An engaging resource that will help kids navigate anxiety with imagination.
We all experience anxiety at some point or another; this book offers tools to help.
This interactive workbook, geared toward creative kids who are nervous or overwhelmed, encourages readers to learn new strategies for self-soothing and build self-awareness through drawing and writing. Reid and Williams begin with an introduction that explains, in kid-friendly terms, what anxiety is; they compare anxiety to a smoke alarm—helpful when there’s real danger but disruptive when it goes off constantly. A two-page spread of comics-style illustrations provides an evolutionary perspective on anxiety and its physical symptoms. The book often uses humor to spur serious reflection. For example, one double-page spread of spot art showing amusing “things that are seriously unlikely to happen” poses the question “What else is literally never going to happen, but sometimes worries you anyway?” Readers can work their way through art prompts—like drawing the design on a cape to wear while defeating a “worry dragon”—in addition to quizzes, gratitude exercises, and other engaging activities as they learn mindfulness and other coping techniques. Sections like “The Anxiety Toolbox” and “How To: Calm Down When You’re Freaking Out” offer tangible suggestions and simple practices to try. Digital doodlelike illustrations enliven the browsable presentation. Human characters are depicted with a variety of skin tones ranging from light peach to dark brown.
An engaging resource that will help kids navigate anxiety with imagination. (Self-help. 8-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-43380-5
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Rodale Kids
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022
With young readers diagnosed with anxiety in ever increasing numbers, this book offers a necessary mirror to many.
Young Raina is 9 when she throws up for the first time that she remembers, due to a stomach bug. Even a year later, when she is in fifth grade, she fears getting sick.
Raina begins having regular stomachaches that keep her home from school. She worries about sharing food with her friends and eating certain kinds of foods, afraid of getting sick or food poisoning. Raina’s mother enrolls her in therapy. At first Raina isn’t sure about seeing a therapist, but over time she develops healthy coping mechanisms to deal with her stress and anxiety. Her therapist helps her learn to ground herself and relax, and in turn she teaches her classmates for a school project. Amping up the green, wavy lines to evoke Raina’s nausea, Telgemeier brilliantly produces extremely accurate visual representations of stress and anxiety. Thought bubbles surround Raina in some panels, crowding her with anxious “what if”s, while in others her negative self-talk appears to be literally crushing her. Even as she copes with anxiety disorder and what is eventually diagnosed as mild irritable bowel syndrome, she experiences the typical stresses of school life, going from cheer to panic in the blink of an eye. Raina is white, and her classmates are diverse; one best friend is Korean American.
With young readers diagnosed with anxiety in ever increasing numbers, this book offers a necessary mirror to many. (Graphic memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-545-85251-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
A variety show brimming with esoteric and practical information.
Two youngsters embark on a journey peppered with history, trivia, and skits while teaching money lessons.
Meet Mellody and John, the young stars of this currency showcase. Their very first dialogue offers a taste of the intriguing information to come, from the ancient Mayans’ use of cacao beans as payment to the origins of the piggy bank. The book offers a chronologically and geographically broad timeline of the history of money, encompassing the past 3.9 billion years (starting with meteorite crashes that scattered metals—“the very first bank deposit”) and referencing practices across five continents. Readers will find themselves eagerly sharing the facts gleaned here, including the centuries-old origins of terms and expressions still used today. Mellody and John’s fun banter crucially reflects their experiences with money, such as their families’ differing attitudes toward allowances. Both are savers as well as givers, sharing stories about giving to charity. In one especially entertaining section, a cat and a bunny converse in money-related catchphrases that are separately defined at the bottom of each page. Stevens’ watercolors are appropriately realistic and appealing, whether depicting Mellody’s pretend bank or Elizabeth II’s butler ironing a 10-pound note. Messages about money’s use as a means to an end, rather than an end in itself, ensure that readers will think about their own purposes for their savings. Mellody and John are Black.
A variety show brimming with esoteric and practical information. (index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781536224719
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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