Once again, Magination Press, an imprint of the American Psychological Associaton, has published an invaluable book to help kids cope with the real mental health issues they face. This time, kids learn what to do about worries and anxiety, in this simply written and delicately illustrated book.

The book explains, in pleasant rhyming couplets, what worries feel like, and what to do to minimize them. It explains that everyone has worries, even your parents, and that sometimes worry can be useful and can alert you to real danger. Most importantly are the coping mechanisms that the book teaches: deep breathing, stretching, doing physical activity to get out of your own head (because, as the book says, “Your brain feels better when your body is busy”), and visualization techniques.

[alert variation=”alert-info”]Publisher: American Psychological Association
Formats: Hardcover
Purchase: Amazon [/alert]

The language used in the book is clear, simple, and effective. The illustrations are vibrant, and they communicate beautifully the concepts being discussed. In the back of the book is a section for parents and teachers, breaking the book down into more grown-up terms, and explaining how parents can use the concepts in this book with their children to build understanding together.

As adults, we know that so many of us experience anxiety and intrusive worries, and we may not have the tools to deal with them. Our kids have worries too, and at a young age, lacking perspective, their worries can seem like the worst things in the world to them. Wouldn’t it be a better world if our children could learn how to reduce their stress and cope with anxiety, and maybe even start a generation of less stressed adults? This book could be the first step.

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