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
The app takes advantage of zoom features to take readers through panel by panel, providing a sense of forward motion that...
Traditionally a paper-based series, Middle School Confidential adapts its first graphic novel to the iPad leveraging the device’s functionality to infuse a wide variety of sounds, short songs and character voices.
The app takes advantage of zoom features to take readers through panel by panel, providing a sense of forward motion that synchronizes well with the text’s format. Divided into eight chapters, the story introduces relevant teen topics such as body image, self-esteem, popularity and stress through short, everyday interactions among a group of six male and female friends. To round out each chapter, a teen presents a related short message that’s more public-service announcement than component of the story, which may feel over the top to the audience. Each character is presented through actions and dialogue in the short chapters and with a brief bio that includes his or her strengths and insecurities. Additionally, each bio includes an e-mail address, which links to the iPad’s e-mail function; there is no indication of who will actually receive a reader’s e-mail message and what if any response such an e-mail might trigger. The images in the line-and-watercolor panels mirror and reinforce the characters’ related emotions or actions.Pub Date: April 1, 2011
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Free Spirit Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
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