Who came up with the concept for the book? Katie Murray: One evening I was doing some sketches and I messaged Stephanie saying I wanted to write a therapeutic children’s book and asked if she wanted to help me out with the therapy aspect of it. We both love literature and joked that one day we might write a book together. Something just sparked the motivation and now we have “Dinos Have Emotions” and we are so proud! Why did you feel this is an important book to write? Stephanie Dawson: When we opened our centre in 2019, we were so excited to purchase various resources to use in our therapy rooms. To our dismay, there were very few books created for children and their families that explored emotions and introduced coping skills. Over time, we felt it was important to address the gap in the resources, so we created a book that we are proud to share publicly and professionally. In addition, we thought it was important to describe all facets of emotions such as their accompanying thoughts, behaviours, and body sensations, and to explore lesser discussed emotions, such as shame and disgust. Did you write the book together or did one do the copy and the other do the illustrations? Stephanie: While Katie did all of the illustrations for the book, we collaborated on the written aspect. I created a list of therapeutic coping skills that help the readers to reframe negative thinking patterns, manage intense emotions, and promote self- regulation. Katie contributed creative coping skills that target creative outlets to manage big feelings.
went back and fine-tuned the writing, only having to swap out a few words here and there so it flowed a little better. The therapeutic techniques took maybe a week to put together. Give me a brief description of "Dinos Have Emotions" . Katie: It is a therapeutic children’s book that explores ten unique Dinos and their emotions. The focus of this book is to help children and their grown-ups tackle everyday struggles with emotional regulation. How can parents or caregivers use this book? Stephanie: This book is meant to be informative and to invite conversations surrounding emotions and coping skills, while relating them to day-to-day life. Adults can either read the book to the children, or have the children read to them, while pausing to discuss. Additionally, they could analyze the accompanying illustrations to explore body language/actions that may relate to the emotion. Furthermore, adults are encouraged to practice the coping skills with the children, and invite them to use them when they are experiencing big emotions. Do you have any plans to write another book? Katie: We actually have the second book completed, Chickens Have Emotions, and are currently working on the third book, Insects Have Emotions . Each book in this series tackles 10 new and more complex emotions and introduces more unique coping skills. We are excited to continue producing resources for adults and children to use. We also plan to branch out and create additional children’s stand-alone books that tackle things such as grief and self-esteem.
▲ Katie Murray is a professional Art Therapist who studied in Nelson, BC. Murray was born and raised on PEI and has always loved art and being creative. She spent many hours drawing and colouring as a child and always wanted to make a children's book when she got older.
▲ Stephanie Dawson is a Registered Counselling Therapist. Dawson has a Bachelor of Science from UPEI and a Master of Counselling Psychology from Athabasca University. As a parent to three children, and a therapist, she was excited to combine both roles and collaborate with Murray on the children’s book.
How long did it take to write the book?
Katie: Honestly, it came together fairly quickly. The rough draft took maybe a week. The illustrations were done in about two to three days and then we
Dinos Have Emotions can be purchased in Summerside at Beyond the Bridge Therapy Centre or via their website: www. beyondthebridge.ca
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