Capy’s Special Five Minutes

What the story does

Jealousy is a mix of sad and mad that comes when the grown-up you love is right there, but busy with someone else. Capy feels it on the porch: Mama is reading him the story book when baby Mini cries, and Mama stops to feed Mini. Capy feels left out, and his fur feels all prickly. He tugs Mama’s arm, he stomps and shouts “Not fair!”, and then he cries. Mama does not scold him or send him away. She stays right beside him, names the feeling, “You feel jealous. It’s hard to wait,” and makes room for him on her other side, where he holds the story book and turns the pages while she reads.

Nobody tells Capy he has to love the baby, and nobody makes him help. Mama asks if he would like to touch Mini’s paw, gently, and if he would like to hand her the burp cloth. And in the afternoon Capy’s special five minutes come, just like every day, with Mama’s eyes only on him. A child who has watched that has a short phrase to reach for when the new baby needs Mama too: Room for Mini, room for me.

What you get

• US Letter edition (8.5 x 11 in) for printing at home in North America.
• A4 edition (210 x 297 mm) for printing everywhere else.
• Screen edition sized for tablets and phones, for reading without printing.
• Free gift: Capy’s Feelings Cards, nine printable cards that go from left out to loved, in color and to color in, as US Letter and A4.

All three book editions are full-color RGB PDFs of the same 26 pages, delivered the moment the order completes. Nothing ships.

Who it is for

Parents, carers and early-years teachers reading aloud to children roughly 3 to 7 years old, especially big brothers and big sisters getting used to a new baby at home. Short sentences over full watercolor pages, a Let’s Talk page with four simple questions, and Capy’s Calm-Down Steps at the end: say it, ask to sit close, and remember that the special five minutes come every day.

Part of a series

This is Book 4 of A Capy’s Feelings Book. Book 1, Capy’s Big Red Wave, is about anger. Book 2, Capy’s Fluttery Tummy, is about worry. Book 3, Capy’s Heavy Paws, is about sadness. See the whole series.

Who made it

Written, art-directed and edited by Sam Ree. Published by Reeoka LLC.