Ask your child(ren) how the story makes them feel.
Pause at various points throughout the story (while the child is waiting for their shadow to return, when the wind howls like wolves, when the snowflakes feel prickly and sharp) and ask them how that page makes them feel.
Emotional literacy includes the development of empathy, which is the ability to understand how someone else is feeling. Ask your child(ren) how they think the child in the story feels? Remember there are no right or wrong answers.
Possible responses:
- confused, anxious, angry – why do shadows disappear?
- impatient, bored, lonely, sad – when will the shadows come back?
- disappointed, curious, frustrated – why are some answers. snowflakes soft and some sharp?
- worried, nervous, scared – why is the wind howling?
- calm, excited, happy, hopeful – seeing the flowers bloom