Zumblies Season 2 continues the series with another collection of adventures and social-emotional themes.
They’re the sort of stories that can fit naturally into family life — before bed, after school or during a quiet weekend arvo — while giving parents something useful to talk about afterwards.
Because sometimes the easiest way to ask a child:
“How are you feeling?”
…is not to ask about them first.
Start with a character.
Start with a story.
And see where the conversation goes.
Explore the Zumblies Stories
Looking for illustrated stories about feelings, friendship, confidence, communication and growing up?
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