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Most children’s books about feelings teach children to name their emotions. The My Inner World series does something different.
These books help children notice what’s happening in their bodies — the tightness, the heat, the heaviness — and move through it. Not analyse it. Not perform it. Just notice, and let it pass.
Because feelings don’t need to be understood to move through. They need to be felt.
“Feelings don’t need to be understood to move through. They need to be noticed. Named. And allowed.”
Watch the Animated Read-Aloud
Begin with Feelings Live Inside Me, a gentle animated read-aloud from the My Inner World series. This story helps children notice what is happening inside their bodies — that feelings rise, move, and pass — while giving parents, teachers, and caregivers a soft way to sit with big feelings together.
My Inner World: Feelings Live Inside Me
The book that started it all. A gentle illustrated story that introduces young children to the idea that feelings live in the body — not just in the mind. Through simple language and warm imagery, children begin to notice that feelings rise, and that they pass, and that they are never alone in what they feel.
One of the quieter children’s books about feelings — reassuring for any moment, not just the hard ones.
The Mindful Cat
For the child who needs to slow down and come back to themselves. The Mindful Cat follows a gentle feline who notices what’s happening in their body and finds their way back to stillness — without fixing, without forcing, without performing calm.
A quietly powerful read for sensitive children, children who carry a lot, or any child who benefits from a slower pace and a softer story.
The Mindful Capybara
For the child who carries a lot and needs permission to simply be. The Mindful Capybara is for children who worry, who overthink, who hold tension in their bodies without knowing how to release it.
This story offers something gentle — not instructions, not strategies, just permission. Permission to slow down, to breathe, to be exactly where they are without needing to be anywhere else.
My Inner World Coloring Book
A companion to the Feelings Live Inside Me story — extending the experience of noticing feelings through drawing and quiet reflection. Coloring is one of the simplest ways a child’s nervous system can settle. These pages pair that natural calming effect with gentle prompts that invite children to slow down and notice what’s moving through them.
No pressure. No performance. Just a child, a page, and a quiet moment.
How These Books Are Used in Real Moments
These books weren’t written to be read once and put on a shelf. They were written for the moments that repeat — the bedtime when a child can’t settle, the morning when everything feels too loud, the quiet after a hard day when nobody has the words yet.
A parent shared that they read Feelings Live Inside Me to their child every night for three weeks during a particularly hard stretch. Not because the child asked for it — because the parent needed the reminder too. That the feelings rise. That they pass. That nobody is alone in what they feel.
The Mindful Cat and Mindful Capybara coloring books have found their way into waiting rooms, back seats of cars before difficult appointments, and quiet Saturday mornings when a child needs something to do with their hands while their nervous system settles. Coloring is one of the simplest ways a child’s body finds its way back. These pages were made for exactly that.
For the parent reading alongside
How to Stay Calm During Meltdowns, Big Emotions & Anger
The parent companion to the Inner Worlds series — scripts for every emotional state, the five-step meltdown process, and Words for the Moment to return to whenever you need them. The Etsy digital download includes a phone-friendly HTML version.
What Makes These Books Different
They don’t ask children to fix their feelings. Most children’s books about emotions end with the feeling resolved — the child calms down, finds a solution, feels better. The My Inner World series doesn’t promise resolution. It promises company. The feeling moves through. That’s the ending. And for children who live with feelings that don’t resolve neatly, that distinction matters enormously.
They speak to the body, not just the mind. The language throughout the series is body-based — where feelings live, how they move, what they feel like physically. This is intentional. Children who can locate a feeling in their body have already begun the process of regulation. Naming “tight hands” or “heavy chest” is the first step toward moving through.
They work for the adult reading them too. Several parents have said they cry reading these books — not because they’re sad, but because something in the language reaches a part of them that needed reaching. These books were written from lived experience and they carry that. Children feel it. So do the adults holding them.
Frequently Asked Questions
What age are the My Inner World books suitable for? The story books are written for children aged 3-8, though they are regularly read to older children and used in therapy settings with children up to age 12. The coloring books are suitable from around age 4 upward.
Which book should I start with? Start with Feelings Live Inside Me if you want to introduce the overall concept of body-based emotional awareness. Start with The Mindful Cat if your child needs help slowing down and returning to themselves. Start with The Inner World coloring book if your child carries anxiety or tends to overthink and hold tension.
Are these books suitable for neurodivergent children? Yes — the body-based, non-verbal approach to feelings makes these books particularly accessible for neurodivergent children, including those who are autistic or have sensory processing differences. The language avoids abstract emotional concepts and stays grounded in physical sensation, which many neurodivergent children find easier to connect with.
Can these books be used in a classroom or therapy setting?Absolutely — they were designed with exactly that in mind. The body-based, non-verbal approach to feelings makes them a natural fit for classroom morning circles, therapy sessions, and sensory-aware learning environments. The printable coloring pages available in the Etsy shop are particularly well suited for classroom and therapy use.
Free resource
Want to understand what’s actually happening in your child’s body during a meltdown — and what to do about it? When Big Feelings Come is a free guide that walks you through the science, the five-step Inner Worlds process, and why staying steady is the most powerful thing you can do. Get the free guide →
Activity Bundle — Etsy →
Mindful Cat Coloring — Etsy →
Mindful Capybara Coloring — Etsy →
Alongside the books, the Inner Worlds Press Etsy shop carries printable activities, coloring pages, and toolkits for daily life — at home, in the classroom, or in a therapy setting.
If you’re looking for practical tools to pair with these children’s books about feelings, the Emotional Regulation Toolkitbrings everything together — activities, scripts, and the parent guide in one place.
You might also find it helpful to read about calm-down activities for kids that work in everyday moments, or what to say during a meltdown when you’re right in the middle of one.
All books are available on Amazon. If you’re outside North America, search “My Inner World Adrianne Reeves” on your local Amazon store.
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