Review : Sam Feels Better Now!
“Sam Feels Better Now!” is an excellent resource book for any counselors working with children facing trauma or have undergone some crisis in their lives. The character, Sam feels bad about something and is helped by Mrs. Carol, a therapist, in conveying his fears and thoughts,by drawing it out. By introducing Sam to the child and reading this book out with a child, he or she may relate to how Sam is feeling. It is an interactive story for children between the ages of 4-10. The purpose of this book is to provide the child, a safe and comfortable environment, to allow him/her in sharing their thoughts. Parents or caregivers can also use this book as an aid to guide the child through their recovery process.
Personally, I feel this book is very suitable for children who are articulate and/or can draw well. As we all know, all children develop differently and my child is definitely one of them! He can’t draw a straight line even if it’s to save himself! Hah..!
But that being said, it is certainly a book that he can relate to. Although he hasn’t gone through any traumatic experiences, he certainly has his own sets of fears! Like spiders and any food that is brown in colour! So, when I read this book to him, he hurriedly told me that “Sam” was scared of spiders and that he should come right into our home, so that HE could “shoo” them away for Sam. Although I wanted to giggle outloud, I thought I’d better be serious about taking his fears into consideration. I mean, after all, when I was a kid, I had a gigantic fear of being abandoned! So, using this book had been very useful to me, as I helped him see that spiders weren’t very scary monsters, but wonderfully delicately powerful creatures!!!
One suggestion I would like to make is, that this book should be made of glossy material to allow the child to draw as many times (with an erasable pen) as he/she wants. After all, it should be used many times over and over again, as throughout the course of growing up, different sets of fears will develop. So, this book can be some sort of a ’security blanket’ to the child.
Overall, it is an excellent resource book that incorporates play therapy and expressive techniques that are easy for children to understand and relate to. Definitely will be re-read again and again!
Title : Sam Feels Better Now!
Author : Jill Osborne
Illustrations by : Kevin Collier
Publisher : Loving Healing Press (2008)
ISBN : 9781932690606
I like to thank Parent Reviewers for giving me the opportunity in reviewing this.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
One Ping