The Noise Inside Boys: A Story About Big Feelings by Pete Oswald. Random House, 2023. 9780593483220
Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 1
Format: Hardcover picture book
What did you like about the book? I really struggled with this beautifully illustrated picture book. As the title (and sub-title) suggest, it is a book for boys about “big feelings”. The story opens with a small boy building sandcastles on the beach. When some older boys accidentally send their soccer ball flying into the castle and destroy it, the small child has some feelings about it. The parent (dad) in the book reassures the boy that it’s ok to be mad/hurt/sad and that there are many different types of feelings. The book then goes on to highlight the feelings, and reasons for said feelings ending with the threesome of boys building a block castle. (An extra page shows facial expressions with the names of emotions identified underneath and the statement, “Know how you feel”.) The struggle? I know that boys in our society have not always been taught that it is ok to have feelings (Stereotype #1) and so while I’m glad this book exists, I still want other genders included. While the boy is being reassured that it is ok to feel lonely and wish for a friend, the picture shows him confiding to a girl – is it because only girls understand feelings? (Stereotype#2) Why is the “bully” an older boy with tousled, shaggy hair and a messed-up t-shirt? (Stereotype #3). (Stereotype#4) shows a sad day turned into a glad day when the boy hits a homerun and (Stereotype #5) has our boy feeling proud when he’s the only boy in a ballet class – why is it always when a picture book creator wants to show boy sensitivity, they end up in a ballet class?!
Anything you didn’t like about it? If we are trying to break the stoic boy stereotype, let’s do it and not fall back on old clichés.
To whom would you recommend this book? This is an additional purchase and not one I would recommend.
Who should buy this book? Perhaps for school guidance counselors who need something extra to talk to kids about feelings.
Where would you shelve it? Picture books
Should we (librarians/readers) put this on the top of our “to read” piles? No
Reviewer’s Name, Library (or school), City and State: Pam Watts is the Head of Children’s Services at the Robbins Library Arlington MA
Date of review: April 27, 2023
Youth Services Book Review 
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