MARVIN AND ME

Milojkovic offers a picture book designed to offer children and caregivers practical strategies for dealing with anxiety.

Psychiatrist Sylwia Fowler, in a foreword, explains how adult patients dealing with anxiety describe having had such feelings “always.” This puts into perspective the importance of addressing anxiety with young children. The narrative follows Pippa, a girl with auburn hair wearing a yellow dress. She visits her grandmother one day and tells her what’s on her mind: “What if my brother falls off his bike? Or what if Mom doesn’t turn the stove off?…These thoughts just keep on coming!” Grandma tells Pippa “Everyone has scary thoughts sometimes,” and maybe Pippa just has “more of them.” In the garden, the girl meets a mouse that Grandma’s named Marvin. Grandma encourages Pippa to imagine her worries as tiny Marvin, and Pippa learns to let the mouse come and go. Zolotova’s full-page color cartoon illustrations depict the human characters as white; Marvin is small and gray. The bold, simple story is interspersed by sections directed at caregivers, explaining the story’s underlying psychology and offering advice for how to apply the story’s lessons to real life. Ultimately, the book offers a way into having open conversations with a child about their thoughts and feelings—a crucial first step in managing anxiety.

A kids’ book of practical strategies for dealing with difficult emotions.