A Robot’s Guide to Cooling Down Big Emotions. Written by a Kid, for Kids
Author: AaRon Brooks
Illustrator: DG
Age range: 5-9 years
Year: 2026
Meet Turbo. He’s a regular school robot with a very relatable problem: sometimes his feelings get so BIG that his system begins to overheat. Whether it’s a tricky classroom task or a moment on the playground, Turbo’s “Big Red Switch” is always ready to flip. But what happens when a robot (or a kid!) feels like they’re about to melt down?
Written by 9-year-old AaRon Brooks, this heartwarming story follows Turbo as he discovers kid-friendly strategies to “power down” and find his calm. It’s a human-centric (or robot-centric!) look at self-regulation, because it’s written in the authentic voice of a peer who has been there. Turbo shows us that naming our feelings is the first step to managing them, and that every “overheated” moment is just an opportunity to learn and grow.
Why this book is helpful:
- Authentic Peer Voice: Since AaRon is 9, the language and school situations are 100% relatable to elementary students.
- Practical SEL Strategies: Offers “cool-down” tools that kids can actually use in the heat of the moment.
- Normalizes Big Emotions: Helps children see they aren’t “broken”—they just need to learn how their “switches” work.
This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
More March 2026 Books You Don’t Want to Miss
Most ducks go quack, but Honka? Honka goes HONK! In this beautifully refreshed second edition, we join young Benjamin as he investigates the strangest sound coming from his backyard pond. There, he meets Honka—a little brown duck with a big
Billie knows exactly what she wants: a tall, cold glass of delicious chocolate milk. There’s just one tiny problem… Billie seems to have completely forgotten her “Good Manners.” No matter how much she wants that chocolatey treat, it stays just
Let’s be honest, new moms are a lot of work. They’re often sleepy, they forget to eat, and they need constant supervision! In this brilliantly funny picture book, the script is flipped: the baby is the expert caregiver, and the
