Something Doesn’t Feel Right
A children’s book for 3-5 year olds who might struggle to ‘name’ their emotions
Written and illustrated by the Wired Differently team with guidance from an experienced Primary Education Leader.
About
Children's books are wonderful at tackling emotional literacy. But most of them focus on the appropriate expression of emotions (eg. "When I am angry I jump in muddy puddles", "When I am happy I like to dance in my bedroom" etc.,).
But what about children who don't know how they feel?
What if, for reasons of neurodiversity, or trauma or delayed development, children cannot recognise or name emotions? What if a child knows how they feel, but by naming it they could feel disloyal or get into trouble? (Children who have witnessed things that scare them or that they know are wrong?)
Something Doesn't Feel Right is our book for 3-5 year olds, Written and illustrated by the Wired Differently team with guidance from an experienced Primary Education Leader:
Sara-Louise Ackrill, Jayne Adby and Paula Randall.
Meet the Team
Sara-Louise Ackrill
Sara-Louise Ackrill, is a therapist as well as Director of Start Differently, Founding CEO of Wired Differently and co-author of a non-fiction book about neurodivergent women and their relationships. Sara was motivated to write a book about emotional literacy because a lot of her clients struggle with alexithymia, complex trauma and slow processing and she wanted to create a resource for children, parents and care givers that helps children not only feel confident and 'normal' where they can't name emotions, but to feel and stay safe.
Jayne Adby
Jayne is an experienced Virtual Assistant and works with neurodivergent professionals in her role with Wired Differently. As a self-taught artist, Jayne is really excited to be a part of this book about Alexithymia. She tells us “In this book we have set out to help children to manage and understand their emotions and I really hope that my vibrant illustrations bring across the characters and feelings we are trying to portray.”
Paula Randall
With over 35 years of experience in the primary education sector, Paula has developed a deep-rooted passion and expertise in Early Years education. She is currently the Nursery Manager at the nursery attached to her school. Throughout her career, she has been committed to supporting families of neurodivergent children, and believes that every child should be given the opportunity to explore, learn, and grow at their own pace in an environment that values their unique interests and potential.
Register for Updates
“Something doesn’t feel right” is currently being edited and prepared for publication. Although we don’t yet have a publication date, we hope to have copies available this year and in time for Christmas.
To be the first to hear about developments with this project, and perhaps a sneak peak or two, please register for updates and be sure to tick the ‘sign up for news and updates’ option.