I think this is an entertaining story that children can relate to. We all feel strong emotions. For children (and lots of adults, too) the challenge is learning how to express these emotions in a healthy and helpful way. The multicultural characters add another layer of goodness.Isaiah feels so excited about his birthday party and then so angry when he receives the chocolate which he hates. Children can appreciate the challenges Isaiah faces in dealing with his strong emotions. And since most children love chocolate (I have met a few who don’t, but not many), they will probably find it funny that the one thing Isaiah hates is chocolate. They’ll enjoy the whimsy of the chocolate mountain, even if Isaiah doesn’t.I think this is an entertaining story that children can relate to. We all feel strong emotions. For children (and lots of adults, too) the challenge is learning how to express these emotions in a healthy and helpful way. The multicultural characters add another layer of goodness.Isaiah feels so excited about his birthday party and then so angry when he receives the chocolate which he hates. Children can appreciate the challenges Isaiah faces in dealing with his strong emotions. And since most children love chocolate (I have met a few who don’t, but not many), they will probably find it funny that the one thing Isaiah hates is chocolate. They’ll enjoy the whimsy of the chocolate mountain, even if Isaiah doesn’t.The second part of the book is called “Emotion Commotion”: Healthy Communications Workbook. It guides children back through the story and has them identify the emotions Isaiah expresses–and he expresses many. This workbook also provides some suggestions for how to express strong emotions, including a discussion of how Isaiah could have communicated his feelings better. It has a mask template that children can color in to show whatever emotion they’d like to represent. I think that this workbook will work best with the 6-8 year olds. The younger children (2-5) whom I work with would enjoy the story but aren’t developmentally self-aware enough for such a direct discussion of emotions.Learning to express strong emotions in a constructive way is a challenge for many children, and this book can definitely help them along the way. And even for children who don’t have that challenge, the story is sweet (pun intended) and fun and can be enjoyed with or without the workbook.Learning to express strong emotions in a constructive way is a challenge for many children, and this book can definitely help them along the way. And even for children who don’t have that challenge, the story is sweet (pun intended) and fun and can be enjoyed with or without the workbook.