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Title: When Sophie Gets Angry--Really, Really Angry...
ISBN: 0439924936
Author:
Molly Bang
Publicate Date: 2007-01-01
Publish: 2007-01-01
List Price: $9.95
Average Customer Rating: 3.5
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $102.23
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $6.91
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Not a good message
I am a mother of a 5 1/2 year old spirted child and was in a book store trying to find a book that may help guide her towards a better outlet for her anger. This one is available in Read A Long format so I bought it. My husband and I reviewed it before giving it to our daughter and were appalled that the book has Sophie running away!! 'Run away' when you are angry is NOT the message we want to give our child. It is disturbing that this book has such a high rating.
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2: Wonderful book on dealing with anger -- great illustrations too
My mom got this book for my son, who is a pretty emotional boy (age 3). She thought it may be a good way to talk about being angry and ways of dealing with anger. Of course that only works if the child likes the book and my son has always loved this one despite the lack of dinosaurs and super heros. It seems to me he can really relate to Sophie's frustration and anger and her way of dealing with it. He has even brought it up at random times, like "There is a tree like Sophie ran to when she was angry, and then she felt better!" We then talk about things he can do when he gets angry.
The illustrations make this book special -- the swirling reds and the subtle lines on the characters' facial expressions really demonstrate the feelings. This may be why the book is effective at reaching very young children.
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3: Good book about anger
Sophie is playing with a toy when her sister snatches it away - and her parents take her sister's side! Maybe they're right, maybe they're wrong, but Sophie is clearly too upset to argue rationally.
So she does the only thing left to do. She leaves until she calms down. Which is exactly what I teach my young nieces to do, except that we're in a city so I encourage them to go to their mom's room to calm down in instead of a tree.
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4: A post-impressionistic view of childish rage!
Clever, clever, clever.
But that was not my first impression of "When Sophie Gets Angry--Really, Really Angry..." The first time I read this book, I was appalled. How did this book earn the Silver Medal in the Caldecott award ranking? I thought the story was simplistic and the illustrations garish and awful!
Months later, today, when I reread the book, I "got" it! And totally changed my opinion! Oh, what fun I will have sharing this book with the little ones in the school library where I work!
So, what is the difference? Why was it awful one day and clever and visionary months later? First, we must decide the nature of anger. What is anger? How is it expressed? What happens when anger takes an ugly turn? How may a child safely express anger? Is it possible?
A simple event rattles the cage of Sophie's anger. Sophie's little sister wants to play with the same stuffed gorilla that Sophie is playing with. The mother sides with the sister. (Whether Mother is right or wrong is irrelevant to this story. What causes anger is not the issue here. The issue is how one deals safely with anger to dissipate its poison without making it part of one's being. Poisonous anger can then fester into something much worse.)
This is the place that first repulsed then amazed me. Molly Bang's illustrations of Sophie's anger are really grotesque but VERY effective. Here is also what I missed the first time.
Impressionistic paintings are impressions of the object being painted: that blur of action, that showing of movement in one space, that play of light, that moment in time. Post-Impressionism grew out of those concepts. "This is a painting on canvas and not the real thing" became the mantra of the post-impressionists, meaning reality is not on the canvas. They took color to the extreme. What if color portrays the feelings behind the moment?
Molly Bang is just brilliant in using color to portray Sophie's anger. Here is her image in vivid red using a huge fist to smash things to smithereens juxtaposed against first tinted then intense purple walls and yellow floors. Everything in the angry scenes is outlined in red. The floorboards gather up to create Sophie's impending volcanic rage ready to really explode.
Sophie runs outside and runs and runs. In these pictures, everything is still outlined in red. The viewer can really feel that anger. "Then, for a little while, she cries." Images are now outlined in various hues of purple and red-purple. After all, purple is a blend of red and blue. Then she climbs her favorite tree, a beech tree near the ocean, and, of course, it is outlined in blue, the calmest of colors.
There's more, but you "get" the picture, don't you? Molly Bang has told her story in words, yes, but also in color. As I flipped back through the book, I thought that the words could be eliminated and the reader would know exactly what the story is about. Oh yes, this book is very deserving of the Silver Medal.
Note: The Gold Medal winner in 2000 was "Joseph Had a Little Overcoat" by Simms Taback. This was a righteous win!
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5: We both love it
My toddler son loves this book and he is a very mild-mannered boy. That said, he does get angry, because he's human and poor Sophie's anger is lovingly accepted in this book. We do not have a beautiful beech tree to run to, but letting the world comfort Sophie is something that really appeals to my happy city boy. We also love the illustrations. Caldecott knows what they're doing.
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