The Huge Bag of Worries

by Virginia Ironside

Wherever Jenny goes, her worries follow her - in a big blue bag. They are there when she goes swimming, when she is watching TV, and even when she is in the lavatory. Jenny decides they will have to go. But who can help her? Big Books encourage shared reading and collaborative learning. They allow teachers and parents to encourage discussion and they are ideal for class and group work.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Family, Emotion, Psychology, Fiction, Friendship

Paperback

First published September 30, 1996

About the author

Virginia Ironside is best known as one of Britain's leading agony aunts. She started on Woman magazine before moving to The Sunday Mirror and Today newspapers. She now writes a weekly column for The Independant. She also appears regularly on radio and television on such programmes as Radio 4's 'Woman's Hour'. Her many books include self-help titles on subjects such as bereavement, as well as the children's spooky adventure series Burlap Hall .

Reviews

[Heba · Rating 5 out of 5]

يبدو إنه قد مضى وقتٌ طويل منذ آخر مرة اشتريتُ كتاباً عن الأطفال...أليس كذلك ؟
ما رأيك لو إنني حصلت على هذا الكتاب كهدية رائعة منكم 🤗...
رد مسؤول متجر الكتب بمجاملة لطيفة لم تمنع من دفع ثمن الكتاب....🤪
جذبني غلاف الكتاب بالحقيبة الكبيرة من الهموم ، رددت على نفسي ومن منا لا يملك مثل تلك الحقيبة والتي يصعب التخلص منها ، لنرى إذا ما كان ثمة طريقة لفعل ذلك...
الرسومات كانت كلمات منطوقة...تحكي الحكاية برفقة الكلمات المكتوبة في تناغم جميل...
ما يُقلق الفتاة الصغيرة أصبح حقيبة كبيرة من الهموم ، والتي كانت مختلفة ، منها الممتلئة اللامبالية ومنها المتوحشة الصارخة.....
إنها تتبعها في كل مكان ، تزداد حجماً كل يوم وغدت تعرقل خطواتها ، عندئذٍ حاولت إخفاءها ولكن الحيلة لم تنجح أبداً....
هل يمكن أن تشارك سرها مع احد أفراد عائلتها ؟
لا ...لأن بالطبع ستكون الإجابة واحدة وجاهزة مُسبقاً " لا أرى أي هموم لديكِ فأنتٍ فتاة سعيدة الحظ تتمتعين بالأصدقاء وبأسرتك " ...
ذلك بالرغم من أن هموم الصغيرة كانت تخص كل هؤلاء الأشخاص...
حسناً متى تتخلص من تلك الحقيبة ؟
عندما تشارك سرها مع جارتها العجوز ، التى قامت بتشجيعها على فتح الحقيبة لتنطلق الهموم خائفة..هاربة...
هذه القصة رسالة إلى كل أسرة لتلحظ...تهتم..وتُطمئن أي من صغارها يعاني القلق والخوف من حقيبة كبيرة من الهموم...قبل أن تبتلع صغيرها للأبد....
احببتها جدااا....❤

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about a girl named Jenny. Jenny has a dog named Loftus. Initially all is well in Jenny's life and then things start to worry her. Loftus gets flees, Jenny starts getting bad marks in school, she thinks people are saying mean things about her behind her back, and her best friend is moving away. Her problems and worries build up. She tries talking to her brother about it but that doesn't help and she doesn't feel like she can talk to her mum and dad about it. Her dad has enough worries of his own. Jenny carries this 'bag of worries' around with her and it makes her sad. It 'weighs her down' and makes her late for school and she gets in trouble with her teacher. As the story continues she tries to see if her friend can help her with her bag of worries. Eventually an old lady who lives near her helps her to open up her bag of worries and deal with them e.g. she gets rid of some worries because they are belong to other people, and she explains that there are some worries that we all have.
I really like how the author creates an image of the child's worries as an actual physical bag of things that the child has to carry around with her. I think we can all relate to this idea but I think its a particularly effective way of getting children to visualise something which is emotional and intangible.

This is a story with an important message, nice illustrations and some humour. It is a booked that is best suited to KS1 and lower KS2 children and could be used as the basis for a circle time discussion on things that worry us and on our feelings. As a teacher you could ask the children questions about how Jenny feels during different parts of the story, and what would you do with the bag of worries? You could then introduce the children to the proverb, 'A problem shared is a problem halved' and explain the importance of talking to someone when you are worried about something. This book has cross curricular links between religion, PSHE and literacy. A nice book which I would like to use in the classroom.

[Faigy Liebermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

"This book is a must read for any mum whose child is struggling with anxiety. So many times we are tempted to run to therapists to help "fix" the child. As the mother of your child, you have the innate power to help your child in the most powerful way, and the good news is, it is so easy and simple. I loved this book as it empowers parents with the tools they need to help their child with their anxiety. I used this for one of my children, and I just incorporated it during bedtime for a few weeks. My child learned fundamental ideas about their worries, that came across in a fun and easy to understand way. "

[Adele Last]

This story is about a little girl who carries her worries with her everywhere she goes. These worries include her pet dog having fleas; that she was getting too fat and that her best friend was moving away. Throughout the story the reader sees the little girl’s bag becoming larger and heavier as it is filled with more and more worries. Nearing the end of the story the bag is so big the young girl can no longer carry it with her but she refuses to let anyone see inside as she believed that so open the bag would be scary and let all the worries out so they could cause mayhem.
Fortunately, a kind elderly neighbour offers the young girl some help and asks to open the bag. After finding out what the worries were, the neighbour was able to make all the worries go away by talking through them and explaining that they were either nothing to worry about or that they were worries that belonged to other people. As a result the little girl was able to throw the bag away and went off to play.
I liked this story as it was able to explain how children have worries too and that they can affect their daily lives if they are not talked about. This book, if used in a classroom environment, would be good for giving children the opportunity to talk any worries they may have. This could be achieved within a circle time within the classroom or possibly in a more private environment by using a post box where children can write their worries on a piece of paper and the teacher is the only one that would read it. These could remain anonymous as long as the worry did not relate to anything that would raise concerns about safeguarding.
Consequently, I believe that this book would be suitable for children who are in Year 1 and above as they would be able to write their concerns in order to post them in the post box. This book would be appropriate to read as a whole class as this would promote discussion but the book could also be left for the children to read independently.

[Hoda · Rating 4 out of 5]

قرأتها من موقع your favbook ..

[Nouru-éddine · Rating 4 out of 5]

القلق صديق وعدو. صديق عند التأهب، وعدو عند الثقل. صديق عند الحذر، وعدو عند الخوف. كم حقيبة لدينا من المقلقات نضعها تحت السرير؟!

[Nyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wherever Jenny goes, she finds that her worried follow her in a big blue bag. It follows her EVERYWHERE she goes and before she realises the bag is full of them and when she tries to get rid of them, they keep coming back to her! Jenny finds that she cannot get anyone to understand her worries, until she meets her friendly old neighbour on the street. She opens Jenny’s bag of worries and they both find that some of the worries she had just disappeared whilst others were dealt with and Jenny was also carrying other worries which were not even her own! The friendly old neighbour showed Jenny that talking about worries will inevitably help get rid of the problem. Jenny is left worriless and is relieved that the big blue bag is tossed far, far away!

I found this book great and very relevant to introduce the topic to KS1 and KS2 classes during circle time- as the message of the book is that it’s normal to have problems and the problems may seem big, but only as big as you make it out to be. Also, the books connotates that a sharing a problem is a problem halved! The book comes in a very large size and the illustrations are great as it captures the attention of the audience.

[Emily Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really loved using this book with children and encouraging them to speak about their worries so their own bags don’t get bigger and bigger. A really nice picture book to teach children about their mental health.

[Hala · Rating 5 out of 5]

قصة جميلة جدا تعلم الاطفال لو عندهم هموم يقولوا لماما وبابا ❤

[منى عامر · Rating 4 out of 5]

قصة لطيفة جدا جدا
من منا ليس لديه هموم!
لكن هل نصدق ونعترف أن الأطفال أيضا لديهم هموم؟!
قرأتها في فضول لأعرف ما هموم الطفلة وما الحل
استمتعت بها وبرسوماتها

[Alice Maton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jenny has a big bag of worries that are weighing her down and she doesn't know how to get rid of them or make the bag weigh less. She doesn't know who to talk to about this either. Until a lady helps her with her bag and helps her to get rid of some and realise that we all have worries, it is part of life but it is how we deal with them that is important. It hightlights how sharing your problems is important, especially as a child who some of these things they are not responsible for. Great book to relate to and bring the conversation to light that chn should talk to friends, family and teachers. They shouldn't carry this heavy weight around by themselves.

[Jasmine Longworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a brilliant book to help children that are suffering from anxiety. It explains in a lovely way what it feels like to be carrying lot’s of worries around and how this can affect your day life and has some really lovely illustrations.

[Hajar · Rating 5 out of 5]

القصة درسناها وطبقنا عليها بشكل عملي العلاج بالتقبل والالتزام للأطفال ACT، رائعة جدا جدا موجود فيها الفنيات الخاصة بالعلاج ومرحلة ما قبل العلاج "نموذج التصلب النفسي" وبعد كده المرونة النفسية، مصطلحات وحاجات مجعلصة أوي أوي معمولة بشكل لطيف وحلو أوي أوي للأطفال ولينا ككبار عادي جدا.

[Sophie Freeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book to help children work through any worries they have and the power of sharing anything they may find challenging.

[Louise O'neill · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Huge Bag of Worries (Big Books)
By Virginia Ironside

The Huge Bag of Worries by Virginia Ironside is a unique, thought-provoking book which addresses the ever evident, “elephant in the room”, WORRY! With eye catching illustrations, humorous language and the use of a blue bag as a metaphor for the human mind Ironside sensitively addresses the issue of worries young people may have.

The book begins with a happy, young, girl Jenny who has a loving family, a pet and a best friend at school but due to external pressures she begins to formulate worries which pile up inside her big, blue bag (mind). Jenny worries about her attainment level in school, her parents arguing, and her best friend moving away. The majority of these worries may be commonplace for pupils in any class. Everywhere Jenny goes her burdens and worries follow behind her. Jenny tries to share her worries with others but soon finds those closest to her have a lot of worries of their own.

Exasperated by carrying the weight of her worries and burdens she breaks down outside her home. A wise, old lady who lives next door to Jenny notices her distress and offers to help Jenny with her bag of worries. Jenny’s neighbour teachers her that “A problem shared is a problem halved”. Moreover, that we may share common worries and ultimately some worries Jenny carried were not her worries to carry at all.

An excellent book, which enables pupils to feel relieved, accepted and normal. An excellent tool for teachers to highlight or make pupils aware of who they can discuss or seek advice from within the school if they have any worries.

This book could be used in PSHE lessons from Year 2 up to Year 6. However, I feel this book is particularly relevant for a KS2 Year 6 class who are embarking on their SATs exams. I would read the story with my class group in a PSHE lesson and I would link it to Art and Religion for cross-curricular links.

In Religion, I would highlight how different religions deal with worry offering their worries through prayer to their God, Guru, or Prophet. Thus, trusting their faith to guide them and help them solve their burdens or worries.

In art, I would create a Worry Tree with my pupils. This would entail each child creating a leaf, anonymously writing their worry on it and placing it on the tree. Our tree would be a deciduous tree. Thus, just like Deciduous trees shed their leaves; our worries would too fall away and be solved.

Louise O’Neill.

[Danny Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Huge Bag of Worries by Virginia Ironside

This is a great child-friendly take on things that we worry about. It covers worries such as getting fat, friends moving away, parents arguing and getting bad marks at school. The author presents all these worries as little creatures in a big bag that follows Jenny everywhere she goes.

She asks people to help, who are all too busy and her best friend tries to help her lock them away in a cupboard but evidently they escape! Then one day Jenny is sitting on the pavement outside her house (with the big bag of worries next to her) and an old woman comes along. She helps gives her some sound advice and slowly one by one Jenny, with the old woman’s help begins to sort them into groups. Some are disappear as they are to do with other people, some once they have been out in the open and shared disappear also.

One of the things I most love about this book is the visual representation of all these worries filling up a big bag. It provides a perfect stimulus for a PSHE lesson or even P4C and an opportunity to re-affirm with children that they do not have to worry alone; there are many people who can help, especially the teacher! Children may inadvertently want to offload their worries in the lesson, which could result in some inappropriate worries being shared, so having a “Let’s talk about that at break time etc.” line up your sleeve would be advisable. You could even create your own worry box/bag and select a few to talk about once a week because ‘a problem shared, is a problem halved’!

I HIGHLY recommend this book, but I would say it is more suited to KS2 but could be used with KS1 as it has some excellent illustrations, which depict the worries in an effective way.

[Mehzabein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Virginia Ironside writes a good story of a little girl called Jenny who feels she has the worlds worries on her shoulders. With large, colourful illustrations and funny little characters as her worries, they are sure to make children laugh. The story itself is an interesting read, with the target audience being year 3,4 children and could possibly link in with RE aspects of the curriculum such as circle time: where children could take turns talking about some of their worries. Repetition within the story such as "...and the bag got bigger...and bigger..." creates suspense and helps to create and keep interest in the children. The story book also follows the conventional rules of story writing with a clear beginning, middle and end, with an introduction to the character, the setting, the problem (worries following her around everywhere) and finally the solution. Therefore the story is also a good literacy tool that can be used within the class during literacy hour. Overall, I would recommend this book. With a purpose in mind, it could positively help children recognise and be aware of the world around them as well as feelings and emotions they may experience throughout their everyday lives.

[Claire Conlon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jenny is a little girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders. I loved this story because it was a story that I was able to relate to and I think a lot of children would be able to relate to the story too. Virginia Ironside has written an excellent book with fantastic illustrations that helps makes the story accessible to even more children. The story uses repetition which helps keep the children hooked to the story as the bag get ‘bigger’ and ‘bigger’ with even more worries. Although Jenny attempts to rid herself of the bag of worries she cannot do so. Towards the end of the story she has had enough and the big bag of worries has become too much for Jenny. It is here that she meets an old lady who asks her what is wrong. She begins to take the worries out from the bag, one and one, and some of the worries do not even belong to Jenny! This is an important message to send to children that they can share their worries and they do not need to keep them to themselves. Hopefully the children would see how happy Jenny is once she has shared her worries and how it brought a sense of relief. The more advanced themes in the story would lead me to believe that this would be most appropriate for a lower key stage two class.

[Kim Cerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

The huge bag of worries is a great book for young children. It is about a young girl called Jenny, who seemingly has everything just perfect. However, she doesn't feel this is the case. She worries about everything. Eventually, a huge bag of worries appeared and Jenny had to carry this bag around with her everywhere. She tried losing it, throwing it away, but everything she tried it just kept on coming back and getting bigger and bigger. Jenny thought she would always have to live with her bag of worries, until her neighbour offered to help her with her worries. Jenny and her neighbour went through the bag and sorted her worries into groups. Jenny was surprised to see how many of the worries just disappeared and some were sent off to who they belonged to. In fact the worries were very little.

This book is a good resource for younger children as a starter story for circle time to be able to discuss how we deal with worries or allowing children to express some of their worries. It allows for children to see that if we share our worries often they do not seem as bad as they once did.

I would use this book as a year two resource, but it could also be used as an independent reader for year three onwards.

[Ross Oates · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Huge Bag of Worries by Virginia Ironside is a picture book about a little girl who wakes up one day with a bag of worries beside her. She feels that she is unable to tell anyone about her worries and the bag of worries gets bigger and bigger. She tries everything she can think of to get rid of the bag but eventually gets upset and starts to cry. A lady sees the little girl and asks what’s up with her. The lady opens the bag and takes the worries out one by one. The little girl feels much better when all of her worries are out in the open. This is a lovely story and I think it could link very well with an RE lesson as children could find they relate to it very well. Children could write their worries on a piece of paper then roll them up and throw them in a bin. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and believe it could be read to any age group of children to highlight the importance of talking your worries and problems through with people and not letting them grow to affect you.

[Patrick Coman]

The Huge Bag of Worries is a book by Virginia Ironside.
"The Huge Bag of Worries" relates the simple story of a little girl who finds she is carrying an ever growing 'bag of worries'. She tries to think of ways to reduce her load but finds that everyone she wants to talk to about her 'bag' has so many of their own worries that she doesn't want to burden them further. Finally her Grandmother notices her growing 'bag of worries' and they work through her worries together. The girl finds there are lots of different ways of dealing with or sharing worries and feels a whole lot better once her 'bag of worries' has been cleared out.
This is a good book to read to children when tackling issues that might be worrying children such as bullying etc. as it teaches them that there is always someone to talk to.

[Fatheha Begum · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the story of a little girl who “had always been happy”, but wakes up one day with a bag of worries beside her. These worries include all kinds of things, from her best friend going away to nuclear war. Her problem is that she feels unable to tell anyone what is wrong. no one would listen to her or giver her good advice. Eventually a kind old lady helps her see her worries for what they are and deal with them in a simple but effective way. the book has very good pictures and attempts to reveal her worries in a very visual way.

This book deals with the concept of worries.when growing up we might be worried about things than usual.it also frames that worry is natural and something that everyone has.it attempts to deal with the worries in a very comical way. This book can be discussed as part of RE and PHSE lesson.

[u1124876 UEL · Rating 4 out of 5]

We were introduced to The Huge Bag of Worries which was written by Virginia Ironside and Frank Rodgers by Barbara Todd during a RE/PSHE lesson last week. I was impressed with both the story and the illustrations. I enjoyed the way worries are personified and at one point in the story they are just blown away by the lovely older woman. The book has very nice, thought provoking imagery.

I like the way that Barbara read it out to the class and asked big open questions about the heroine and she asked how we, as a class, thought the girl was feeling. This book is recommended for children between 7 and 13. I was tentative about broaching the subject of worries but with Barbara's wonderful description and having watched her model the subject area I now feel more confident.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed ‘The Huge Bag of Worries’ by Virginia Ironside. I feel there is massive room in the market for books of this nature, with a strong message helping children deal with life and putting issues into context.

This book is about Jenny, a young girl that, like many children, can’t stop worrying. In a very pleasant and slightly humorous way the story helps children deal with this issue and lets them know that it is OK to worry and that they are not alone in dealing with things. Besides the well delivered and thought out and delivered narrative the illustrations are imaginative and bring a lot to the story. This book helps you deal with your worries, makes you smile, and exudes a warm glow, for readers of any age. What more can you ask for?

[Karl A · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Huge Bag of Worries is a story of a little girl called Jenny who finds she is carrying an ever growing 'bag of worries'. She tries to think of ways to reduce her load but finds that everyone she wants to talk to about her 'bag' has so many of their own worries that she doesn't want to burden them further. Finally an old lady notices her growing 'bag of worries' and they work through her worries together. The girl finds there are lots of different ways of dealing with or sharing worries and feels a whole lot better once her 'bag of worries' has been cleared out.

This book is a good way to introduce dealing with worrying in a lesson. This book was used for a PSHE lesson and was very effective in giving children a better understanding of how we can deal with worries.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved loved loved this book!!! i have come across it two or 3 times now, and it just has a lovely feel to it. It begins with a little girl called jenny, from the beginning she tells how she has so many worries, so much in fact that one day a HUGE bag of worries begin to follow her everywhere...she tries speaking to her parents about her worries but it doesnt work. The message in the story basically mean, "a problem shared, is a problem halved" that it not always a good idea to keep everything bottled up. The main theme in the book is so relevant to both adults and children, that it could lead on to a lovely circle time activity. I'd recommend it to both key stage 1 and 2. Super!!

[Aleha Begum · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is about a little girl who finds she is carrying an ever growing 'bag of worries'. She tries to think of ways to reduce her worries but realises that everyone has their own 'bag of worries'. Finally her Grandmother notices her bag and they work through her worries together. This is a very good book for children to understand how to deal with different stresses and emotions in life and that everyone goes through these and they are not the only one. It would be great to use this book in KS1 during a PSHE lesson passing around a stimulus and discuss what the children in the class worry about. They may recognise common themes amongst their peers.

[William O · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could be very useful in the classroom especially for a subject like RE which can be linked to feelings we have and how to deal with them. The book centres on a girl with a "bag" of worries that gets bigger and bigger as she struggles to deal with them. Whether she is afraid to tell her family or not taken seriously her bag of worries will not go away until finally she confides in the right person and her worries are sorted. The story tells us we should share our feelings and talk about them so we can deal with them and i think this book could be used for any age group in a school.

[Rumena Khatun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jenny is a child with a normal life; she has a mum and dad, friends and a home. Yet Jenny cannot help feeling down and suddenly wakes up with a huge bag of worries. The bag follows her everywhere and she cannot seem to get rid of it. When Jenny finally talks about her worries they disappear. This is a touching story for children who may be feeling alone and have worries of their own. It shows how Jenny’s troubles disappeared after sharing her problems with someone which encourages children to do the same. I think this story would be excellent as part of a PSHCE lesson.

[Aszerina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the story about a young girl who feels worried but didn't want to share her worries with anyone else and so her 'bag of worries' becomes bigger and bigger and follows her everywhere and gets in the way of her doing things. This story does have a happy ending that I don't want to spoil. But I believe with the context of this book and the detailed pictures it is a great book which most children will be able to relate to. As it is a great discussion starter about the issues that effect children I would love to use this in a PSHE lesson within KS2.