Cover Image: When the World Feels Like a Scary Place

When the World Feels Like a Scary Place

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Member Reviews

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

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"When the World Feels Like a Scary Place" is probably better read than listened to in my honest opinion. It is an overall okay listen but I really do feel like physical copy would be better for information retention.

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Couldn’t hear the book did not have right system to listen to it book sounded interesting though maybe I will read the book instead

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This was my first foray into audio books. I enjoyed the narrator and the pace of the narration. I also liked the content of this book because the world feels pretty scary!

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I thought this book was a wonderful resource for parents. It probably is not one you need to read straight through, but rather keep on the shelf (or the ebook) for reference, since you might not need a specific conversation until the subject arises. In general though, I thought the beginning section talking about the need for both kids and parents to have open conversation was very valuable information.

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I could not get this book to download to be able to review it. Wish I was able to as it sounds fantastic. Will be reading it for sure.

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This book changed my parenting life. As my kids get older I find myself answering harder and harder questions; Gewirtz has taken a lot of the stress and guess work out of that for me. I look forward to recommending this book to parents at my library.

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I started listening to this audiobook in the early stages of the pandemic, but never finished it. This was not because it wasn’t a great resource, but rather because it didn’t feel applicable to my life right then. Fast forward to present day, the political climate AND the pandemic are raging. I decided I needed this book as much for me as for the children in my life. This is a book I will be purchasing to have on my shelf as a resource for students, friends and family members when the need arises for it.

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This book was not really marketed towards me as I don't have children, however I am a psychology major and have studied all of this at length. I think this would be super helpful for parents that are having a difficult time parenting their children or just parents that would like to be able to open up more with them. This book brings up some pretty heavy topics as well as some lighter ones and gives many different ideas on how to diffuse situations. With that being said I did find some of the dialogue to be very unrealistic. I think there are things that parents can take away from it and pick through what they think will work with their kids but this is not something that I feel fits the buck for everyone.

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As a parent with a child that was already anxious and had already sought professional help to manage prior to a global pandemic and intensely horrible political climate, I found this book helpful. It gave me some new practical tools. Some food for thought and made me feel a little more empowered. I don't think you could ask for more.

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This is an excellent resource for parents with anxious children, with lots of role-playing conversations and ideas for how to This is an excellent resource for parents with anxious children, with lots of role-playing conversations and ideas for how to manage big feelings. Thanks to the publisher for a NetGalley. This is one I'll be buying to refer to again and again.manage big feelings.

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I really enjoyed the first chapter of this. And then it stopped playing and I couldn't convince it to keep going. Some kind of issue with the audio. Bummer.

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I was looking forward to this book, as I am familiar with the author and have seen her present her research in person. I thought the book was helpful and informative, presenting the material in an easy-to-understand manner. Dr. Gewirtz has provided a resource of such an important topic for healthcare providers, clinicians, and caregivers.

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This gives you ways to talk to children about their emotions.
It comes with a lot of good and bad examples that show you how you can handle certain situations.
Hopefully I will think of them when I need them with my boyfriends children.

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Thank you Netgalley and Workman Audio for providing me with this free review copy. When the World Feels Like a Scary Place is the perfect book for these scary Covid 19 times. With so much anxiety all around us we need strategies and advice on how to handle difficult situations especially as parents.

This books provides a step by step guide for parents on how to talk to their children about their anxiety and how to make them feel better The author gives many examples of conversations and age appropriate questions to ask your kids and helps parents to talk through topics like bullying, technology, natural disasters or weather, and other issues that are divisive in today's culture.

The book was helpful to me as a parent even though my child is to young now to talk about these things, I will be able to come back to what I have learned when he is old enough to be worried.

The Audiobook was narrated by Robin Miles who did a great job.
I would definitely recommend this book to any parent.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Workman Audio for kindly providing me with a digital audiobook for review.
I can’t think of another time when this book is more needed (writing this during the Covid-19 pandemic). There is even a specific section that deals directly with the pandemic and ways to discuss it with your child, although the scope of what this book goes way beyond the current pandemic.
The book is written in a very accessible way and doesn’t feel too text book. It is peppered throughout with real experience situations, working through the situations and examining how things could have been better dealt with, or why something did work.
It examines greatly the impact of a parent/guardian not managing their own feelings and emotions. And also how issues such as anxiety can so easily be passed onto our children.
I have learned a few new things from listening to this book, however, in my personal experience I’m probably better off listening to an autism specific parenting book, as my children are both autistic and some of these techniques would not be appropriate or effective. The author does repeatedly state though that her advice should be adapted to a families personal situation.
I did enjoy the narration on this book although I found it a slight distraction that the narrator has an American accent, but the author has a British accent. Not a huge point of contest but the book is in first person and I have heard the author speak before so it just didn’t quite tally for me. Small point I know. A good reference guide for patents of all ages. 3.5 stars

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This audiobook is easy to listen to as the narrator really brings it alive especially when voicing the case examples that include parent/child dialogue.

The content went straight for the difficult and scary topics and reminded parents that we need to process our own feelings too, preferably before chatting to our children. It also included sage advice - to take a breathe by getting a glass of water or a snack because it helps to regulate our own messy emotions in a charged conversation. I connected with the conversations about antisemitism, refugees. Covid-19, fake news and discrimination.

A solid parenting read/listen if you have kids aged 3 - 30!

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This is very well laid out and thoughtful book for anyone with limited experience in talking with children about big and stressful things. Provides useful actiivties to do as a family and scripts for how to navigate those impromptu serious conversations that tend to happen. The narrator was a little dry, but appropriate for the content.

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When the World Feels Like a Scary Place is a good book to have on your shelf especially during these times! My usually happy, joyful 6 year old has become incredibly anxious during these COVID-19 times. Suddenly he is constantly worried...whether it is that people he knows are going to get sick or die or being frightened of thunderstorms, he is definitely feeling the stress of these times.

This book is a guide for conversations that parents can have with their kids to help the kids feel better. The author encourages determining how they feel and asking questions but not divulging more information than is age appropriate. There were many sample conversations included in the book and for each one the author pointed out what was good and bad about the conversation. The conversations ranged over a variety of topics from being worried about bullying, technology, natural disasters or weather, and other issues that are truly divisive in today's society. There was even a chapter on COVID-19 and how to discuss it.

I was able to glean several tips from this book that I am hoping to use to better comfort my kids. Let's face it, this stuff has me stressed out to and I could use the help. I know conversations about feelings are not my forte so it is good to see this advice from a child psychologist.

I listened to the book on audio over the course of a couple of days and it was a good listen. The book was read by Robin Miles who had a nice soothing but emotive manner.

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I guess the world just feels too overwhelming as a parent right now for this book to feel like enough. It's a good start to talking about the tough topics but I still feel deeply feel scared for my little man at the moment. That's not the fault of this book, just the nature of what it's trying to do.

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