Making Friends with Feelings
It’s not easy getting children to share their feelings and discuss anxieties. Author Keith Ruffner and co-creator Beth Wuller have released a new picture book which helps children feel brave enough to open up.
Making Friends with Feelings features a delightful community of bunnies who sometimes feel scared, sad, happy and angry. Molly, Buddy and Shiner learn to support each other, apologize when mistaken and forgive their friends. Their lessons inspire children (and adults) to talk openly about their emotions and listen to others with kindness and compassion.
After Ruffner’s own children were grown, he pivoted his focus from life as a corporate exec to activities which bring true happiness and fulfillment. He volunteered as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), volunteered as an animal keeper’s aide at the Dallas Zoo and walked a portion of the Camino de Santiago in Spain.
Wuller is founder of Neugroove, created to celebrate new ways of thinking, living and just being. A certified, neuroscience-based happiness coach, she was a featured speaker during 2021 World Happiness Week hosted by the World Happiness Foundation, and she has published a series of articles about finding happiness.
Kate Gleyzer, a Ukrainian-born artist now living in Israel, provides the lively bunny illustrations. She graduated from The Kharkiv State School of Art and has collaborated with several award-winning Russian publishers of children’s books.
Making Friends with Feelings is a limited edition 8.5” x 8.5” hardback designed for children ages 4 to 8. The book is available for $15.99 online here. Ruffner and Wuller will be at Half Price Books in Dallas in early February for a book signing.
