In today's rapidly transforming world, teaching children how to express emotions healthily and constructively plays a critical role in their emotional development. From happiness, sadness, fear, and anger, to more complex emotions like jealousy or empathy, children experience a broad spectrum of feelings, often without the necessary knowledge on how to articulate or handle them. Fortunately, a journey into the magical world of children's books might just provide the winning formula!

Why Children's Books Are Important
Children's books are more than just fascinating stories. They are vital tools that help children understand their world, interact with others, and most importantly, understand their own emotions. Vibrant illustrations, simple sentences, and relatable characters guide children gently into the world of complex human feelings.

How to Use Children's Books for Emotional Expression
Children's books come to the rescue to provide a narrative structure for those who can't yet put words to their experiences. Stories can create context, spotlight feelings, and offer options for dealing with similar situations. Here's a step-by-step process on how to use these literary tools:

1. Selecting the Right Book: Choose books which deal with emotions and situations related to your child's current emotional state or developmental stage. Emotional education books like 'The Feelings Book' by Todd Parr or 'I’m Feeling Mad' by Natalie Shaw are excellent choices.

2. Interactive Reading: Encourage a dialogue during story time. Ask open-ended questions related to the protagonist's feelings. For instance, "How do you think the character is feeling right now?" or "Have you ever felt the same way?". This will help your child better understand and articulate emotions.

3. Connect With Real Life: Help your child relate the story to their own experiences and feelings. You can say something like, "Remember when you were sad because your friend moved away? That’s just how the character in our story feels.".

4. Encourage Empathy: Discuss the feelings of not just the main character, but also those of secondary characters. This nurtures the ability to empathize.

In the final analysis, talking to your child about emotions shouldn't be a hurdle. Frame it as a fun and interactive process through the right children’s books, and you'll have equipped them with an emotional vocabulary that will serve for a lifetime. Children's books are indeed a child’s first self-help guides, inculcating in them the power to express, understand and manage their feelings with grace and maturity. So, ready for story time?