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Why Do I Feel So Worried?: A Kid’s Guide to Coping with Big Emotions―Follow the Arrows from Anxiety to Calm
Simple yes-or-no questions help kids ages 7 to 12 find the right calming activities for every kind of anxiety
It can be tough for kids with growing minds to work through their worries and self-soothe when they’re spiraling. This interactive, step-by-step guide is here to help! In Why Do I Feel So Worried?, children can follow an easy-to-use, colorfully illustrated flowchart to . . .
Every tried-and-tested strategy—from breathing techniques to meditations, affirmations, and more—offers in-the-moment relief to anxious children. And throughout, notes to caregivers explain the underlying psychology along with how (and when) to offer help.
Kids might not always be able to solve what’s worrying them—but they do have the power to help themselves feel better!
It can be tough for kids with growing minds to work through their worries and self-soothe when they’re spiraling. This interactive, step-by-step guide is here to help! In Why Do I Feel So Worried?, children can follow an easy-to-use, colorfully illustrated flowchart to . . .
Every tried-and-tested strategy—from breathing techniques to meditations, affirmations, and more—offers in-the-moment relief to anxious children. And throughout, notes to caregivers explain the underlying psychology along with how (and when) to offer help.
Kids might not always be able to solve what’s worrying them—but they do have the power to help themselves feel better!
144 pages, Paperback
Published March 22, 2022
2 people are currently reading
1651 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
January 21, 2022
This is such a wonderful book! I love books that help little kids deal with big feelings, and this is one of the best I've found. It's an interactive flow chart that guides them through their difficult emotions with a special section and lots of side notes to parents to explain the science behind some of the techniques and help them assist their kids in navigating through these times.
I especially love that the flow chart style helps target specific symptoms of anxiety, as it can be experienced so differently by different individuals.
It's so important to start conversations about mental health early and keep it going in these modern times. This book helps achieve this in giving names to feelings and providing age-appropriate tools to help kids cope with those feelings. The information is very kid-friendly but is also able to be used and adapted for a wide range of ages so that the kids can keep the things that help them ready to help combat anxieties they encounter when they're older too.
Honestly, this book is so wonderful for helping parents raise emotionally aware kids with healthy coping mechanisms and I can't recommend it enough!
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.
I especially love that the flow chart style helps target specific symptoms of anxiety, as it can be experienced so differently by different individuals.
It's so important to start conversations about mental health early and keep it going in these modern times. This book helps achieve this in giving names to feelings and providing age-appropriate tools to help kids cope with those feelings. The information is very kid-friendly but is also able to be used and adapted for a wide range of ages so that the kids can keep the things that help them ready to help combat anxieties they encounter when they're older too.
Honestly, this book is so wonderful for helping parents raise emotionally aware kids with healthy coping mechanisms and I can't recommend it enough!
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.
March 15, 2022
This is an excellent guide to helping your kid work through some worries. My kid worries - a LOT - and I will definitely be reading this with them. I can definitely see how some of the exercises could really help them.
The information is presented in a clear, easy-to-understand, and visually appealing way. It is easy to work through the entire book or just the section that is relevant to the child's current worry. There are incisive questions to ask the child and exercises (meditation, etc) to help deal with each specific type of worry.
*Thanks to NetGalley and The Experiment for providing an e-arc for review.
The information is presented in a clear, easy-to-understand, and visually appealing way. It is easy to work through the entire book or just the section that is relevant to the child's current worry. There are incisive questions to ask the child and exercises (meditation, etc) to help deal with each specific type of worry.
*Thanks to NetGalley and The Experiment for providing an e-arc for review.
January 25, 2022
Why Do I Feel So Worried? is a book to help children with big feelings, worries or anxiety to become emotionally aware and develop healthy grounding and coping techniques starting at a young age. The Flowchart and note style of this book truly makes this book user friendly and these techniques accessible for an elementary or middle school aged child and assists their adults to understand the methods used as well. This book has been so great to utilize with my 7 year old as we continue to navigate managing his anxiety through emotional awareness.
*I was provided an electronic ARC of this book for review through @netgalley.
*I was provided an electronic ARC of this book for review through @netgalley.
January 15, 2022
This is a book I wish had been around when I was a kid. I struggled with anxiety and even though I loved to talk, I think I had trouble explaining what I was worried about sometimes. I appreciate the fact that this book is kid oriented but doesn’t feel ”babyish”. It seeks to validate the child’ feelings while providing concrete steps and actions they can take to alleviate their fears. I also like the notes at the bottom of many of the pages providing more background information on the topic or actions described. For example, the term catastrophizing is explained on one page. There is a section at the back of the book with specific affirmation statements parents/adults can share and model. There are also examples of tactics such as grounding and an adorable story that can be used for practicing meditation. There are also general resource links that parents or adults can reference for additional information. All in all, I could see this book being a great tool for parents/caregivers/family members to work through with a child who is struggling with lots of feelings. I could also see it being used by counselors, psychologists and social workers when working with kids. In these uncertain times, helping kids to understand how they are feeling and how to handle these feelings is critical. The book even includes pages about reacting to local or worldwide events!
November 26, 2021
This simple flowchart-style guide to dealing with your feelings can help children (and their caretakers) identify what is causing them and how to cope with them. Designed to be read to kids or have the kid read it themselves, the choose your own adventure style, bite-sized text chunks, and simple language make the process manageable and quick. Great resource for those (working) with children through the middle grades.
January 23, 2022
Why Do I feel So Worried? is a book designed to help a child (or even an adult) understand his/ her feelings and manage those feelings in a healthy manner. There are notes to parents and caregivers throughout the book as well as notes at the beginning and end of the book. The book starts with a child determining how he/ she feels using faces representing different emotions and a rating scale. The child can then describe how his/ her body is feeling and where the worry started. There is a lengthy series of yes/ no questions that can be used with the child on determining what they are actually worried about along with concrete activities the child can use to get through the big feelings. There are literally arrows that the child and caregiver can follow as they navigate the child's feelings. At the very end of the book, there is a check-in section where the child again rates how he/ she is feeling. There are also helpful tips, calming rituals, affirmations, an anytime meditation script, as well as additional resources.
I absolutely loved this book and am absolutely adding it to my classroom library. I will also be sharing this information with our school's guidance counselor, and behavior specialist. I am a special education teacher and over the years, many of my students have had difficulties with managing their worries and self-regulations. Some of these students have unfortunately displayed some extremely inappropriate behaviors as a result. This book will be a useful tool to help teach students how to manage their response to their anxiety. I really like that this could be used during a behavioral event and can help guide a child through his/ her feelings and then use the techniques to help manage those big feelings.. The students do not choose to be anxious , but this book can help them choose how to manage the anxieties.
I absolutely loved this book and am absolutely adding it to my classroom library. I will also be sharing this information with our school's guidance counselor, and behavior specialist. I am a special education teacher and over the years, many of my students have had difficulties with managing their worries and self-regulations. Some of these students have unfortunately displayed some extremely inappropriate behaviors as a result. This book will be a useful tool to help teach students how to manage their response to their anxiety. I really like that this could be used during a behavioral event and can help guide a child through his/ her feelings and then use the techniques to help manage those big feelings.. The students do not choose to be anxious , but this book can help them choose how to manage the anxieties.
March 7, 2022
This book is AMAZING! It is a wonderful resource full of questions to help kids (and their grownups) really root out what they're feeling and what may be causing it. It asks lots of questions and has flow charts to help get to the core of things that might be bothering kids. Once issues are identified, several coping suggestions are offered.
The abundance of practical advice is what makes this so valuable. So often we might figure out the "what" of our feelings, or even the "why", but are often left without tools to address the situation. This offers a robust toolkit of activities, exercises, and affirmations to address worries head-on, without judgment or undue alarm. This would be an excellent purchase for school social workers, psychologists, and resource officers. It would also be a very useful reference for all parents and caregivers to have on hand.
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!
The abundance of practical advice is what makes this so valuable. So often we might figure out the "what" of our feelings, or even the "why", but are often left without tools to address the situation. This offers a robust toolkit of activities, exercises, and affirmations to address worries head-on, without judgment or undue alarm. This would be an excellent purchase for school social workers, psychologists, and resource officers. It would also be a very useful reference for all parents and caregivers to have on hand.
Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!
December 1, 2021
This is a must have book for my daughter, and my classroom too. It explores emotions related to anxiety and gives coping strategies. Children deal with anxiety much more than many adults realize. This book helps normalize emotional health, but I feel the strategy lessons are the best part. Also, the intro by Kirkness helps children understand how adults could have had anxiety when they were children and that it’s okay. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
January 20, 2022
This is such a great book to help kid (and parents) understand and work through anxiety. As someone with big anxiety issues, I found myself making note of things I should try when I start feeling anxious. Designed for kids, but with notes for parents, the easy to follow flow-chart style is wonderful. There isn't a lot of text on each page so already it is less anxiety producing than other books on the topic. I love that the tone isn't infantilizing or condescending. It is straightforward and clear. I'll be purchasing this for our libraries for sure.
May 31, 2022
Why Do I Feel So Worried? A Kid's Guide to Coping with Big Emotions—Follow the Arrows from Anxiety to Calm by Tammi Kirkness is a perfect book for raising a child in today's world. Today's kids have so many issues that could cause them to worry. This book gives concrete ways that they can take that anxiety and deal with it constructively. Honestly, kids and adults would both benefit from this book. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.
January 6, 2023
A guide for grown-ups to help children (7-12) feeling big emotions. Each spread addresses a different feeling or different cause of the emotion. There are techniques (breath work, visualization, prompts, and meditation) to help walk children through their emotions. I really like the faces to help children find the words for the specific emotion they are feeling and the strength of that emotion. I would recommend this to most grown-ups to help talk to their children about emotions because we don't do it enough in our society. A book to revisit again and again.
March 24, 2022
The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I was expecting information about anxiety, but this format was so much better than I was expecting. The book takes a young reader through a series of steps to define and describe their worries while suggesting helpful techniques to calm anxiety and plan for the future. I wish I had this resource growing up. Adults will also benefit from reading.
I was expecting information about anxiety, but this format was so much better than I was expecting. The book takes a young reader through a series of steps to define and describe their worries while suggesting helpful techniques to calm anxiety and plan for the future. I wish I had this resource growing up. Adults will also benefit from reading.
January 4, 2024
I loved this book! I am a special education teacher and a mom of 2 kids with anxiety. This book was so user friendly and practical. I love the way it asked thoughtful questions to get kids thinking about their problems as well as providing pathways to solutions. It is easy to read and engaging with colorful illustrations. I would highly recommend this book to all parents and teachers and will definitely be adding a copy to both my home and classroom libraries.
January 21, 2022
Received an arc from net galley.
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I really enjoyed reading through this book. The illustrations are appealing to children without being garish or too stimulating. The questions are easy to follow through the charts. I think this book could help many kids and families out there work on many kinds of emotional issues.
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I really enjoyed reading through this book. The illustrations are appealing to children without being garish or too stimulating. The questions are easy to follow through the charts. I think this book could help many kids and families out there work on many kinds of emotional issues.
February 4, 2022
As a psychotherapist I was very impressed by this book that I honestly feel both children and adults would benefit from. We live in a society that tells us “negative” emotions are “bad”. This book normalizes emotions as internal messages, steps to process those emotions and, finally, self-soothe. I’d love to read more from this author and will be recommending it to other professionals, parents and caregivers in my field of profession.
August 15, 2023
So where do I get the grown-up version of this book?? I wish I had something like this when I was a kid. "Why Do I Feel So Worried?" helps kids (and their caregivers) identify and navigate their big emotions like anxiety and worry. It's a great tool and I enjoyed the design. The calming and coping techniques were simple yet effective.
July 29, 2022
I don't personally have a child to try this book out on, but it seems really great. I think it would be super helpful. The arrows and the yes/no choices to help kids or adult/kid combos get to the heart of what's bothering the kid seem useful, and the advice is sound.
January 1, 2022
Recieved a copy from netgalley. This would.be a valuable book for any school library or counselor's office as as a public librarys parenting section and family with children.
May 30, 2022
Cute book for my kids; can't wait until they're a little bit older to actually use it! But such an amazing idea!
March 24, 2022
This workbook created to help tweens and their families navigate the treacherous waters of anxiety is incredibly well-done. The book is broken into four sections: How do I feel?; Feeling my Feelings; Figuring out where the worry started; Checking in again. The flowchart style is very user-friendly and will appeal to readers of all ages. Readers are also provided with useful tips and tricks to help them alleviate some of their worries and anxieties. I really liked that the book will help readers to identify if their anxiety is internal or beginning with an external stimulus. The reminders and affirmations will also help to provide a calmness to readers.
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August 1, 2022OK - I don't have kids, nor am I a teacher, nor do I really have any connection to the intended audience of this book. But I do have many connections to anxiety, and I strongly believe that everyone can benefit from learning coping mechanisms when you start to feel Big Feelings.
Anxiety is a big and overwhelming emotion that feels difficult - sometimes impossible - to control. This book gives anyone who needs it strategies for how to identify your emotions and feelings (e.g., Are you feeling the kind of anxiety where you want to run away? Where you can't stop thinking about something? Where you feel hot?), connect your thoughts to how anxiety manifests in different parts of your body, get to the source of the anxiety (e.g., Are you worried about school? Other people? The world?), and immediately deal with any result of these inquiries.
It doesn't promise durable solutions - it gives you a mechanism to try to immediately relieve worries; these mechanisms are grounded in science with notes explaining the rationale to parents at the bottom of the page. I can see this being a reference tool for kids (or anyone!) to use over and over, to pull it out whenever that scary feeling hits and have some way of doing something about it right now.
I wish I had something like this when I was a kid, and I wish a simple book like this existed for me now! (Maybe it does and I just don't know it.) Kids these days have to deal with unprecedented Big Things, especially something complex, life-altering, and interfering like Covid-19. It stresses me out as a young adult with few responsibilities and a stable job. I can't imagine how tough it is for kids who have to deal with how it impacts their schooling, their personal lives, their friends, and their parents - and try to succeed academically and socially on top of that. I praise the author for coming up with a book that begins to address these things and teach the value of coping mechanisms at a young age.
Anxiety is a big and overwhelming emotion that feels difficult - sometimes impossible - to control. This book gives anyone who needs it strategies for how to identify your emotions and feelings (e.g., Are you feeling the kind of anxiety where you want to run away? Where you can't stop thinking about something? Where you feel hot?), connect your thoughts to how anxiety manifests in different parts of your body, get to the source of the anxiety (e.g., Are you worried about school? Other people? The world?), and immediately deal with any result of these inquiries.
It doesn't promise durable solutions - it gives you a mechanism to try to immediately relieve worries; these mechanisms are grounded in science with notes explaining the rationale to parents at the bottom of the page. I can see this being a reference tool for kids (or anyone!) to use over and over, to pull it out whenever that scary feeling hits and have some way of doing something about it right now.
I wish I had something like this when I was a kid, and I wish a simple book like this existed for me now! (Maybe it does and I just don't know it.) Kids these days have to deal with unprecedented Big Things, especially something complex, life-altering, and interfering like Covid-19. It stresses me out as a young adult with few responsibilities and a stable job. I can't imagine how tough it is for kids who have to deal with how it impacts their schooling, their personal lives, their friends, and their parents - and try to succeed academically and socially on top of that. I praise the author for coming up with a book that begins to address these things and teach the value of coping mechanisms at a young age.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews