In My Heart: A Book of Feelings: Summary & Key Insights

When the heart feels joy, the whole world brightens. In the book, joy bursts out like sunshine, like riding high on a swing, like laughter that spills over. I wanted children to see how joy is not something we ‘earn,’ but something that rises naturally, often without reason. The narrator doesn’t analyze; she delights. She feels her chest expand, her spirit soar, her heart dancing like a butterfly. Through her eyes, children recognize that happiness can be simple — born from ordinary moments that shimmer when we notice them.

Joy often teaches the first lesson of emotional life: that happiness is connection — to movement, to nature, to play, to others. But the narrator’s joy also reminds us that such brightness can’t last forever, and that’s okay. Without fear or loss, we wouldn’t recognize joy’s light when it returns.

Then comes the rain. When sadness enters the narrator’s heart, her imagery dims — she imagines her heart heavy, filling with teardrops. I wrote it this way because sadness is not an enemy; it is a slowing-down, a tender quiet. Children need permission to feel it, not to hide it. In those moments, the narrator helps them understand that tears are part of the rhythm of life, just as clouds belong to the sky.

This reflection is deeply human: sadness connects us to empathy. When the narrator speaks softly about her heavy heart, the tone of the words and the illustrations together model comfort. The heart still holds form — gentle, intact, even when filled with sorrow. It shows that tears wash space for new feelings to grow.