Review – What Feelings Do When No One’s Looking

What Feelings Do When No One's Looking by Tina Oziewicz, Aleksandra Zajac (illustrator)
Published by Pushkin Press on 06/10/2022
Genres: Picture Book
Format: Hardcover
Source: Personal book collection

I love picture books that create a safe space to start conversations about big ideas and challenging concepts with children. These kinds of picture books can provide a non-confrontational prompt for starting discussions about tricky topics like illness/death, conflict, self-image, divorce, friendships, diversity, and a variety of social issues and other topics that can be difficult to raise directly.

I’ve recently added What Feelings Do When No One’s Looking by Tina Oziewicz and Aleksandra Zajac (Pushkin Press, 2022) to my collection. Throughout the book, cute little creatures illustrated in a muted colour palette act out what various emotions might do when no-one is watching: Calm strokes a dog. Sadness wraps itself in a blanket. Pride lives in a high tower at the peak of a glass mountain.

The book portrays a wide range of emotions, with an illustration across a double page spread for each feeling. There are the more ‘common’ emotions children will be familiar with – happiness, joy, sadness, fear, friendship – as well as some more nuanced feelings – hope, compassion, worry, courage, freedom, insecurities. I particularly like the portrayal of hatred (Hatred chews through wires. No connection! No connection!) as a prompt to talk about the impact of hatred rather than what it means to hate someone or something.

I like the concept to that this is what feelings do when they think they are not being observed, in the same way that our true character comes out in those moments when we think no-one is watching.

The book ends with a reminder that these various emotions can all be found within us.

What Feelings Do When No One’s Looking is a thoughtful exploration of feelings and what they look like when they are put into action.