Daniel Feels Left Out: Ready-to-Read Pre-Level 1 (Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood) by Maggie Testa

Daniel Feels Left Out: Ready-to-Read Pre-Level 1 (Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood) Reviews

• 
  Kate McGinty aka Caryn Caldwell

  Daniel is not allowed to play with his friends because he has to go home to dinner. Rather than stopping their play, his friends continue without him. When his parents ask him what's wrong, Daniel admits that he feels left out and sad. They assure him that it's perfectly okay to feel that way and that he will gradually feel better.
  
  While this may seem like a tiny conflict to an adult, feeling sad and left out is a fact of life for many young children, and they do need to learn how to deal with such situations. Rather than shaming children for their natural feelings, this book acknowledges the hurt in an empathetic manner and reminds them that this feeling will not last forever. Because of the simple vocabulary and sentence structure, as well as the very young appearance of the protagonist, this one will likely find a larger audience with pre-schoolers and newer elementary students. I do wish it contained a few more coping strategies than giving it time and receiving hugs from understanding parents, but it's a good start.
• 
  Jillian

  Daniel Tiger is sad because it's dinnertime and his friends are playing outside without him.
  
  ...Tough? He feels left out because his friends didn't stop playing their game (that he wasn't playing anyway)? It seems like such an odd thing to have as the conflict of this story. "Somewhere, my friends are having fun without me. That's terrible!"
  
  I did like the lesson that talking about your feelings can help, and that you don't always feel better right away. But throwing a tantrum because your friends started playing together (while you weren't there) and kept playing when you got home (he had to go inside for dinner; they didn't tell him he couldn't play) just seems like a misguided moral.
• 
  Heather

  The original Mr. Rogers didn't shy away from dealing with so-called "negative" feelings, and Daniel Tiger doesn't disappoint on that front either.
  
  In this book, Daniel feels left out because his friends are playing outside when he comes home, but he has to go in to help his parents with dinner.
  
  I like it that he doesn't get excused from helping his parents, but they do help him deal with his feelings of disappointment. They teach him that it's okay to feel sad, and that "little by little, you will feel better."
  
  It's really important for kids to feel acceptance for sadness, to learn that sadness is not permanent, and for adults to be able to hold kids' sadness without making it about themselves.
  
  A good story for kids and parents both.
• 
  Nicola

  A simple early reader with a moral. It's okay to feel a little bit sad; we can take a deep breath, talk about our feelings, or have a hug.
  
  Miss 4 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.
• 
  Kri O'Kellas

  Daniel feels left out as he watches his friends playing without him, so he goes home with his dad and they briefly talk to his mom about feelings and how to cope. It’s a solid preschool story with easy to understand images and context.
• 
  Sarah Salas

  Very good story about not feeling left out. Easy read for new readers
• 
  Aarvik

  Good one!
• 
  Asho

  I haven't actually read this book with L yet, but I saw her reading it with Daddy. All of the Daniel Tiger books are simple but sweet (all based on TV episodes). My daughter seems to find them comforting. We checked this out from the library and then she chewed up the back cover (WHY?!) so we ended up having to buy the library a replacement copy, which means we now own the chewed up one. Ha!
  
  ETA September 2018: Finally actually read this one to S and L. Nice easy reader that S could actually read on his own at this point. L still loves these Daniel Tiger books, even more so than she did last year.
• 
  Hadley

  It's so important to let children know that their feelings are valid (regardless of how silly they may seem to someone else) and that they can acknowledge them and talk about them. You can't control your feelings, so it's best to express them rather than holding them in. I think if more kids had brought up with this mentality (within good reason of course), we would have a lot more well-functioning adults who can confront and solve problems on their own.
• 
  K Morlando

  The Daniel Tiger books are wonderful additions to our home library, they teach toddlers important concepts!
• 
  Kristi

  It teaches that it is ok to feel sad and to talk about your feelings. It has multiple repetitive easy words to help kids learn to read.