Things I Can't See: A Book on Empathy & Understanding Emotions - Priyanka Agarwal Mehta

Step past simply labeling feelings—help your child understand the deep stories and reasons behind them. Fully aligned with the CASEL framework for Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), this internationally beloved picture book is a foundational guide to building empathy and perspective-taking.

Recognizing a facial expression is only the surface of emotional intelligence; understanding why someone feels that way is where true empathy begins. In Things I Can't See, acclaimed children's author Priyanka Agarwal Mehta provides children, parents, and educators with a beautiful, actionable tool to bridge that gap. Rather than just naming an emotion, this interactive picture book gently trains young minds to observe clues, ask thoughtful questions, and reflect on real-life context.

Why is the lady smiling? What made the young boy feel down cast? Through highly relatable, everyday scenarios, this book invites young children to look beyond what is immediately visible and consider the internal worlds of the people around them. With an official Lexile® Measure of 540L, the book utilizes perfectly paced text and wonderfully expressive characters to make abstract social-emotional concepts intuitive, welcoming, and easy to grasp. It is an indispensable addition to any home library, preschool circle time, or therapeutic toolkit.

Why Parents, Teachers, and Therapists Love This Book:

• Fosters Deep, Functional Empathy: Encourages a healthy curiosity about the feelings of peers, siblings, and adults, leading to more compassionate, collaborative relationships.

• Supports Neurodivergent Learners: Highly recommended by child psychologists and behavioral therapists for neurodivergent children or kids on the autism spectrum who benefit from explicit, visual frameworks to decode social cues and context.

• A Conscious, Gentle Parenting Essential: Offers mindful parents an organic, non-judgmental conversational blueprint to navigate big feelings, build emotional vocabulary, and handle daily conflicts.

• Highly Interactive Read-Aloud Experience: Melds vibrant, detailed illustrations with guided questioning, turning quiet reading sessions into active, bonding milestone exercises.