When her sister snatches a stuffed gorilla out of Sophie’s hands, announcing that it’s her turn to play with it, young Sophie gets so angry that she kicks and screams, roars a “red, red roar,” and feels like a volcano, ready to explode. Rather than striking out, however, Sophie dispels her anger by running outside into her backyard and climbing a treewhere “the wide world comforts her.” Bang’s obvious respect for the intensity of a young child’s emotions comes through in an understated narrative that follows the perfect arc of a tantrum. Little Sophie’s “red, red roar” is followed by some time alone which allows her to put the pieces of her world back together again. A spare, subtly rhyming text varies syntactical patterns to reflect Sophie’s changing mood, offering a quiet contrast to the loud, exaggerated visual depiction of Sophie’s anger and eventual denouement. (Ages 2-7) Winner, 2000 Charlotte Zolotow Award

Losing to her sister in a fight over a coveted toy gorilla, Sophie simply has a fit: "She kicks. She screams. She wants to smash the world to smithereens." And when "She roars a red, red roar," the energy and intense color of the illustrations burn the page. Then Sophie figures it all out, by being alone, climbing a tree, and letting the wide world comfort her.

Three-time Caldecott Honor artist Molly Bang's award-winning book helps children and parents better understand anger.

Everybody gets angry sometimes. And for children, anger can be very upsetting and frightening. In this Caldecott Honor book, children will see what Sophie does when she gets angry. Parents, teachers, and children can talk about it. People do lots of different things when they get angry. What do you do?