Reviewed by Carmen Tenorio for Readers' Favorite

I Feel, I Learn, I Grow by Ana Stone is a warm, beautifully illustrated bilingual story that helps children understand and accept their emotions while showing parents how to guide them with love. The story follows a young boy who challenges outdated sayings about emotions by observing his parents’ real-life reactions. Through moments of sadness, fear, anger, joy, and love, he learns that all feelings are natural and valuable. He learns that sadness can be soothed by letting tears fall, fear can keep us alert and safe, anger can be felt and released, joy is meant to be shared, and love and safety help us grow strong inside. The story reassures young readers that emotions come and go like the flow of a river and that every feeling has its place. Parents in the story model emotional awareness, showing that it’s okay to feel and talk about what’s going on inside you. The book features activities and tips for families to share their feelings, making it a heartwarming read-aloud and a gentle guide for building emotional intelligence at home.

I Feel, I Learn, I Grow’s plot is simple yet stirring. It gently moves from one emotion to the next, with the message that emotions come and go and should be embraced. The child's character development is central to the story. Ana Stone clearly shows how he’s challenged and transformed through his observations and reflections of the environment and the people surrounding him, and how it has influenced his growth. The pacing is slow and steady and is designed to let young readers easily follow, pause, and absorb each emotional lesson. Each feeling is described with playful imagery. The illustrations by Amália Lira use colors, shapes, and elements that are not overwhelming and are easily relatable for young children. They are an effective visual complement to the text that clearly show emotion-related behavior like tears falling, jumping for joy, or warming with love, allowing children to visualize feelings through relatable body sensations. The themes touch on emotional awareness, acceptance of feelings, empathy, healthy family connections, and breaking old emotional stereotypes. The book is good for children up to 10 years of age, and parents, teachers, and caregivers who want to nurture emotional intelligence and create safe spaces for expression at home or in the classroom.