For Grades 1-3


Bang, Molly         When Sophie Gets Angry–Really, Really Angry.
A young girl is upset and doesn't know how to manage her anger but takes the time to cool off and regain her composure.

Bloom, Suzanne        Piggy Monday: A Tale About Manners.
The children in Mrs. Hubbub’s class are so rude and thoughtless one day that they turn into pigs and need the help of the Pig Lady to help them remember their manners.

Everitt, Betsy        Mean Soup.
Horace feels really mean at the end of a bad day, until he helps his mother make Mean Soup.

Johnston, Tony        Slither McCreep and His Brother, Joe.
Young snake Slither McCreep, angry because his brother, Joe, will not share his toys with him, reacts by breaking them and then feels remorse.

Kipling, Rudyard        How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin.
Relates how the rhinoceros' lack of manners resulted in his baggy skin and bad temper.

Lachner, Dorothea        Andrew’s Angry Words.
When his sister trips and sends all his toys flying, Andrew lets loose a lot of nasty angry words that start to spread from person to person creating trouble wherever they go.

Lasky, Kathryn        The Tantrum.
A little girl has a tantrum and disrupts her whole household.

Mayer, Mercer        I Was So Mad.
A child tries a variety of ways to dissolve anger.

McBratney, Sam        I’m Sorry.
When one best friend shouts at the other, both are sad and hope the other will apologize.

McMorrow, Catherine        The Jellybean Principal.
Jim, Ellen, and Judy see their friendship threatened when their uncontrollable fighting in school gets them in trouble with the principal.

Minarik, Else Holmelund        No Fighting, No Biting!
When Willy and his sister Rosa begin to bicker, Cousin Joan helps them change their behavior by telling stories of two naughty little alligators.

Moser, Adolph        Don’t Rant and Rave on Wednesdays!: The Children's Anger-Control Book.

Real Kids Readers        I Am Mad!
A young girl is upset when her sister purposely messes up her dress.

Vail, Rachel        Sometimes I'm Bombaloo.
When Katie Honors feels angry and out of control, her mother helps her to be herself again.

Zolotow, Charlotte        The Quarreling Book.
Gruffness and anger are passed along from person to person until a little dog starts a chain of happiness which reverses the trend.

for Grades 4-6

DeClements, Barthe        Spoiled Rotten.
Scott helps his best friend, Andy, learn how to follow the rules in second grade so that he will not get in trouble.

Gantos, Jack        Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key.
To the constant disappointment of his mother and his teachers, Joey has trouble paying attention or controlling his mood swings when his prescription meds wear off and he starts getting worked up and acting wired.

King-Smith, Dick        Lady Lollipop.
A quick-witted swineherd and a pig named Lollipop are royally rewarded after they reform a spoiled princess.

Mauser, Pat Rhoads        A Bundle of Sticks.
At the mercy of the class bully, a fifth grader is sent to a martial arts school where he learns techniques to defend himself as well as a philosophy that allows him not to fight.

Ritter, John H.        Over the Wall.
Thirteen-year-old Tyler, who has trouble controlling his anger, spends an important summer with his cousins in New York City, playing baseball and sorting out how he feels about violence, war, and in particular the Vietnamese conflict that took his grandfather's life.

Sachar, Louis        There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom.
An unmanageable, but lovable, eleven-year-old misfit learns to control himself when he gets to know the new school counselor, who is a sort of misfit too.

Spinelli, Jerry        Crash.
Seventh-grader John "Crash" Coogan has always been comfortable with his tough, aggressive behavior, until his relationship with an unusual Quaker boy and his grandfather's stroke make him consider the meaning of friendship and the importance of family.

Stolz, Mary        The Bully of Barkham Street.
Martin’s parents threaten to get rid of his beloved dog unless his school work improves and he learns to control his temper.

for Grades 7-8

Corbin, William        A Dog Worth Stealing.
On a hike in the Pacific Northwest, Jud unexpectedly acquires a lovable dog and in the process learns some lessons about self-control.

Crutcher, Chris        Ironman.
While training for a triathlon, seventeen-year-old Bo attends an anger management group at school which leads him to examine his relationship with his father.

Flinn, Alexandra        Breathing Underwater.
Sent to counseling for hitting his girlfriend, Caitlin, and ordered to keep a journal, sixteen-year-old Nick recounts his relationship with Caitlin, examines his controlling behavior and anger, and describes living with his abusive father.

Klass, Sheila Solomon       Kool Ada.
When Ada, a tough, street-fighting transplant from coal mining country to the Chicago slums, gets the no-nonsense Ms. Walker as a teacher, she learns that there are other ways to stand up for yourself.

Lynch, Chris        Who the Man.
Thirteen-year-old Earl Pryor is much too big for his age and much too powerful for the anger that rages within him when classmates tease him, the girl he likes disappoints him, or his parents' problems get too real.

Mikaelsen, Ben       Touching Spirit Bear.
After his anger erupts into violence, Cole, in order to avoid going to prison, agrees to participate in a sentencing alternative based on the Native American Circle Justice, and he is sent to a remote Alaskan island where an encounter with a huge Spirit Bear changes his life.

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