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I Don't Know How To Say It
Hardcover
Publisher Price: $29.99
Publisher: Spence Heritage Press LLC
Published: Sep 6 2026
Pages: 50
Weight: 1.00
Height: 0.25 Width: 8.50 Depth: 11.00
Language: English
When Jordan wakes up, something is there.
It is not a stomach ache. It is not a bad dream. It is just something, sitting right there in her chest, and she cannot find the word for it.
So Jordan goes looking. She asks Mama. She asks Grandma. She asks her friend Maya and her teacher Mr. Osei. Worried? Not quite. Mixed up? Closer. Unsettled? Warmer. One by one she tries the words on, and one by one she sets them down again, until she sits quiet in the yard, looks at the feeling, and the right word finally arrives.
I Don't Know How to Say It is the first book in the Young Learners Series, a collection of social and emotional learning picture books for children ages 4 to 7. It does not hand children a list of emotions to memorize. It shows them something more useful: that not having the word yet is normal, that the search for it is worth taking seriously, and that asking the people who love you for help is exactly the right thing to do.
Warm, unhurried illustrations follow Jordan through a single day, at home, on the sidewalk, and in her classroom, alongside the family, friends, and teachers who make up her world. The story is written for reading aloud, with short lines, natural pauses, and a gentle rhythm that invites children to answer back.
The book closes with pages that keep the conversation going long after the story ends:
Who Can I Talk To? A place for children to name and draw their own trusted people.
Let's Talk About It. Five discussion questions for home or the classroom.
Try This at Home or in the Classroom. Four practical activities, including the Feelings Check-In and the Word Jar.
My Feelings Words. A feelings vocabulary page children can circle, write on, and draw on.
A Note for Grown-Ups and Educators. The thinking behind the story and how to use it.
Inspired by CASEL's Self-Awareness competency and built to support emotional vocabulary development in Pre-K through Grade 2 classrooms, I Don't Know How to Say It works as a bedtime read-aloud, a circle-time anchor, and a quiet reassurance for any child who has ever felt something too big for the words they have.
For every child who ever felt something so big they ran out of words. You are not alone. The words are coming.
Book 1 of the Young Learners Series from Spence Heritage Press. Spence Heritage Press is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by CASEL.
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