Today I Feel... An Alphabet of Emotions

Gently expressive compositions represent 26 emotions or states of being in an alphabet book originally published in Portugal. A boy with a swoop of brownish-blond hair appears in each scene, and although the text is limited to the featured emotions, Moniz’s artwork, and the creative treatments she applies to each letter, have a great deal to say about what the boy is thinking. In one spread, the boy stares, “jealous,” out a window at a flying kite; the corresponding Jis a tangle of ribbons that both echoes the kite’s tail and suggests the knotty twists of the emotion itself. Though not every entry is a home run (“X.O.X.O.’ed,” “Zzzz”), Moniz’s imaginative and pensive scenes reward careful attention. Ages 3–5. (Feb.)