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Holdin Pott

This book sweetly and subtly teaches both adults and children that bottling up emotions — “keeping the lid on the pot” too tight for too long — can be harmful to our emotional health. Holdin Pott normalizes and encourages expression and sharing of difficult feelings and emotions. The simple story invites readers to get in touch with their own ways of processing feelings and modeling healthy behaviors for children. Holdin Pott provides a great starting point for reflection and conversations with children around difficult feelings.

Author: Chandra Ghosh Ippen
Illustrated by: Erich Peter Ippen Jr.
Year of Publishing: 2019
Number of Pages: 32

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Reviews

  1. LittleAchievers (verified owner)

    I enjoyed reading this book. Holding Pott used easy to understand language and pictures that children enjoyed mimicking. This story allowed us to explore anger and sadness in a lighthearted manor.

  2. apotter (verified owner)

    LOVE this! This book is super special – the first book my 6 yo wanted to really five into a conversation about. So cute. It made him think about what it means to hold feelings inside and the pots are the perfect metaphor. Such a sweet, sweet book for any caregiver/child that wants to have a light way to talk about the importance of expressing emotions (child) and supporting a child when they do (caregiver).

  3. Celiarn (verified owner)

    Wonderful story about feelings. Read it to our son and will continue to read it to him. It was thought provoking even as adults and sends a great message for both children and adults. The illustrations were fun as well!

  4. Jamie (verified owner)

    Really enjoyed this book and reading it to my daughter it was great way to say don’t hold in your feelings.. especially arrived on a good day we were. It’s having a hard day..

  5. FFFbooks123 (verified owner)

    This book was reccomended in Parenting Class to help teach emotion coaching. Check out your local Oregon Parenting Education Collaborative Parenting Hub: https://health.oregonstate.edu/opec/hubs/directory

  6. Amber Vaine (verified owner)

    Super cute book although I don’t know if my child really related it to himself but I liked how they had the adult pot containing his feelings versus the little pot not being able to and then the adult pot helped the little pot.

  7. eschloss (verified owner)

    Children can gain social and emotional skills from this book. Most children can relate to the feeling of being mad, sad, etcetera, and this book provides a good leeway into talking about how to handle those big emotions.

  8. christinalynnhead (verified owner)

    This book is great! It was enjoyable for my son and I as we were able to spark conversation regarding emotions, feelings and being aware of ourselves and our surroundings. I would recommend this to any family and especially those that need support around emotional regulation.

  9. MCalvert123 (verified owner)

    A great read to welcome conversation about emotion identification and expression with children.

  10. mslayter (verified owner)

    Not sure how i feel about this book. I ordered it to read to my grandsons. It starts with the little pot being given the example of how to deal with his feelings by seeing all of the adult pots around him bottle things up. It made me upset as an adult to see him think that was how he was supposed to act. Maybe that was how ot was supposed to make one feel?? Obviously it did end with an adult letting off steam but I don’t think it is one I will reread with my 18 month old.
    The 7 year old seemed to enjoy it enough that I sent it home with him.

  11. [email protected] (verified owner)

    This was a fun book to read through an I believe it would be a great way to introduce a “calming corner” in a classroom to your students, I also liked the paper that came with it titled “What’s in your Pot?” and a space to draw something in a pot, which could even be put at the calming corner for them to complete if they would like.

  12. Lindsay (verified owner)

    Great book, better than what I expected.

  13. Lacey Kress (verified owner)

    Was a very good book. Lacey really enjoyed it. Thank you

  14. MrsCastle (verified owner)

    What a great resource to use for when I have students who have big emotions. I like that it shows kids are still loved even when they “overflow and blow”.

  15. briane gillam (verified owner)

    This is a beautiful story with nice pictures. It tells a story of how to anger and sadness, and how even holding ports need to be held too. It talks about holding feelings inside. It is a great book to read to your young ones.

  16. Rachael Parker (verified owner)

    Holdin Pot is a great book to explore hard feelings and provide understanding and acceptance for those hard feelings. This book uses a visual way to portray anger and outbursts. I continue to refrence this book with my child when she shows signs of anger and might want to talk about how she is feeling.

  17. Amber (verified owner)

    This book is a great analogy for how our culture expects us to act vs how our bodies need us to express pain to heal. Very great for young children.

  18. frodin (verified owner)

    What a great story to teach kids about feeling and also the connection and empathy.

  19. Craig Jacobson (verified owner)

    All of Ghosh Ippen’s books are amazing. Such a vivid metaphor for the stuffed emotions that need to work their way out, paired with attachment building and repair.

  20. [email protected] (verified owner)

    I really liked this book. It is easy to read and understand. It sends a very good message in a way younger kids can understand. I am a homevisiting nurse, and I think this will be beneficial to my clients.

  21. palomich91 (verified owner)

    Great book to help your littles with their emotions!

  22. Brooke Nuckles (verified owner)

    Perfect for reading to my elementary-aged son- great story to learn importance of “letting off some steam” before you explode!

  23. landonhirz (verified owner)

    This book is a great conversation starter with children!

  24. SMohler (verified owner)

    I love that this book comes with an activity sheet! It is a wonderful book to help teach children about their feelings.

  25. Taylor Davis (verified owner)

    I think this is such a great book to introduce children to the idea of opening up. Children hold so much in and it’s important they know there are people in there lives they can talk to.

  26. M Bartel (verified owner)

    This book offers a cute story about emotions and supporting those around us, using a simple but powerful metaphor. The book also arrived with an activity sheet!

  27. marco zarate (verified owner)

    So very cute. Really helped helped me and my kids start a conversation about healthy and unhealthy emotional expression.

  28. Amy Oland (verified owner)

    This story is a great way to explore anger and sadness with my students. It gives them a visual representation of feelings that they may not quite understand. The story also gives them words to help express those feeling as well. It is also a great reminder of what happens when we hold our emotions.

  29. Karen Wirth (verified owner)

    A nice way to make important abstract ideas accessible for little ones.

  30. Towne1991 (verified owner)

    This book is amazing! Especially with kiddos, who are needing support with emotional regulation, big feeling, and feeling, supported and loved. The activity sheet that comes with it is also amazing!

  31. Jill Trekell (verified owner)

    Perfect Timing! Great Book For SEL. An adorable story about keeping things inside and reaching the breaking point. I loved what was said after the pot exploded emphasizing that we’re right here for them. I’ll recommend this book to others for sure.

  32. stormiautumn (verified owner)

    Super cute book about what happens when you hold your emotions inside.

  33. terriks (verified owner)

    Such a cute way to talk about what happens when you dont talk about feelings. Good reminder for adults as well. My 5 year old enjoyed it and could relate.

  34. jrogers (verified owner)

    Good book to have fun conversations about managing feelings with your little one.

  35. Megan Massey (verified owner)

    A lovely depiction of bottled-up emotions and how they spill over.

  36. jessicatull (verified owner)

    THE BEST book for children who learning emotions and parents too!

  37. ricemack18 (verified owner)

    Holdin Pott is a book that adds some fun to a SEL topic of emotional regulation. It helps foster great conversation around anger, sadness, and how those things may impact ourselves and others.

  38. Katelyn Barry (verified owner)

    This book does such a great job helping kids understand how to handle emotions in a healthier way! Great social emotional book

  39. Kristan Beckwith (verified owner)

    I used this with my brother and his autistic son when they were dealing with big emotions as he became a teenager. This helped my brother see why modeling good self regulation is important and helped my nephew learn to acknowledge his feelings and then deal with them.

  40. Kathleen Begeny-Johnson (verified owner)

    This is a wonderful story on how to important it is to now hold in your emotions. To seek support, when feelings are building up and getting to “hot”. After being teased, Little Pot, blows his top making a mess and feeling bad, father pot supports him and helps little pot release emotions before they build up. A wonderful story!

  41. west.meghan3 (verified owner)

    Chandra Ghosh Ippen writes many excellent books for children. My favorites are “You weren’t with me” for children in foster care or with parents in prison and “Once I was very very sad” which is an excellent introduction to therapy for children. “Holding Pot” I believe appeals to a smaller audience of those whose parents or themselves have trouble expressing emotions.

  42. Janet Herring-Sherman (verified owner)

    Such an effective and visual way to make the point to young readers how essential it is to discuss feelings with a safe person so troubles don’t build up inside and explode outward onto others.

  43. anne.mulliganbrinson (verified owner)

    Love this to talk about holding in emotions. They even threw in a blank worksheet!

  44. Brittani Geniza (verified owner)

    Reading this book to children is a great way to help them understand their emotions and teach them the importance of talking about their feelings. I’m super excited to add it to my classroom! 🙂

  45. tlslibrary (verified owner)

    This book is great for adults and children to read together–the things we learned growing up are so easily passed down, sometimes without our awareness, and they may not always be a good thing. This book shows children (and adults) that it is okay to show emotion, and that will always be a conversation worth having.

  46. Kris Coomes (verified owner)

    Holdin Pott is a very sweet story about not holding in your feelings and being accepted. I can’t wait to read it to children and see what they think.

  47. Jenna Morales (verified owner)

    Honestly, not my favorite book for children. I didn’t like the illustrations either.

  48. Blibertad (verified owner)

    Sweet illustrations with facial expressions my 3 year old could relate to. Content wise, it seems a little more directed towards adults than children, the message which is a helpful reminder.

  49. K Hiers (verified owner)

    This is a super cute book and is an easy way for children, and adults, to relate to expression of feelings.

  50. Mackenzie Kyler-Yano (verified owner)

    This was a fabulous book for my 4 year old who has big emotions. We loved it. Laughed and felt a strong connection to the Pots feelings

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