Crying is Like the Rain is Available Now !
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All feelings have a purpose.
They guide us toward understanding ourselves and one another.
Feelings—big ones, little ones, intense ones—aren’t something to fear.
Learning how to be with ourselves as we experience feelings
is an invaluable practice, one we can learn and teach our families.
Let's learn how to weather life's storms...
“A family primer for the evolution of humanity.”
Carrie Contey, PhD Human Development Specialist
Is it possible we’ve misunderstood crying all along?
That’s the discovery one big sister sets out to share with her little brother as they walk to school and get caught in a storm. Along the way they explore sadness, loneliness, fear, frustration, anger and more, through gentle metaphor. Their journey examines our tears revealing how they begin, why they happen, and what to do with them.
Throughout the book, the message received is that we are safe in our emotional experiences and that feelings, like the weather, come and go. This is an empowering story about navigating and understanding our feelings as a healthy, important, and very natural part of our lives. Have you ever noticed you feel differently after you cry?
That’s because Crying is Like the Rain.
“Crying is Like The Rain is a timely gem! This simple and profound book does an exceptional job of helping people of all ages understand that our emotions don't need to be judged or shamed or shut down. Rather, if we just remember that "it's all weather" we can allow the storms to come and go and celebrate the beauty that emerges as a result. This is an essential read for anyone interested in new ways of understanding child development, emotional well-being and conscious parenting. Consider this a family primer for the evolution of humanity.”
- Carrie Contey, PhD Human Development Specialist
Read what specialists are saying...
“What a gift to humanity! Learning about and embracing our feelings as children would help prevent so many of the challenges we face as adults. Crying is Like the Rain should be required reading in all elementary classrooms and for all parents, it would help create a kinder, more compassionate, loving and joyful world. In fact, this book will speak to individuals of any age as they do the important work of emotional healing and reparenting themselves.”
- Elicia Miller Founder of Core Emotional Healing
“The natural wonder of weather allows child counselor Heather Hawk Feinberg to present an outward manifestation of emotions, even the difficult ones. Crying is Like the Rain opens the inner lives of children, not unlike the I Am books by Susan Verde, by providing assurance during the sometimes overwhelming experience of human feelings. This affirming book can be revisited again and again during family discussions, with benefit to kids and parents alike.”
- Many Jo Shelton Writer Editor Publisher
“Crying is Like the Rain is a stunning, descriptive, expansive book - an important book - which offers language, understanding, and tools to help navigate emotions. The beautiful images tell the story of a particular child's struggle while the far-reaching words make the story relatable to any circumstance. The story takes us on a journey into the healing process of accepting feelings and allowing them to flow through us, without judgement or fear of other people's reactions. There is a lovely activity at the back of the book, which offers practical support in making this wisdom a part of daily routines. This book is a gift to the emotional wellbeing of children and adults alike, perfect for every home, classroom, and library!”
- Julia Spector Mancini Parent Yogi Writer PeaceMaker
Kirkus Reviews - "Feinberg delves into the topic by addressing the reader directly with questions and using direct address to pull them in. The beginnings of storms can feel uncertain. Some storms are loud and thunderous; some storms are relatively gentle. Sometimes “the storm feels like it will never end, but it always does.” And of course, “crying is like the rain.” It helps release pent-up emotions, oftentimes giving a sense of calm at its end."
Receive 3 Special Bonus Resource Activities
when you purchase "Crying is Like the Rain"
Get the book and keep learning and exploring with feelings and weather...
BONUS 1 - Weather Meditation
A 6 minute guided meditation written and recorded by Heather Hawk Feinberg, the author of Crying is Like the Rain.
This is an active meditation, where a child’s imagination is ignited and they can practice: being still in their body, calming and focusing their mind, and become aware of guiding their own thoughts and ideas. It is an empowering way to teach guided imagery. We imagine different kinds of weather (wind, rain, sun), feel it in the body, and use the energy to connect with ourselves - experiencing ourselves as the powerful creators we are.
Whether your child is very familiar or totally unfamiliar with meditation and/or listening to recordings, they will be soothed and nurtured by Heather’s voice and the vibrant images offered.
BONUS 2 - Sensory Adventures - A Storm Cycle
A printable pdf of an engaging sensory activity to create connection with your children or the children in your care.
This adventure is designed to provide sensory input for the brain and nervous system. These sensory adventures provide opportunities for children to receive - so they can experience themselves in new ways that strengthens their ability to listen, hear, and understand themselves more deeply. This input is integral to their healthy social, emotional, and physical development.
Once you learn how to create a sensory adventure, you can create your own!
The pdf you receive will share one sensory adventure using the storm cycle to follow along with the theme of the book. If you’ve never done a sensory adventure with your child before, they will keep asking for it again and again. And as a parent, you will see how different their perspective and energy will be afterward.
BONUS 3 - Weather Reports - A Mindfulness Game
A printable pdf of a simple game to play to explore and understand our feelings as the weather.
Includes art activity!
Become a weather reporter and create a special new language around what you are experiencing together. This game creates a shared bond and allows us to feel and be seen by another in an approachable way. Sometimes our children don’t know how to express their feelings. But they are able to say, “There is a rainstorm in my heart,” or “It’s really windy inside.”
When we speak about our feelings as weather, it allows the walls to come down, we can soften, there is so much less judgement and we can share freely about what is happening inside and outside of ourselves. And that’s just plain magic.
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Publisher's Weekly - "Centering on a child getting walked to school by an older sibling, Feinberg uses the changing weather as an extended metaphor for fluctuating emotions. Textural illustrations by Kellogg provide a sprightly backdrop to the characters’ journey. Two consecutive spreads―one depicting clear skies as the duo traverse a rural road, the next depicting the gathering storm as a man tending his sunflowers waves to the siblings―stand out, the perspective shift reflecting characters’ reactions to the weather. ...the book stands as a reliable entrée for adults to support young readers’ emotional processing. Back matter includes mindfulness activities and advice for caretakers on how to discuss feelings with children. Ages 6–8."
About the Author and Illustrator...
Heather Hawk Feinberg is a counselor, writer, mother, and the founder of Mindful Kids (www.mindfulkidscommunity.org), a nonprofit organization that creates pioneering resources for social and emotional learning. She works with individuals, families, and organizations across the globe. Heather’s calling is guiding children (and the child inside each of us) to discover our voices, access our power, and connect to our knowing. This is her debut book.
"It is my hope that this way of being with our feelings will soften us, open us, and allow us to breathe more deeply and feel more fully, knowing that all will pass, and we are safe." -HHF
Chamisa Kellogg is an illustrator and fine artist who makes art for children’s books, editorial publications, and textile design. Chamisa’s work seeks to high- light the magic and weirdness of everyday life, drawing inspiration from nature, myths and folklore, and the nebulous line between reality and imagination. Visit her at www.chamisakellogg.com.
Ellie Egleton, Armadillo Magazine - “Crying is like the Rain marks the debut book of Heather Hawk Feinberg, founder of Mindful Kids, and reads as a love letter to her twenty-five years of experience educating and counseling families of all-ages. The story is due to be released at a time when many children have been out-of-school and so, those who anxiously await their return, may identify with Kellogg’s charming illustrations that tell the tale of a little boy who is tearfully bound for his first day of school. Described as a story of mindfulness and feelings, Crying is like the Rain seeks to support children in their lifelong journeys of identifying, understanding and coping with their ever-changing emotions by drawing comparisons to the weather in an intelligent yet accessible way.
There are many messages that can be taken from the story: we are not our feelings; our emotions come and go but should never be ignored; it is important to express ourselves; and even the worst storms come to an end. These lessons in emotional awakening can be reinforced by the excellent suggested activities at the end of the book, helping adults connect to their children through play and dialogue. As a teacher of younger ones, I will most certainly be using Crying is like the Rain in my classroom.”
What if we knew that tears are our teachers?
This book is an invitation to look with new eyes at the way we experience feelings—ours and others’— especially the feelings we tend to ignore, hide, or label as wrong or negative. It is integral to our children’s healthy growth and development to learn resiliency, compassion, and self-awareness. The storms will always come. And if we look for them, so will the rainbows.
This book is designed for children 3-10 years old.
But it speaks to all ages, including the child inside.