The Way I Feel

Written and illustrated by Janan Cain



The Way I Feel, along with the Feeling Elf Cards, have been two of our most popular items.



This book is suitable for ages 2-8. It teaches children to understand the concept of emotions and to be able to express their feelings in words. The illustrations are bright, colorful, and entertaining.

Silly is the way I feel

when I make a funny face

and wear a goofy, poofy hat

that takes up lots of space.

So begins a childs romp through The Way I Feel, a delightful book that helps kids describe their emotions and understand that feelings are a normal part of life.

Feelings come and feelings go.

I never know what theyll be.

Silly or angry, happy or sad

Theyre all a part of me!

Vivid, expressive illustrations fill every page with color, encouraging children to understand their emotions (and those of others). For parents and teachers, The Way I Feel provides a means of introducing both the concept of feelings and the vocabulary that helps children express their emotions with words.

Im frustrated because I cant do it.

Its hard and I want to cry

I dont know whether to give it up

or to give it another try.

About the Author

Because shes a mom, Janan Cain knew she had a marketable concept for her first book. But it was her responsibilities for two young children that dictated how this book was created.



An illustrator and graphic designer since 1982, Cain has worked with many different techniques, including pen and ink, gouache, acrylics, airbrush, colored pencil, scratchboard and computer illustration. Much of her work has been realistic: Norman Rockwell-esque paintings of Butterball turkeys, for example, and aerial-style drawings for a travel agencys maps. But she chose pastels for the vivid illustrations in The Way I Feel because she was so frequently interrupted by her young daughters.



With pastels, I could stop in the middle of a drawing to make lunch, bandage a knee, help find a lost toyor even take an ice cream break. I dont have that freedom when Im painting because paint has to be blended quickly, before it dries, points out Cain, who adds that the immediate clean-up required by painting also makes it a difficult medium for artists who combine work and parenting.



Like many other work-at-home parents, Cain struggles to separate her professional and personal lives. When she worked full-time as an illustrator, she often had eight hours at her drawing table with almost no interruptions. Later, having even an hour without a child needing something was unusual.



This book took more than two years because I only had six child-less hours during the week and I often had to stop in the middle of a drawingsometimes for weeks at a time.



Cain got her start playing with artists supplies in her fathers merchandising business. Besides the weekend afternoons with paper and markers in the office, Cain spent hours with ceramics and other arts and crafts with her hobbyist mother. She took as many art classes as she could at Downers Grove High School South (Downers Grove, Ill.) and earned an Associate of Arts degree in visual communications at the Art Institute of Colorado in Denver. She worked in package design, graphic design and illustration, both in Colorado Springs and the Chicago area, until beginning a free-lance design and illustration practice in Riverside, Ill. in 1993. The Way I Feel is Cains first book, a picture book that explains emotions such as excitement, sadness, jealousy and pride from a childs perspective. But, she promises, it wont be her last: both children are now in school full-time, and Cain is already considering techniques for her next book.



Ages - 3 and up

Hard Cover - 18 pages