Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: worry

  • What to Say When You Don’t Know What to Say

    What to Say When You Don’t Know What to Say

    The picture book ‘What to Say’ is just the book for parents, when helping their youngster to come to terms with those tricky every day challenging little moments. Life isn’t always easy for a young child. Author Davina Bell has selected more than twenty of the most common situations which give rise to anxiety in preschoolers and preteens. Each beautifully illustrated page aids parents to talk to their child about the perceived difficult situation which has arisen; be it being left out, having feelings hurt, or being different and many more.

    Children generally are more willing to express their feelings in the terms of a third person. This book’s charming illustrations give both the parent and child an opportunity to discuss the incident portrayed in a secure loving environment and hence help the child to resolve his/her own problem. 

    I highly recommend both parents and teachers to keep this hard backed book as a handy resource in their own personal library.

  • Courageous Lucy

    Courageous Lucy

    The Girl Who Liked to Worry

    Some children are born worriers. Lucy was one of those children. She worried that her shadow would turn into a black hole and eat her; life seemed to be extremely dangerous. The beautiful illustrations from Cara King show her mother as calm and unaware of the horrors that Lucy faced each day.

    Many children do not overcome their fears until they mature and gain strength and confidence. However, Mrs Hunt, the teacher, had decided to put on a class musical. Lucy watched on as children volunteered their songs, their pirate costumes, their dances, and musical instruments.

    She would have love to be involved in the musical, but “How could she help?” Finally, with bravery she did not know she had; Lucy told the teacher that she wanted to be on the stage.

    That one brave statement changed Lucy’s understanding of being fearful and always worried. With a modified role planned by a clever teacher, the young girl was able to achieve her dream and act in a very well received performance.

    Courageous Lucy, the girl who liked to worry from Paul Russell captures with easy words and lovely pictures, Lucy facing up to her worries and understanding that even though she is still a worrier, being brave can bring rewards and joy.

  • The Panic Button Book A step-by-step guide to neutralise worry, overthinking and anxiety

    The Panic Button Book A step-by-step guide to neutralise worry, overthinking and anxiety

    The stress of Covid-19 restrictions and impositions, have certainly turned every facet of people’s lives upside down! Total lockdowns, loss of employment, home schooling and visiting restrictions to name but a few. Tammi Kirkness, life coach and wellness expert’s timely release of her book “The Panic Button” could provide much needed support and help during these difficult times.

    Her beautifully presented hard covered book is divided into four sections; Living and Working, Socialising, Relationships and Parenting. Each section is prefaced by a synopsis of the indicators which the reader may be experiencing, and then is followed by many ‘decision trees’ designed to neutralise the symptoms. These trees are written in everyday language and provide simple but effective therapies. To put the reader at ease, the author also explains why she/he may be displaying particular physical signs.

    If you have a friend or member of your family, who is feeling anxious, this book will prove to be very beneficial. The pastel colours and simple instructions will not only sooth but provide her/him with a way to lift the burden of self-doubt.

  • Go Away, Worry Monster!

    Go Away, Worry Monster!

    Bright and colourful Go Away, Worry Monster is guaranteed to help worries to go away, particularly when you are only small. There seems to be so many things to make you worry, especially once you go to bed to try and stop you going to sleep.

    Poor Archie, he was having a terrible time as he was just about to start at a new school and although he thought he knew things would be alright, maybe they wouldn’t. Oh Boy, Worry Monster had arrived and simply would not let him be peaceful and go to sleep.

    The longer Worry Monster fussed and fidgeted about the new school, the more worried Archie was, even Brown Teddy could not seem to help make Worry Monster go away.

    Worry Monster became so big he was almost, but not quite filling up the room. Archie’s tummy hurt, his head ached and his heart was pounding. Toby his beloved dog was on the bed, Owl was there turned up to full light, Brown Bear was there to be hugged tightly, but nothing seemed to help.

    That was until Archie suddenly had enough; he thought it was about time he learned to deal with Worry Monster himself and remembered the things his Mum had told him about making Worry Monster go away.

    Facing worry for a small child is challenging, as is learning to conquer the fear of the unknown, but with the help of Go Away Worry Monster, which captures very well the issues faced but also presents as Facts so many wonderful ways to teach your children how to face up to their fears, making Worry Monster go away will become so much easier.

    As a subliminal element many parents reading this out loud will also engage with the simple and yet effective methods of learning to cope with new and unexpected things in their children’s lives.

    Go Away, Worry Monster by Brooke Graham is bought to life with a very appealing, brightly coloured series of fun illustrations from the flamboyant RobinTatlow-Lord, capturing a very funny looking Worry Monster, paws and all, the bravery of Archie as he realises he really is ‘all grown up’ and the nicely presented Facts, cleverly disguised as elements of the story that can be used to help little people everywhere learn to understand and face their particular Worry Monster.

  • Ruby’s Worry

    Ruby’s Worry

    Ruby loved being Ruby. She loved to play, she loved to swing in the park and explore faraway places that lay at the bottom of the garden, until one day she discovered a worry!

    Now this worry was not a very big worry, but a worry none the less. It was something that would not go away. In fact, it grew, and grew and grew until it became a HUGE worry. The very strange thing was that no one else could see her worry, the only person that could was Ruby!

    This worry, that had arrived in her life, and went everywhere that she went, made her very sad. She really did not know how to go about getting rid of it as it just seemed to hang about, making her days not very bright and happy any more.

    In Ruby’s Worry, Tom Percival goes about addressing the problem of worry in a small child’s life, in a manner that is sensitive, perceptive and very enjoyable. The illustrations as always with his books are clear, colourful and fit the storyline perfectly, to create the character of Ruby as a happy, joyful and engaged little girl.

    By the end of the story Ruby has discovered the secret of how to make worries disappear, but not altogether, by sharing her worries, which makes them shrink, a bit like magic.

    Ruby’s Worry is the perfect vehicle to gently encourage children to understand what a worry is and that while worries are a part of life, they don’t need to become HUGE, big, worries before they can be talked about.

    As a book to share with a group of children, it is one which will provoke a range of ideas and discussion points, with the underlying message there for all ages to discover and remember, ‘that a worry shared is a worry halved’ as the old saying does go, which is something we, as adults, tend to forget and children need to understand.

    The perfect book for read aloud situations, classroom groups and for little ones who do tend to worry.

  • Lessons of a LAC

    Lessons of a LAC

    What is a LAC you ask? A LAC is a Little Anxious Creature. You may have one at home, or know of one in your family. To begin a conversation with a LAC about feeling anxious and insecure one needs a prompt, and for that, this book would be a great resource.

    These creatures (the LAC’s) live on the side of a mountain. They go to school where they learn lessons such as “What if… I’m never going to be able to…I don’t think I can.” These are the only messages they hear and they act accordingly, with fear and trepidation. They never learn calming or friendly thoughts and are so busy being afraid that there is little in life they appreciate. Loppy the Lac decides to visit the top of the mountain one day to look down at the strange group there.

    On the other side of the mountain live the Calmsters. As their name suggests, they go to school and learn uplifting thoughts, which they can put into practice. When Loppy gets to the top of the mountain, he looks through his binoculars and sees….someone, looking right back at him! As the Calmster approaches, Loppy is frozen to the spot. His thoughts are so negative that he cannot move. Luckily Curly the Calmster is friendly and kind. He suggests that he can help Loppy and begins to teach him how to breathe.

    There are a few techniques mentioned for calming worries, and children and adults will be able to discuss others. This is a great way to introduce the topic of anxiety and to let children explore the ideas presented in the book. The art work on the cover and throughout the book is reminiscent of Dr Seuss. It makes this book interesting and fun to read. The pages have a white background, with the text mostly in black, but sometimes interspersed with red.

    There is a website suggested for those who would like to explore this area further and look at other books in the series.