Emma’s Dilemmas by Nancy Zwiebach

Nancy Silberman Zwiebach, the author, is a Certified School Psychologist and psychotherapist.
Having spent many years working with young children, in addition to her own experiences, Nancy knows how the young tend to be very literal, especially with terms they are unfamiliar with; yet, they still try to make sense of them. Children also, can feel uncomfortable admitting they don’t understand what was said, fearing it will make them look stupid. Therein lies the dilemma! “Do I want to admit I don’t understand so I can learn what it really means, or, in doing that, will I look dumb”?
In this book, Emma, the main character, reflects on phrases that don’t make sense to her and the reader learns how and why they don’t make sense as well as how she interprets them. Nancy expects the children hearing her confusion and her explanations will identify with Emma and also chuckle. The familiarity is comforting. Ah – the moral of the book … an experience with a teacher leads to Emma learning that admitting to not understanding and asking for explanations – is positive and she becomes more comfortable in putting herself out there.
Nancy expects this book to be most appropriate for children 4-8 years old, both for those who need to hear it through another person reading it and for beginning/young readers.