Q&A with Marcia Williams

June 14th 2021

Q: What’s The Fantastic Book of Feelings about?

A: It started out as being a guide to the importance of our emotions and how we can best make them work for us instead of against us. But then, because so many children contributed their thoughts and feelings to the book, it has also ended up as a celebration of young people and their ability to navigate through life’s ups and downs and focus on what has true value in their lives: friends, family and kindness!

Q: What inspired you to write this book?

A: I think that it was seeing how so many young people struggle to come to terms with many of life’s realities. I know I did as a child and I see it in the young people around me now. We all struggle with our feelings at some point in our lives and when you are young it is so easy to believe you are alone. That no other person has ever had such mad, bad or crazy feelings as you. But of course, it’s life and whilst each of us is unique, we all share in a range of feelings: happy, sad and everything in-between! So, to answer the question, I think I just wanted to add my voice to the many who tell young people that it’s alright – you can feel that and it’s absolutely normal, but if it’s troubling you here are some tips to help you get through it.

Q: What did you learn about children’s emotional and mental wellbeing during the process of writing the book?

A: I think that the most valuable lesson for me was how destructive bottling-up uncomfortable feelings can be and the importance of sharing your feelings with someone you trust. To be a good listener is such a vital skill – sometimes there is no answer, but just being heard can help.

It also reminded me how very real feelings can be for a young person – like the fear of dogs, for instance. You and I may see a waggy-tailed little scruff, but to a child suffering from a fear of dogs that little scruff is a terrifying, fanged hound and laughing at that fear is never going to be the answer.

Q: How do you hope parents, carers, teachers and librarians will use the book with children?

A: I hope that it will open a conversation, both between children and adults, and children and their peers. This has been a particularly difficult time and it has impacted everyone; we all need to be heard but particularly young people, and they need to find ways to look after their emotional and mental wellbeing. For some just talking will be enough, but others may need encouragement to explore some of the tools from the First Aid Box for Feelings in the book. But I think my biggest wish would be that through sharing this book with a young audience they will help those young readers to realise that they are not alone in having feelings that they sometimes find hard to handle, which is why we all need to care for our emotional as well as our physical well-being.

The Fantastic Book of Feelings is out now.