Puppy Tales II

About the Book

Puppy Tales II teaches children to identify, label, understand, and cope with emotions. The book has five short stories. The stories’ main characters are dogs. In the stories, the dogs support one another as they cope with strong feelings. One story is about happiness and how that emotion relates to one’s values. Another story is about anger and how to cope with the feeling versus getting upset and acting impulsively. A third story is about sadness and shows children how to use the opposite action along with changing their thoughts to help them change their feelings. A fourth story is about frustration and teaches children how being appropriately assertive can change their feelings. A fifth story is about the emotion fear and helps children know how their bodies react and when to ask for help. The book was written to teach social and emotional skills to elementary school–aged children. The book teaches the skills with fun and entertaining stories and would be a must read for children who love dogs or have pets.

About the Author

James (Jim) Vought has a Master’s Degree in Psychology. He has been working at a counseling center in southeast Massachusetts, and helping children with emotional problems through the process of Wraparound to stay on track and obtain their goals. He has worked providing mental health services to children, adults, and families for more than 30 years. He has taught psychology courses at the local community college. He and Jo-Ellen, his wife, have become therapy dog handlers.