The Feelings Doctor: Hidden Feelings by Dr. Tenisha Warner
A limited number of signed copies, for the people who are here early.
A picture book for children and the grown-ups who love them.
About The book
Māya has a flutter in her tummy she can't quite name. In The Feelings Doctor: Hidden Feelings, an heirloom feelings book for kids by Dr. Tenisha Warner, a little girl learns what to do with a feeling that's hard to put into words. She wants to speak, but the words get stuck, like a popcorn seed in her throat. She wants to play, but something inside feels too heavy. Then her mama takes her hand and says, Let's visit the feelings doctor.
There, Māya meets Dr. Imani, who shows her that a feeling can be met the way you'd meet a new friend. And slowly, Māya learns that once a feeling has been seen, something shifts, not because it disappears, but because it no longer has to be carried alone.
A feelings book for kids ages 4–8. Hardcover.
Māya, the heart of the story. Character illustration by Karina Oliveira.
A moment from the book
The Feelings Doctor: Hidden Feelings
"Keep Flutter close. She'll remind you that feelings just want to be seen."
— Dr. Imani,
Inside the book
A first look at the world Māya walks into when her mother takes her hand. Preliminary art by Karina Oliveira.
A limited number of signed copies, for the people who are here early
These are for the people who show up early, before the book is even out. Right now there are only sketches and a promise. If you want to be in from the very beginning, I'll sign and inscribe your copy by hand, as my thanks for being one of the first. Only a limited number are available.
After the book is out, you'll find it wherever books are sold. The signed and inscribed copies live here.
The book launches September 13, 2026. Signed copies are inscribed by hand and ship in the fall. I'll send you the date as soon as it's set.
Optional inscription — at checkout, enter a name or short message and it will be written by hand inside the book
$27.99 — free shipping within the continental US
Signed by hand, personally, by Dr. Tenisha Warner
Stay close.
Join the waitlist and I'll send you a note the week the book is born into the world.
Be among the first to read it
Frequently Asked Questions
Still wondering? These are the questions we hear most. If yours isn't here, reach out at hello@riverandemberco.com.
It's a picture book about Māya, a little girl who has feelings she can't quite name, the kind that make her words get stuck and her tummy feel heavy. When her mama takes her to meet the feelings doctor, Māya learns that a feeling can be met like a new friend, with curiosity and care, and that no feeling is too big or too hidden to be seen. It's a gentle story for the child whose feelings sometimes hide, and for the grown-ups learning to sit beside them.
Often a child has a feeling before they have words for it, and honestly, so do many of us as adults. It can show up as a stuck throat, a heavy tummy, going quiet, or pulling away, not because something is wrong with them, but because the feeling hasn't found its way out yet. In the book, Māya says it simply: "When it hurts, the words hide." Hidden feelings aren't a problem to fix. They're feelings waiting to be seen.
You don't need the perfect words. Often the most helpful thing is simply to stay near and stay curious. In The Feelings Doctor, Dr. Imani shows one gentle way to help a child meet a feeling rather than hide from it, so it becomes something they can carry together instead of alone. The point isn't to make the feeling go away. It's to help your child know it's safe to have it.
The Feelings Doctor: Hidden Feelings was written by Dr. Tenisha Warner, a doctor of psychology, a mother, and the founder of River & Ember. The idea was born on a Career Day, when she described her work to a room of children as being "a feelings doctor," and her own daughter carried the phrase home. It's the first book in a planned picture book series.
It's a feelings book for kids ages 4–8, written to be read aloud together. Younger children connect with Māya and Flutter and the colors; older children and grown-ups catch the quieter layer underneath, that all feelings are safe, seen, and worth caring for.
These are for the people who show up early, before the book is even out. You can reserve a signed copy right here on this page, the only place to receive a copy signed and personally inscribed by Dr. Tenisha Warner, as a thank-you for being one of the first. The book launches September 13, 2026, and signed copies are inscribed by hand and ship in the fall, with the exact date shared once it's set. After launch, the book will be available wherever books are sold, but the signed and inscribed copies live here.
