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Self-Regulation Skills #14

The Choices I Make

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Decisions Can Be HARD!
Here’s a great story for helping kids manage their emotions and anger.

* Teaching kids how to make good choices
* Every choice (good or bad) comes with consequences
* Helps children with decision-making process
* Learn how to behave, tolerate frustration, adapt to change
* Teaching kids about empathy, kindness, and compassion

38 pages, Paperback

Published June 17, 2020

146 people are currently reading
71 people want to read

About the author

Michael Gordon

226 books82 followers
Michael Gordon is the talented author of several highly rated children's books including the popular Sleep Tight, Little Monster, and the Animal Bedtime.

He collaborates with famous Kids Book Press that creates picture books for people of all ages to enjoy. Michael’s goal is to create books that are engaging, funny, and inspirational for children of all ages and their parents.

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5 stars
84 (59%)
4 stars
36 (25%)
3 stars
14 (9%)
2 stars
5 (3%)
1 star
2 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
Profile Image for Producervan.
370 reviews209 followers
December 16, 2020
The Choices I Make (Self-Regulation Skills Book 14) by Michael Gordon. Illustrated by Max Larin. Format: Kindle Edition, 38 pages. Published 16 June 2020. Reading level: ages 3-5 years. Children’s Literature. 5 stars.

Here’s another great Michael Gordon Self-Regulation Skills Book that entertains and teaches, too, containing excellent examples of how your child can handle his anger. Wonderful illustrations by Max Larin. Highly recommend.
Profile Image for Jess Combs.
149 reviews17 followers
December 20, 2020
Another great one in the series!

My kids love these books and they've been super helpful in teaching them how to deal with their emotions. I highly recommend these books if you've got a child struggling to deal with their emotions in a healthy way
Profile Image for kathy.
1,418 reviews
June 21, 2020
Josh is at it again learning about feelings! I have been enjoying these books by Michael Gordon that feature Josh, his sister Emily and their parents.

My grandson has learned a lot too about managing his feelings when we get a chance to read these books together.

In this book Josh is upset when he finds Emily has his favorite toy! His dad intervenes and gives him a tip to help him manage his feelings.

The trick is to see what makes a situation better or worse? Josh has learned a lot thinking about this each time he gets upset.

He doesn’t want to make Emily sad and knows if he is upset that will happen. Counting backwards from 10 is a better choice to calm down.

A few other scenarios are presented in the book.

Josh would love a piece of Emily‘s birthday cake but knows if he takes a piece it will ruin her party.

Josh’s friends are playing a boardgame and Josh does not win. He gets angry and thinks about the better or worse scenarios. He doesn’t want to hurt his friends feelings. Josh decides to deal with his emotions by taking deep breaths until his angry feelings go away! Then he’s ready with his friends for more board game playing!

Josh wants candy at the Grocery store and his mom says no!! Josh has learned to let his anger quietly out and some deep breathing helps here.

This book is appropriate for around the ages of 3 to 5 years old. What child doesn’t get frustrated, angry or upset about a situation? Some may not be able to count backwards from 10 by themselves but with the help of a parent or caregiver this is a good distraction. Other distractions like deep breathing help release the intensity of their strong emotions too.

The artwork is very appropriate for the content of the book. It’s the same type of drawings as in the other books featuring Josh and his family dealing with emotions.
Profile Image for Grady.
Author 51 books1,818 followers
June 24, 2020
‘Nothing is ever gained from losing your head’

Michael Gordon is the talented author of near seventy highly rated children's books including the popular Sleep Tight, Little Monster, and the Animal Bedtime and the award winning Elephants Can Not Sleep, the Dragon series, Mother Love, How Animals Say I Love U, Daddy’s Little Girl, My Mom Is My Hero and others. The excellent illustrations are by Max Larin. Michael’s goal is to create books that are engaging, funny, and inspirational for children of all ages and their parents. THE CHOICES I MAKE continues his stories that help children learn how to deal with emotions.

Josh continues his survey of emotions and Michael introduces him with his lyrical rhyming technique – ‘When Josh got home from preschool, he just wanted to ply With his favorite toy. He’d thought about it all day. But when he looked, it wasn’t where he thought it should be. He searched all over until he found it with Emily.’ From there Josh discovers that anger is not always appropriate – that it makes you feel worse and cause others (like Emily, his sister) to feel sad. Acting on impulse needs to be addressed – and considering choices of reaction makes a difference for Josh – and his family – and pausing before outbursts by counting backward from ten to one allows informed and better decisions.

Not only is this an entertaining book for children (and readers) but it also points out the impact and importance of kindness – something we all need to share - especially now! A very impressive little book that should be part of every child’s library!
Profile Image for Tony Parsons.
4,156 reviews96 followers
March 6, 2021
Josh got home from preschool & wanted to play.
Emily (little sister) had his airplane.
Dad came to defuse the argument.
It was time for Emily’s birthday.
The next day his 2 friends came over & wanted to play games.

What happened then?

I do not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing free books from publishers & authors. Therefore, I am under no obligation to write a positive review, only an honest one.

An awesome book cover, great hand-drawn colored pictures, charming illustrations & proper font & writing style. A very professionally written children’s (preschool/elementary age) making good choices storybook. It was quite easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a great set of unique characters, settings, etc. to keep track of. This could also make another great children’s educational presentation (making good choices), movie, an animated cartoon, or better yet a mini-TV series. There is no doubt in my mind this is an extremely easy rating of 5 stars.

Thank you for the free author; BookZio; Amazon Digital Services LLC.; book
Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)
Profile Image for Barbara Ann.
Author 21 books187 followers
July 19, 2022
A nice, rhyming picture book to open up a discussion on how to deal with anger for preschoolers and elementary school children.

When Josh discovers that his sister took his favorite toy, he lashes out at her. Josh's dad hears the shouting and offers some advice to his son. Why not stop and think for a minute and then count backward?

In the coming days, Josh learns other ways to control his feelings when he feels anger rising to the surface. He does not like losing a game to his friends, being refused candy, or waiting patiently for his needs to be met.

Adorable illustrations and simple scenarios teach young children how to control their emotions.
Profile Image for Shannon Patterson.
922 reviews9 followers
June 24, 2020
Michael Gordon once again finds a fun way to get through to kids. We can not control those around us, but we can control ourselves. This book illustrates in a fun rhyming way how different choices can cause different consequences. You can pause between pages and discuss with your little learner why they thing will happen, or even what they would do in each situation. The pictures are wonderfully illustrated and there’s a lot to keep your reader engaged. The language used is also perfect to encourage little learners.
13 reviews
April 14, 2022
This book is about a boy named Josh who has to make decisions about his emotions and deal with them by taking deep breaths until he calms down. Children are faced with very important decisions every day - whether to make a "good" decision or a "bad" decision. Josh has to practice his self-regulation skills when he gets angry - this shows that he's learning how to problem solve. Also, this book shows alternative ways children can make better choices.
4 reviews
Read
June 16, 2022
This book is an excellent read when you want to show your kids the benefits of thinking things through before reacting. It allows your students the opportunity to self-regulate their behaviors before acting out. I enjoyed this book because the scenes in the book are ones that are similar to real life events that could happen. The problem-solving exercise that the dad gave was very beneficial and allows the children to calm their bodies before reacting in situations where they would react.
Profile Image for Rowan Creech.
295 reviews2 followers
June 21, 2020
This book was adorable and a great teaching tool for my child. My daughter has Down syndrome and books like this one are invaluable in helping to teach them right from wrong.
Profile Image for Mona.
1 review
June 1, 2022
needed more examples

It was cute and I think my kids got the concept, but it ended so abruptly. Should had more of a conclusion or a wrap it up.
Profile Image for Elizabeth.
5,869 reviews110 followers
July 16, 2022
The Choices I Make by Michael Gordon – This was an Amazon freebie. I am a big fan of books that help kids break down big ideas into kid sized portions! Happy Reading!
Profile Image for Julie Barrett.
9,136 reviews200 followers
June 28, 2020
The Choices I Make by Michael Gordon
This colorful rhyming children's book starts out with Josh and he's just returned from school and has been thinking about playing with his favorite toy all day.
He can't find his plane til he sees his sister playing with it and he yells at her which sends his father running to find out what's going on.
He softly tells Josh that he selected the wrong choice and how he should think before he speaks by doing a few things.
He has an option to choose worse or better. Next time something happens he remembers what his father said and chooses better and feels proud of himself.
Love how this book comes together, no matter what age because we could all use this common sense.
Coloring pages are attached at the end of this book.
I received this review copy from the author and this is my honest opinion.
Profile Image for Sandra Stiles.
Author 1 book82 followers
June 23, 2021
Josh gets angry with his sister Emily when he comes home from school and finds her playing with his favorite toy. He gets angry and screams at her. His father explains why it is wrong and how it makes him feel. The book shows common situations that make kids angry. Then it shows the better choice to make.
Profile Image for Amy.
6 reviews
June 2, 2022
My son loved it!

Really liked the candy part, and the drawings were great. When the boy thought about eating the cake, what was on his face?
Profile Image for Elizabeth.
5,869 reviews110 followers
April 13, 2024
The Choices I Make by Michael Gordon – This was an Amazon freebie. I am a big fan of books that help kids break down big ideas into kid sized portions! Happy Reading!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews

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