Is a Worry Worrying You?

In today's contemporary society, worrying seems to happen at a younger and younger age every year. The Book Is a Worry Worrying You? by Ferida Wolff and Harriet May Savitz explain to children what a worry actually is, and try to teach them how to cope, suggestion ways to deal with their fears.

“A worry is a thought that stops your from having fun, from feeling good, from being happy. Don't bother looking for a worry because you'll never find it. It is invisible. But it seems very real.”

Great definition of what a worry is; well explain to children. But that explanation and the illustrations are pretty much the only things I liked about this book. As I read on, I couldn't stop thinking “how is that ever going to be helpful to a kid prone to anxiety?”

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For a kid of reading age, this book would probably be more amusing than educational.

The illustrations are gorgeous; there isn't a doubt about that. A young child would have a lot of fun looking at the pictures and making up their own stories.

Full Review here @ The HungryBookster

The book “Is a Worry Worrying you”, is a quaint little book for children and adults can enjoy too. One can learn why worrying will worry you. and how to not worry anymore.
The writing just compliments the story as a whole. The illustrations are unique and whimsical. I enjoyed reading it to my little one. It would be a book that we would read nightly.

It is a book about worries, from the most simple one to the most extravagant one, and simple steps to get rid of them. The illustrations were quite dark/creepy to me and made me feel tensed as I was reading it. I would have preferred an art style that makes me feel relaxed and calm instead.

Thank you NetGalley and Tanglewood for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Read and reviewed: 2018-12-06

Worrying... Is there anyone of us that can truly claim not to be plagued by stress? Both my parents are the definition of calmness and tranquility. Me,on the other hand? If nervousness and anxiety needed a picture, mine would be brilliant. I remember being like this from an early age, worrying over everything. Not just school or friends, but literally everything. Growing up didn't do much to improve it.

Now, I wish I had this lovely book while I was growing up. I'm not a mother myself, but as a teacher I interact with children of all ages for many hours and the worst thing is seeing them loaded with stress. Worrying over tests, grades,homework, what their parents would say if an essay went bad, etc. I feel awful knowing that I have contributed in all the enormous load they daily carry on their shoulders, so I thought ‘'well, I will take the book with me today.'' They really loved it.The younger children were absorbed by the pictures and with the older ones I had the opportunity to start a very interesting and liberating discussion about worrying over school, relationships, and family issues.

The headings and snippets were very well-written and simple enough for all children to understand and to me, they provided some real food for thought, beautiful and whimsical sentences of wisdom that I wish I had read when I was their age. The pictures are really striking and unique, almost Gothic in style, echoing Tim Burton and Lisa Falzon.

So, my opinion is of secondary importance with this book. The young ones loved it and so did I. Will it help me lower the levels of worrying just for the sake of it? Probably not, but it certainly motivates me to try.