A Volcano in My Tummy: Helping Children to Handle Anger

A great book for parents and kids on anger management; filled with strategies and activities. Put this on your bookshelf. Another outstanding resource for parents and educators is Bully-Proofing Children: A Practical, Hands-On Guide to Stop Bullying. It not only helps kids to deal with feelings of anger but expression of all feelings; it provides activities and detailed classroom-tested lessons on how to manage these feelings, assertiveness vs aggressiveness; conflict resolution; getting along; being kind and helping others.

The premise of the book is that anger is okay and natural, and you do not need to feel ashamed or scared when you are angry. You can talk about your anger, and try to physically calm your body, but you cannot be abusive and hurt yourself, others, or property.

If you are a parent hoping to help a child with anger issues, this is probably not the best book for you. It is basically a series of lesson plans designed for teachers/counselors to use when teaching students about anger and constructive ways to manage their anger.

OTOH, I do plan to adapt a few of the lessons for my family. There are a few useful stories and worksheets that could reinforce some of the messages I am trying to get through to my children, such as: using "cold water" words to diffuse someone else's anger; figuring out "what lit the fuse" for an outburst of anger; slowly escalating your words "using your muscles" to explain when someone is bothering you, rather than exploding all at once; and coming up with "safe ways" to express anger, among others.

Excellent short workbook for kids with anger problems. Probably most appropriate for kids between 5 and 9. Highly reccomended.

It was not what I thought. I thought it was a book to read to kids, instead it is a WONDERFUL workbook with ideas, activities, etc. Definately for teachers but very useful even for this grandma!

I am an Elementary School Counselor. I got this book to help me put together small groups for some of my students. The book is wonderful. It is full of great and effective ideas. I bought many resources in the past, and this is by far the best one to help children understand and work through anger.