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Kris
Downing

Author & Storyteller

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Latest Release

Tummies Flip, Hearts Skip
A Book About How Feelings Feel
Release Date: Sept 30, 2025

Help children understand how emotions feel in their body, and what their sensations are trying to tell them.

Tummies Flip, Hearts Skip CoverArt

Pre-Orders Available Now At Your Favorite Digital Bookstore

Kris Downing, It would be my absolute honor to write a review for you. Your creativity & care with your work in the schools to help kids has always been an inspiration to me.

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Tummies Flip, Hearts Skip playfully invites kids’ curiosity about the subtleties underneath big emotions. Kris’ scientific grounding of how a child’s awareness of physical sensations drives their well-being led her to create an appetizing menu of words to understand and describe what’s happening inside. Each page of rhymes is rich with color, motion and fantastic illustrations to match body language with every feeling. Refreshing vocabulary is woven throughout this fun storybook, ending with a splendid glossary. The author goes above and beyond to help children discover, understand and communicate the intricacies of what hurts and what feels good to their grown-ups. 

 

Maggie Kline, Family Therapist, School Psychologist. Somatic Experiencing Faculty

Author of My Inner Doggie Is Growling, Brain-Changing Strategies to Trauma-Proof Our Schools, & co-author with Peter A. Levine of Trauma through a Child’s Eyes & Trauma-Proofing Our Kids.

Praise & Endorsements

I love it!  With a career of phenomenal service to young people and the people who work with them, Kris Downing’s new book “Tummies Flip, Hearts Skip, is a beautiful, gentle guide for kids to connect the sensations in their body to their emotions.  Tummies Flip, Hearts Skip explores each emotion with questions for the reader - which sets up a great opportunity for the reader to connect with a child’s emotional experience in an open and honest way. Downing’s work as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner shines through every page.  Vivian Mineker’s illustrations bring magical visuals that solidify and share the author’s message.  A bonus section provides a helpful glossary of definitions for sensations and emotions, as well as a link to a leadership guide for guardians, teachers, counselors and therapists.  Such a valuable message in a beautiful book.

 

Michael Romero, LCSW

Clinical Assistant Professor,  Univ. of Texas ,

Award Winning Multi-Instrumentalist and Singer/Songwriter of Children's Music.

Host of Mr. Michael's Group - Interactive Kids Shows

Upcoming Events

Join me for an upcoming event and experience the magic of storytelling firsthand.

Book Launch Party for Tummies Flip, Hearts Skip:

A Book About How Feelings Feel

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October 4, 2025

10:30 am

Join me for music, reading and book signing

at BookPeople in Austin, Texas

BookPeople Kids Storytime

10:30 am, October 4, 2025

Austin, Texas

Children's Book Festival, Author Meet & Greet - TBA

Appearances
Kris Downing photo

About Kris Downing

I am a play therapist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. (SEP) with Just Mind Counseling in Austin Texas.  I love finding ways to help kids feel more connected to their nervous system, to each other, and to the world around them.  They keep me laughing and they are always teaching me important lessons about life.

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