Now, I have read many children’s books that is usually either a straight up horror story or a straight up morality tale. But, I had never come across a children’s book that had both horror and life lessons for children all combined into one story until I had requested another children’s book from NetGalley called “Is a Worry Worrying You?” “Is a Worry Worrying You?” is a children’s book written by Ferida Wolff and Harriet May Savitz along with illustrations by Marie Letourneau and it is definitely one of the most creative and haunting children’s books I had ever read!

This book is basically about helping children deal with being worried about certain situations by showing their worries in the form of a monster that is constantly hounding the characters in the book. The book would put the characters in certain situations such as worrying about a hundred elephants coming for tea and you realize that you ran out of tea for the elephants to drink. So, the solution to the problem would be to offer the elephants lemonade instead, helping you not to worry so much during that situation and finding a reasonable solution to your problem.

Wow! I cannot believe that I just got around to reading this book (it was published in 2005, and I just discovered it on NetGalley)! Ferida Wolff and Harriet May Savitz both did a fantastic job at writing this book as I loved the idea about the concept of worry being portrayed as a scary monster that invades the characters’ homes every time the character in the story is dealing with a problem that causes them to worry! I also loved the fact that the story helps give out advice to young children about how to deal with worrisome situations such as finding a solution to take when dealing with such a situation. Probably my most favorite problem-solving situation that was shown in this book was the one where you have a group of elephants in your home who all want to have some tea and you do not have any tea left to give them. Instead, you decided to give the elephants some lemonade in place of the tea to solve the problem! Marie Letourneau’s artwork is surprisingly creepy in this book, which is much different from her work in “Argyle Fox.” I loved the fact that Marie Letourneau’s artwork is highly reminiscent of the character designs from the Tim Burton films with the characters having large rounded eyes with dark shadings underneath the eyes and also having tall and lanky bodies that make them look unnatural. I also loved the image of the worry monster itself as it is drawn as a blue monster with a mischievous evil grin on its face and it was quite entertaining seeing the monster pop up on each page whenever someone faces a situation that worries them.

Parents should know that the illustrations in this book might be a bit too creepy for some small children to handle, especially the images of the worry monster as it looks pretty threatening in the pages it appears in; especially whenever it is stalking the characters in the book. Parents might want to read this book first to see if their children can handle such creepy images.

Overall, “Is a Worry Worrying You?” is a truly fantastic and unique children’s book that would greatly help children overcome their worries in life and find reasonable solutions in conquering their worries! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the imagery might scare some small children.

5 Stars. A humorous look at worry that seems great for the child or special person who has anxiety or is a worrywart as it focuses on actions of simple solution. Highly recommend. Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ebook for review.

I really didn't like this story. It was well illustrated for the theme but the writing itself was off and just didn't really flow.

The illustrations were a bit dark like Are You Afraid of the Dark original illustrations mixed with Where the Wild Things Are illustrations. Coupled with the theme and this book was too just moody to be positive.

This book is a little long winded, but very helpful. All kids worry, and some worry to much. This book is full of ideas to help little ones face their worries, get rid of their worries, or laugh at their worries. It has an older style of art like what you might see in the Miss Nelson books, but I like that. They are colorful and work well with the story.

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I thoroughly enjoyed this, I think this is relatable if you're an adult and a child. It teaches a child how to cope with worry and how to overcome worry or anxiety about particular things, how not to fuel it or add to it. How to squash that little bug [or in this case a monster,] that aims to bring you down.

I read this to my six year old and he was not only eating up the illustrations which depict Worry to be akin to the monster under the bed, it shows the child in the story cowering and then how to push that Worry aside and overcome the fear. It turns it into a visual that the children can process, in my case, my son nodded his head and he said: "Oh, you mean like I'm worried about moving to a new school?" -- so he was able to visualize his own Worry-Monster and learn that, it's okay to worry but not to let it overpower him, and it was written as well as illustrated in a way that made sense to him. It is such a positive and empowering book to children, in my opinion.

I dare say I walked away from this book with a new view, too.

I have in the past worked in a school with children aged 4-11, a lot of whom had emotional difficulties and lots of worries, often not able to describe or explain what they were experiencing. This book would have been perfect! The illustrations are beautiful, and the story itself explains in such simple terms what a 'worry' is and what you can do about your worries. I wish I had known about this a few years back! It's the kind of book that all schools and parents should have on hand for those days when children don't want to go to school because they 'feel sick' and don't realise what they're actually experiencing is worry.
5 stars!

This story offers children a way to confront and eliminate their worries. It addresses everything from small to large worries and realistic to fantasy worries. The pictures are humorous and portray even the most audacious scenarios in a way that will make the young reader smile.

This book takes a serious topic and approaches it with delightful illustrations and humorous scenarios. Even though the author creates some humor, she doesn't make light of it. There are actual strategies included in the story to deal with anxiety effectively. I especially like the point it makes that worry only comes in as much as you let it. I was a very anxious child and one of my two children is as well. I would have appreciated this book to read to him when he was young.

Suppose a monster moves in under your bed.... sing him lullabies.
Cute story with precious artwork. The worries all have simple solutions so stop worrying already.

I love how this book addresses worries for children. The pictures are engaging and depict worry as something big and bad (which it usually is). This story identifies what worry and how it effects us. It also empowers children to do something about their worry. There are some great suggestions for coping with worry. It would nice if there was a final page that summarized a list of ideas for what children can do with their worries. As a counselor, I feel this book can really help children to understand their worries and gives ideas for parents/caregivers/children ideas of how to cope with worries. I read a free digital copy of this from Net Galley but was not required to post a review.

This incredible children's book manages to explore anxiety in an easy to understand manner for young ages, recommending distraction and problem solving to effectively manage stress.

I really liked the message behind this book. I think it discussed in a way that a child can understand and relate to. My 6 yr old understood it perfectly and we talked about worries after finishing. Although this was not the book my son typically chooses, I let him pick his book and this is the one he wanted. I take that as a big compliment for the cover art. I found the title to be a bit redundant and that's helpful for a lot of children but I thought in this case it was too much. I understand that its the focus of the book but a catchier title may appeal to younger children.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tanglewood for the opportunity to read and review Is a Worry Worrying you?by Ferida Wolff and Harriet May Savitz with illustrations by Marie LeTourneau! This book has simple but appropriate illustrations that convey the feeling of worrying while reminding us that it's our choice whether we worry or not. There are many worries in life and this book gives ideas of how to get rid of worries in a fun, simple way. The worry is shown in each illustration. It's drawn many different ways with its expression showing happiness to sadness, depending on whether the character on the page is letting the worry cause stress or making it leave. Very helpful to ease everyone's worries, 5 stars!

I loved how this book digs into how children might see worries in their lives. I have an autistic son who worries a lot. Worries about school, worries about dinner, bedtime, bath time. If anything changes, he worries. I can see this book being an asset for him to read when he is starting to feel the worry monster sneaking in. The art was amazing and the layout was easy to follow. Loved it!

An excellent and succinct example of how to take a psychological hope and put it simply and well.

This book was cute. It took something that everyone deals with and told miss it's okay and how to deal with it.

I really liked this book. The illustrations were lovely, giving the atmosphere to the story, although there is some American phrasing which might need explaining. This is an excellent read for adults to read with children, with lots of prompts for discussion afterwards. (A worry shared is a worry halved?)

The whole book is child centred and is empowering for them: they CAN get rid of the worry. There are different strategies to try either by themselves or with adult help. A useful book for PSHE sessions in KS2 or R-Time.

This book helps children learn about how to avoid worrying. It gives them sweet ideas for distraction and at the end the worry is banished from the house. The illustrations are great and bold and you see 'Worry' hiding in different parts of the pictures...sometimes it's quite difficult to spot him but he's lurking...

An excellent book for children, to open the door to discuss their worries and not be afraid of them. Very interesting and funny illustrations..

My review is also posted to Amazon.com and Goodreads.com under Judy Christiana