Today I Feel…

This sophisticated and unusual picture book will, I suspect, appeal as much to parents as to children.  It is, of course, about feelings, and it is also about the alphabet so that each letter has a feeling attached, some of them odd, even bizarre.  One word on each two page spread reflects the letter, hence, A is for Adored, B for Brilliant, C for Curious, and so it goes.  They are certainly feelings, but not, perhaps, the sad, happy, feelings usually portrayed in alphabet books.  There are some more common ones like ‘excited’ or ‘nervous’ or ‘jealous’, but for the most part we are in unusual territory here.  The illustrations are amazing.  A little boy is the star of the show, and it is his feelings we learn about throughout. Each two-page spread has the word on the bottom of the left side with the letter beautifully decorated above, and the opposite page has a picture of the little boy amongst the things that make him feel ‘grumpy’ or ‘strong’ or ‘uncertain’ – and such pictures!!  In watercolour and India ink, they glow and move and sometimes take lots of looking at to understand fully.  F is for Free, and the little boy is flying through the sky with geese.  It is not that other words couldn’t have been used; this author/illustrator is looking for the unusual and finding it in spades.  F could have been ‘furious’ for instance and U could have been unwell.  The words she has used are ones that give her imagination full reign, and the result is wonderful.  This is a book to revel in, to take time with, and to share, and it will repay such attention beautifully.