The Worry (Less) Book: Feel Strong, Find Calm, and Tame Your Anxiety!

by Rachel Brian

Overview

This fun, friendly, and informative guide from the award-winning author of Consent (for Kids!) will help readers of all ages understand—and tame—their anxiety.

★ “Excellent and absolutely necessary.” ―Kirkus Reviews, starred review
 
We all have a mixture of fun and not-so fun feelings. And everyone feels worried sometimes. But too much anxiety can get in the way. So this book is here to help you identify your anxiety, understand why it's just part of that thing we call life, and equip you with all the tools you need to find calm again.

Playfully presented, packed with fun and helpful illustrations, and expertly vetted, author-artist Rachel Brian (co-creator of the viral "Tea Consent"video) delivers a must-have book for anyone who wonders why they worry or how to better live with their anxiety. From recognizing when you're feeling anxious and worried, to taking charge by training your brain and using awesome techniques to help you feel good again, this book will have you worrying less and living more.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316495196
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	09/01/2020
Series:	A Be Smart About Book , #2
Pages:	64
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	6 - 10 Years

About the Author

Rachel Brian is the author of Consent (for Kids!) and the founder, owner, and principal animator of Blue Seat Studios. She is best known for her work on "Tea Consent," a video that has been translated into over 20 languages and has had more than 150 million views worldwide across platforms. The follow-up, "Consent for Kids," also has a tremendous following and has been translated into over 15 languages. A long-time artist, Rachel is a former researcher and an educator, having taught physiology, biology, and math at both the high school and college level. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The Worry (Less) Book:

* "This entertaining, appealing, and friendly guide will be immensely helpful for readers of all ages...Excellent and absolutely necessary."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* “Excellent…. Brian’s sense of humor, evenhanded acceptance, and gift for analogies (anxiety is represented as a gloppy gray mass with googly eyes and stick arms) make the book fun and informative. Those who are prone to anxiety will find practical advice about dealing with it, while those less familiar with it will learn to recognize it in others and what they can do to help. …Easy to understand and entertaining.”

—School Library Journal, starred review

"An encouraging mental health resource."

—Booklist

Praise for Consent (for Kids!):

* "Small-but-mighty...A book to own and refer to, often."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

From the Publisher

10/16/2020

Gr 2–5—Who experiences anxiety? Certainly we know that adults do, and much has been written in the past few decades about adolescents and anxiety—but we are becoming increasingly aware that school-age children and even preschoolers experience occasional and even chronic anxiety. As explained in this excellent graphic novel, anxiety is often accompanied by physical symptoms such as shortness of breath or nausea, which can in turn cause more fearfulness. Brian gives children facts and words for these strong feelings and reassures them that they are not alone in having them. A modicum of brain science and anatomy helps explain why we confront anxiety, how it affects our bodies, and what to do about it. Short, declarative sentences and expressive but simple illustrations ensure that the text won't introduce more fears than it alleviates, and Brian's sense of humor, evenhanded acceptance, and gift for analogies (anxiety is represented as a gloppy gray mass with googly eyes and stick arms) make the book fun and informative. Cartoon characters are depicted in a variety of ethnicities. Those who are prone to anxiety will find practical advice about dealing with it, while those less familiar with it will learn to recognize it in others and what they can do to help. Perhaps most important, the book ends with the message: "Being brave doesn't mean you don't have fear or anxiety. Bravery can mean doing what's important to you despite your anxiety." VERDICT Easy to understand and entertaining, this offering makes light work of an important subject.—Paula Willey, Enoch Pratt Free Lib., Baltimore

School Library Journal

★ 2020-05-03
A comic-book primer on anxiety.

In this follow-up to the remarkable Consent (For Kids!) (2019), a variety of cartoon characters learn what anxiety is, how it can affect the body and mind, and how to manage or even overcome it. Anxiety is depicted as a lumpy gray blob, like unappetizing oatmeal with eyes and the occasional limb, but isn’t demonized. At first readers learn that “Anxiety can alert us to a threat,” as the blob helpfully yells, “Look out!” while pointing at a sign labeled “Danger.” Brian continues: “But it can also feel uncomfortable,” as a child gets stuck in the blob. The brain also shows up as a character, a strangely endearing figure that talks back but can also be fooled. This entertaining, appealing, and friendly guide will be immensely helpful for readers of all ages, and it succeeds in being simple, direct, and clear without a hint of condescension. In the grayscale art with pops of yellow, child characters are depicted with various skin tones and hairstyles; one uses a wheelchair. Brian encourages readers to work hard to confront their anxieties, without assigning blame or fault if they can’t, and the concrete, practical tips offered are invaluable. Despite the serious topic, it’s also consistently funny, with fears both familiar and ridiculous presented in similarly arch tones.

Excellent and absolutely necessary. (Graphic nonfiction. 6-10)

Kirkus Reviews