My Mouth Is A Volcano
Teaching children how to manage their thoughts and words without interrupting.
Louis always interrupts! All of his thoughts are very important to him, and when he has something to say, his words rumble and grumble in his tummy, they wiggle and jiggle on his tongue and then they push on his teeth, right before he ERUPTS (or interrupts). His mouth is a volcano! But when others begin to interrupt Louis, he learns how to respectfully wait for his turn to talk.
My Mouth Is A Volcano takes an empathetic approach to the habit of interrupting and teaches children a witty technique to help them manage their rambunctious thoughts and words. Told from Louis' perspective, this story provides parents, teachers, and counselors with an entertaining way to teach children the value of respecting others by listening and waiting for their turn to speak.
Reviews (195)
ADHD symptoms explain our behavior, BUT they do not EXCUSE it.
I read this to my 6 year old to help reinforce his own personal awareness with topics that he struggles with or to help prevent a struggle due to his ADHD. Being aware of what we need to work on is the first step to making changes and hopefully by doing this we can prevent our children from future frustrations and disappointments within themselves. It is easier to mold them into respectful, responsible children at a younger age than it will be to break bad habits later on in life. With that said this book is one of many that we read as our "self help" kinda books. Every night I choose 1 book to add to the mix of his own book choices, depending on what I am trying to make him aware of and teach him coping skills in regards to things he struggled with that day or week. I hope this list is helpful. I know I always LOVE finding someone’s review that lists more great books on these kind of topics as I am always looking for more resources! This is a list of a few of my personal favorites age range about 4-8 Helping kids about making good choices: • That Rule Doesn't Apply to Me! (Responsible Me!) • But It's Not My Fault! (Responsible Me!) • What Were You Thinking? Learning to Control Your Impulses (Executive Function) • My Mouth Is a Volcano! (talking over/interrupting people) • What If Everybody Did That? (environmental awareness) • LarryBoy and the Foolish Fig from Faraway (making good choices when friends aren’t) • The Berenstain Bears Show Some Respect (talking nice to others) • The Berenstain Bears and the Trouble with Chores • Squirmy Wormy: How I Learned to Help Myself (more autism focused) • God, I Need to Talk to You about…. Series (very short and to the point! from child’s point of view) Lying, Bad Manners, Whining, Laziness, Sharing, Stealing, My Bad Temper, Paying Attention, Hurting Others, Disrespect, Greed, vandalism, bad words, being a bad sport, video games, bullying, cheating, homework, healthy eating. Helping kids handle their anger: • Mad Isn't Bad: A Child's Book about Anger (Elf-Help Books for Kids) • I Just Don't Like the Sound of No! My Story About Accepting No for an Answer and Disagreeing the Right Way! (Best Me I Can Be) (WE LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!) • Angry Octopus: An Anger Management Story Helping Kids keep themselves safe: In all reality we aren’t always around to keep our kids safe, but we can give them the tools they need to handle themselves if a situation arises. • A Little Book About Safety (teaches kids exactly what to do in case they get lost) (WE LOVE THIS BOOK!! Perfect for 3-5yr olds, special needs children, ALL CHILDREN) Please read these books before reading them to your child ensure they are age/maturity level appropriate. I chose just a few pages here or there when my son was 4 as a preventative measure. • An Exceptional Children's Guide to Touch: Teaching Social and Physical Boundaries to Kids (Good book to help discuss a difficult topic! I have passed this book around to many friends! Awareness is key to Prevention) • I Said No! A kid-to-kid guide to keeping your private parts private • My Body Belongs to Me Helping kids Learn about God and teaching good Morals to live by (VeggieTales) • Every Day with God: 365 Daily Devos for Boys • Growing Day by Day: 365 Daily Devos for Boys Helping Kids learn responsibility with money: • Junior's Adventures: the Boxed Set • The Berenstain Bears' Dollars and Sense • Financial Peace Junior Parent books: I have read over 30 books and these are the ones I liked • Raising Boys With ADHD: Secrets for Parenting Healthy, Happy Sons (LOVE this book, great resources. I have been using it for 3 years now. It is categorized by age and the challenges that come with that age) • Parenting Children with ADHD: 10 Lessons That Medicine Cannot Teach (APA Lifetools) • Smart Money Smart Kids: Raising the Next Generation to Win with Money • Driven to distraction • The strong willed child • Parenting isn’t for cowards (I just started reading but seem good so far)
Do not recommend
Really negative messages. The sister’s story is described as her “long girl story.” I don’t want my child absorbing the message that what women have to say is boring and reinforcing the chatty woman stereotype. Second, the narrative describes other children as Rude Richard & Rude Courtney. In addition to this, the prose is simply too wordy. I have read this book because I appreciate the unique way of talking to my child about interrupting but I don’t recommend this as the best option & I don’t enjoy having to self edit the text while reading.
My 6 year old really needed this book
Got this for my son who yells a lot, is whiny and always talking nonstop. We read it the first night and it has stayed with him. He will often yell and then immediately cover his mouth and say "my mouth is a volcano". It's so cute and I'm hoping he'll remember to not yell and be more mindful of his words and his voice. I think the book does what it's supposed to.
Great book!
I purchased several social skills books to help my Aspergers/ADHD 9 yo son. This is one of his favorites, in particular because he already likes volcanoes. :-). The book does a great job making it a visual on how words suddenly explode out of kids' mouths, and I loved the play on words used: "erupt" instead of "interrupt", which could be easily misunderstood by any child, and will make it easier to help kids remember not to "erupt"/"interrupt"! My son has requested this to be read to him several times. I do not know if he has the ability to use the strategies yet in his own life, but he does refer to words being a "volcano" occasionally, so I know the information is getting through! Great book!
Excellent!
I bought this book to use in my classroom but my own five year old son is also really into it. I love how it is told from a kid's perspective. The author seems to have real understanding and compassion for why kids interrupt. I think those book is good for understanding why it's bad to interrupt but without judgment for kids who struggle with it. It's a great book!!
Good enough for me
A kid's book can only be perfect when its creators can aptly budget for the time and staff that a perfectionist level of detail requires. A lot of classics that seemed beyond perfect at the time are different in a new era, much less a few eras later. A story like The Lion King, which seems immortal in the canon of kids entertainment, with a reboot and everything, is not ideal as a kids' book for my 3yo son. I read The Lion King to him because it is a masterpiece, but I read it fast in hopes he doesn't ask me about death yet, or have nightmares about vicious animals killing each other (the night I read him two shark books back-to-back he woke up screaming). I read this Volcano Mouth story more slowly, because it teaches a more fundamental lesson that comes across more clearly and is more useful to me as a dad of a rude little dude who I think could be sweet more often. Disney shows present morality as a dicotimy, whereby always leaving the door open for glorification of villainy. So, books with lessons about social skills have become of extreme importance to me. This Volcano book features an art style that is less polished than other books out now that utilise the "naive hand" art style (sort of, making it like a kid's drawing style). The more eye-popping and award-winning hand-made art styles in books like "The Color Monster," "Daniel's Good Day," and "Little Taco Truck" still have to meet the writing halfway or the art will be left doing all the heavy lifting. Sometimes you get a book beutiful enough to make you overlook the story being a mess. The story in this Volcano book is not a mess at all. If the writing in a kid's book doesn't pack the right learning punch, then my son will have to request it specifically before I would naturally pick that book myself. Books like "Max and the Tag-Along Moon," or "I Just Want To Say Goodnight" are incredible works both visually and in the very charming and somewhat nuanced writing, but the stories don't really teach anything in their stories themselves. They rely on lessons that are more visual by featuring diverse ethnicities without a moral message being clear in the story itself. "My Mouth Is A Volcano," is about being considerate of others. This single detail is why I will read this to my son as many nights as possible. The roughness of the art has plenty of charm, with the sing-song repetition of the little phrase the kid says to preempt each outburst. That rhythmic design is the quality that makes the book most fun to read. My only qualm there is that the rhythmic quality somewhat steals attention from the message and is a little confusing if taken too literally. Will my son experience this in his life in a way that he will recognize from this book? I could picture this being nice for grandparents to read to grandkids. It is light in tone and physical weight, but it has big pictures and large fonts in high contrast. I am very analytical about my take on kids' books, because I myself am a writer trying to break through to this genre. This book meets any reasonable expectations for a kid's book written in 2006, but you never know if a book like this will stick around or go largely overlooked. I vote it sticks around, so I give it four stars.
Sometimes it just happens!
This book was purchased with the idea that it might gently remind the grands that outside voices aren't meant to be used inside. My little grandson loved reading this book and not only reading it but enjoying the artistry and humor as well. He was so excited to exclaim, "My Mouth is a Volcano" and he learned some very important social skills. Great little book!
Too Wordy
I thought this would be good to teach second grade students about calling out & controlling impulses. This book is WAY too wordy and doesn't not hold the attention of second grade students. Very disappointing.
One of the best children's books ever
For families who have children who are learning to wait their turn to talk, this is an awesome book. I am a reader and have read hundreds of books to children and this one is in my top 5 or sure. It acknowledges children's ideas, respects that what they have to say is important, and teaches a good way to think about waiting their turn to talk. I highly recommend this book for any parent or grandparent.
Great tool for children's professionals and parents!
As a mobile therapist I am constantly looking for books that kids will relate to and enjoy. I have invested in many of Julia Cook's books and am never disappointed! In this book the main character learns how to control his interruptions of others. After reading my clients and I will practice the exercise of breathing out our "very important words" until it is our turn. I highly recommend this book to parents and professionals who work with children!
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