Welcome to The Grand Hotel of Feelings

picture book about accepting all feelings

What if your feelings could check into a hotel, each one a guest with its own quirks and needs? What if your job was to take care of every guest, ensuring each gets the room they need? My debut picture book, The Grand Hotel of

Feelings, explores this idea. The journey to this book began with my own struggles. For most of my life, I found it difficult to truly feel my feelings, which led to both mental and physical challenges. When I finally learned to accept and process my emotions, I realised how universal this struggle is. Creating The Grand Hotel of Feelings became a way to share what I had discovered: that all feelings are valid, they don’t define us and they all deserve a space to exist. The book was part of my Master’s thesis, exploring how illustration and design could support Bibliotherapy. However, the metaphor of a house for feelings had emerged many years before.

During one of my meditations, I visualised my feelings (at that time, mostly difficult ones) as rude guests who would enter my home, behave terribly and lock me out. Since learning to manage my feelings, I no longer believed in that narrative. Instead, I knew that every feeling simply wants to be heard and usually leaves once it has been acknowledged. Transforming the house into a hotel felt like a natural evolution.

Illustrating the hotel was great fun. My process begins on paper, where I sketch with pencil and paint with acrylics before digitally editing the final image. My artistic influences lean toward the surreal and romantic, creating worlds that feel magical yet grounded - places I’d love to visit myself.

I am over the moon that people of all ages are moved by the story, because I never aimed to create a book solely for children. Instead, I focused on making something authentic to me. Creating a book specifically for children wouldn’t have felt genuine. The result is a story that invites everyone to reflect on their feelings. Today, The Grand Hotel of Feelings has been translated into almost thirty languages, reaching audiences worldwide. When I made the book, I never imagined it would touch so many people, but I’m incredibly moved by its reception. I hope it continues to inspire readers to welcome every guest in their own hotel of feelings.

LIDIA BRANKOVIĆ Author www.lidiabrankovic.com