How to Tantrum Like a Champion: Ten Small Ways to Temper Big Feelings

How do you throw the world’s best tantrum? Here are ten ways to help little ones navigate big feelings using fun, calming exercises.

Your hands turn into iron fists.
Your giggles are all gone.
Your body’s trying to tell you
there’s a tantrum coming on.

Sometimes your day doesn’t go how you planned it. Or there’s too much noise, and the light is way too bright. Small feelings can turn into overpowering feelings, and now there’s a tightening in your chest or a pounding in your head. A tantrum is coming, and it feels like it can’t be stopped, but you’re not worried, because you know what to do! You start with a deep breath, and a slow count from one to ten. Then maybe you’ll break into a silly dance, or find a cozy, comfy hideaway, or play an easy game by yourself so you can win. Soon enough, those big feelings will quiet down again—because you know how to tantrum like a champion. With a playful, soothing text and dynamic, stylish illustrations, Allan Wolf and Keisha Morris offer the perfect blueprint for readers of any age to keep those overwhelming feelings from taking them by surprise.

This book shows kids how to let off steam productively. Some of the soothing strategies may work well for grown-ups, too. The result? Improved mental health, equanimity, a better sense of perspective, and maybe even a laugh or two. . . . Books teaching kids to be champs are always welcome. This one goes a long way toward that goal.
—Kirkus Reviews

Wolf's soothing rhyming verse encourages kids to recognize changes in their body when they are getting upset. . . Morris’ dynamic and bright tissue-paper collages capture kids finding comfort by curling up in a “soft and safe” fort made out of sofa cushions and a blanket, or relaxing by mindfully meditating on the fluttering sights in a shaken snow globe. This helpful social-emotional-learning offering provides children with concrete ways to care for
themselves and manage overwhelming feelings.
—Booklist

Allan Wolf is the author of many award-winning books for children and teens, including The Blanket Where Violet Sits, Behold Our Magical Garden, No Buddy Like a Book, The Day the Universe Exploded My Head, and The Blood-Hungry Spleen and Other Poems About Our Parts. He lives in Roanoke, Virginia.

Keisha Morris is a freelance writer and children’s book illustrator. She earned her BFA in illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. When she is not drawing, she loves spending time with her wife, daughter, and two cats. She lives in Maryland.

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