The Worrying Worries

Problems

by Rachel Rooney, Zahra Hicks (Illustrator)

Do you ever worry about your worries? This lively rhyming picture book explores what happens when children encounter a worry, and some simple strategies to tame them.

Everyone has had a worry at some point. Worries can be awful pests, and they hate to see you happy. They can follow you to the library, the park, and back home. They might whisper mean things to you, cause stomachaches, or keep you up at night. But you don’t have to keep your worries.

In upbeat rhymes and engaging illustrations, this book shares some simple exercises children can practice to stay calm and banish those pesky worries for good!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

Hardcover

First published January 7, 2021

Reviews

[Martina P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brige o brigama je naslov hrvatskog prijevoda i zvuči mi dobro. Započinje zabavno, nastavlja se poprilično ozbiljno i odraslo te završava edukativno i pozitivno. Ilustracije prate priču i fascinira me različitost djece koju nemamo priliku vidjeti često u slikovnicama.

[Cass (whatcassreads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rachel Rooney’s The Worrying Worries is an upcoming non-fiction children’s picture book that addresses children’s worries and fears and how to recognize signs and manage them. It’s published by Magination Press, an imprint under the American Psychological Association, that publishes children’s books.

This picture book is written in a rhyming prose in dyslexia-friendly font with colourful and engaging illustrations. Not only is this beautiful picture book a great read for children, but also a fantastic resource for parents as it includes various exercises and coping mechanisms to help children who get easily worried or anxious. It also includes a reader’s note to parents that addresses the topics on what worry is and how to recognize and manage worry.

I recommend The Worrying Worries for educators and parents looking to learn more about this topic for children.

Thank you American Psychological Association for providing me an advanced readers’ copy.

Note: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book provided by the publisher, American Psychological Association, via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Jeanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fear is what causes worry for us. When children do not feel safe, secure or accepted a worry monster is on their back. This is a great book to read with your child that tends to worry. How worry starts small that you can put it in your pocket. Worry left unchecked goes with you everywhere. The thing about worry it feeds off itself and gets bigger. There are some things you can do to put yourself in control.

What a great book to name the worries in your life and how to fight them.
This book is good for teachers, social workers and parents.

Highly recommend.

A special thank you to Magination Press and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really helpful book when it comes to helping children understand anxiety and worry. My daughter was very anxious as a child - she still is - and she had a lot of worries. At the time, there weren't a lot of books for her age around anxiety and we could really have used something like this to help her understand how worrying builds bigger and bigger anxieties and leads to more and more physical and mental distress. She just didn't get that it was something she could control even with outside help. And while no book will solve that, I found any book that dealt with anxiety, like Wemberly Worried, allowed us to have a conversation in a safe and neutral way. She was much more receptive. This book takes the worry and shows how it grows and how it shrinks, and points to some of the techniques that we all use to combat anxiety no matter how young or old we are. I appreciated the artwork and the rhyme because both make this more approachable as a theme or issue.

And the book had some nice supports at the end that parents could use to extend the teachable moment beyond the book.

I feel that this book would also be good for a family where maybe a friend or another family member has anxiety and a child is trying to understand that and manage their reaction to it. I've seen plenty of children who point to the one child who is nervous and make fun of them in some way, and this book could be helpful in showing them that the reason for this may not be something they can control and is not something to ridicule.

I would definitely suggest this book to parents with children who are nervous and to help anyone young dealing with anxiety.

*I received an ARC via NetGalley.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Worrying Worries
By Rachel Rooney
Publisher: American Psychological Association
Series: None
Rated:4
Obtain: Borrow or Buy
Back of the Book: “Do you ever worry about your worries? This lively rhyming picture book explores what happens when children encounter a worry, and some simple strategies to tame them. 
Everyone has had a worry at some point. Worries can be awful pests, and they hate to see you happy. They can follow you to the library, the park, and back home. They might whisper mean things to you, cause stomachaches, or keep you up at night. But you don’t have to keep your worries.
In upbeat rhymes and engaging illustrations, this book shares some simple exercises children can practice to stay calm and banish those pesky worries for good!”

Impressions: I think this was a charming book about a very real struggle for all ages. The text and pictures were colorful and fun while remaining easy to follow. Just as important, the ideas were easy to follow and understand. I think there were clear illustrations of identifying worry and how it makes us feel. There was an action plan as well with how to cope when you are worrying. I think this was a helpful book for my son and would recommend it to others.

I received an ARC of this book via the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review shared here. For more book reviews go to: https://thebluestockingbooknook.wordp...

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young children can learn to manage their worries in the delightful “The Worrying Worries.” When a young child finds a worry in the wild, they take it home where it grows to something quite unmanageable. The purplish scribble-looking worry grows and grows until there is no choice but to learn techniques to manage its unpleasant effects. Once the strategies are implemented, the worry begins to shrink.

The illustrations and rhyming text are delightful. Rachel Rooney provides specific strategies for young children (and adults too!) to manage worries that get out of control. At the end of the book there is additional background for adult readers to help their little ones.

This would be a great book to have in the elementary classroom and would even be appropriate to have on the shelf in a middle school classroom. I will purchase a copy to share with my psychology students at the high school level.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book provided by the publisher, American Psychological Association, via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 3 out of 5]

This picture book teaches kids about the concept of worries. It normalizes the experience of worrying and shows how your worries can get smaller over time. So many picture books use the same approach of portraying a negative emotion as a furry, size-shifting creature that this felt fairly derivative, and I wasn't thrilled with the ending, which is oversimplified for people who are suffering from anxiety as a mental health issue and not just dealing with occasional worries that are easy to move beyond and dismiss.

The author's note includes some good advice for parents, and I can see this being helpful at home, in the classroom, and in some counseling contexts. However, this is mainly for kids learning about the nature of worries, not for kids with serious anxiety problems that they can't just shrug off through a change of mindset.

I received a temporary digital copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Worrying Worries by Rachel Rooney is a sweet story about a young person who finds a Worry and decides to keep it as a pet. Soon, however, this Worry becomes more than they bargained for but they are unsure of how to cope with it.

What my kids really enjoyed about this book was the rhyming prose. It made the story flow. As a parent, one thing I really enjoyed about the story was that the young person in the story learns some coping mechanisms for the Worry and I think that is so important to teach children.

The character in the story was very relatable to young children and they showed the Worry interfering with regular everyday activities in the character's life.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book provided by the publisher, American Psychological Association, via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I thank the publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

[wordjellyreview · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Worrying Worries
By Rachel Rooney, Illustrated by Zehra Hicks
In the book, The Worrying Worries, the talented duo Rachel Rooney and Zehra Hicks animate an intangible thought named, ‘worry’ and show the readers how it can grapple young mind.
‘Worry’ becomes an unwelcome pet, who follows the child everywhere. It feeds on the fears and grows annoyingly bigger, until a worry expert saves the day for the child. The gentle reminder by the worry expert gives an important message to stop, take a break & recharge when we often feel pressured by worries. The lucid illustrations will engage the readers in a fun way to do the things we love and enjoy, thus, getting back in control of ourselves. This book can be a valuable addition to any children’s book collection.

[joyce w. laudon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This title makes a good companion book to go along with this author’s The Fears You Fear. Both are designed to help kids and to encourage conversation between adult and child, as talking about things in a supportive environment can be so helpful.

This brightly illustrated title acknowledges how a child might feel and how a worry can grow. I like how worry is personified in the illustrations.

Suggestions for coping are also part of the short, rhyming story. Mindfulness practices helpfully come into play.

Note that there is a good section for adults at the end of the book.

Highly recommended. Anyone who has ever worried will be able to relate!

Many thanks to NetGalley and American Psychological Association for this title. All opinions are my own.

[Tales Untangled · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC from NetGalley and American Psychological Association, Magination Press. All opinions are my own, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: Children's Books, Books about Emotions
Age: Picture Book (age 6 and up)

THE WORRYING WORRIES is great to open a conversation about worrying/anxiety.

I liked how it started small—a pet—and then kept growing. That seems very relatable. The child also gets other people involved to help with the worry. This is an excellent book to help kids understand more about what they can do to overcome problems. I actually think that kids who aren't worriers should read it too because it helps to relate to others, and eventually we all get stuck with a worry.

I recommend this book!

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

How it should be done – only yesterday I read a book turning a worry into a monotone pink Mr Blobby, but giving so many ways to lessen its impact it would make any youngster suspicious about it not making up its mind. Here the book has a purple mess of a worry, and again a strong rhymed format, but the way it discusses the worry's generation and hanging around, and shows the cures for it (positive thinking, meditative breathing, activity) as quickly-following parts of the same thing, this really smacked of knowing all about what it was discussing. It seemed to have much more of an impact and authority your doubt-laden young reader would need in these situations, and as a result this is where my vote goes. A strong four stars.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I haven't read Rachel's other book The Problem with Problems, so I don't know how different this is. However, this rhyming book shows how a worry can get out of control - getting larger and larger and taking over your life - and then shows how you can try to deal with that worry. A reassuring book for anxious children.

The only part I am not sure about was the decision for the child to pick out the worry & keep it as a pet at the start of the book. I'm not sure how many children would consciously cultivate a worry.

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is a great book for introducing and discussing, particularly with young children, the concept of anxiety. It personifies the anxiety as a "worry" that acts more like a pest than a pet. The young child consults someone who has experience with "worry"s and how to make them less impacting through a variety of methods. My only wish is that there would have been a direct call for children to talk to trusted adults if they feel like their worry's are taking up a majority of their processes and times. I genuinely think this a great book for discussing a prevalent emotion that occurs often in ones life.

[Lisa Gisèle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own opinions.

As a child who missed a lot of school due to anxiety as a child, I can not stress how important books like The Worrying Worries are. To feel as though you are not alone and what you are feeling is very real to you is something every child wants. The coping skills are wonderful, and there are some that can be done sitting at a desk or at recess.

Every classroom should have this book on hand, I wish they did in the early 90s

[Casey Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

“We don’t need a worry pet” what a great way to explain to kiddos why worrying is not always a good thing! It was age appropriate, and the worry getting bigger and bigger, eventually taking up his whole bed, was great symbolism for how it feels overwhelming in real life too. Some of the vocabulary was above my three year old, but we changed the words out easily (I know the choices were made to help with the flow of the book) thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Worrying Worrries by Rachel Rooney is a cute book that explains what worry is in a way that kids understand. I love the illustrations that are in the book that give kids a tangible understanding of worry is and how it effects us. I also love the helps that are in the back. I highly recommend The Worrying Worries! Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read this book. My review is also on Goodreads.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book for explaining anxiety to children. This book explains how worrying/anxiety can make you feel as well as ways to cope with it, in a child friendly way. I wish this book was around when my daughter was little. It was an enjoyable read and the illustrations were done well. A must buy for littles with anxiety.

[Melissa Borsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found that the readers note says it all, this is a great book that in a lighthearted way introduces how the mind and body are connected and how our thinking impacts our feelings. This is a well done story that also adds tips and exercises to banish worries for young children. I thank Netgalley and The American Psychological Association for the opportunity to read and review this book.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book isn’t bad. It does have a rhyming cadence. However, sometimes the cadence is extremely bumpy. In this book, a worry is a tangible thing that you can see, taste, and touch. The worry follows the child around until it gets too big and unruly and a child has to seek help. This has been done before both worse and better but overall, this book works.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very short read that does a great job of showing kids that their worries are validated yet also providing a tool to help them cope with those worries. This book could serve as a nice reminder for kids to take a moment and try to redirect their focus when they feel overwhelmed with worry.


*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book provided by the publisher, American Psychological Association, via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own*

[ashsmashstars · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great classroom read! This could 100% be implemented in your classroom to teach children about anxiety. I will buy this book as soon as it comes out to great a lesson. Let that worry pet go! Thank you to the publisher for letting me review on netgallery.

[Megan Bey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to introduce worries to kids and how much they can affect you. The Reader’s Note at the end is a great tool. The pictures really add a visual impact to this story.

Thank you, Netgalley and American Psychological Association, for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Madison Freeze · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a teacher, this book made me emotional. Our kids come to school and we never know what they are carrying. Their worries can effect them throughout anything they are doing and that is SO important to remember.

[Madison Freeze · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a teacher, this book made me emotional. Our kids come to school and we never know what they are carrying. Their worries can effect them throughout their day and this book is such a great reminder of this.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, like others from its collection, is a good SEL tool for teachers/therapists/and parents to help children make sense of the emotions they encounter every day.

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent title for those who are looking to explain worry to young kids. It is accessible and easy to follow. I will adopt this title for therapy purposes.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, like others from its collection, is a good SEL tool for teachers/therapists/and parents to help children make sense of the emotions they encounter every day.

[Rachel N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book's fine, and the rhymes keep the book moving forward, but I'd recommend Tom Percival's Ruby Finds a Worry, which has a similar depiction of a worry, over this one.

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

a nice read