As an educator I am always interested in reading this kind of books, especially when they talk about delicate topics such as fear, shame, ...
The most interesting thing was the use of the books in the backpack (as the weight that we all carry on our shoulders, not just children) and the use of bookmarks.

"I wish some of these books would just go away forever! They come and go even for us adults. We all need safe people to talk it through with when that happens... and reminders, like this bookmark, when they show up again!"

The story is accompanied by beautiful illustrations, an important part in children's books.
Absolutely recommended!
3,5/4

What's Inside Your Backpack is about the impact of difficult life experiences, and the feelings that come along with them. This book normalizes the experience of carrying heavy feelings like worry and shame, and discusses strategies that kids can use to start to manage those feelings. This book has a great depiction of school-based emotional supports (school counselor and teacher), and both developmentally expected and trauma-based emotional responses. I can see this book being helpful when used by parents, teachers, school wellness staff, and child therapists to facilitate a discussion with children. The illustrations are expressive and engaging, and characters represent a diverse array of racial and ethnic identity.

This is a book with a purpose. What's Inside Your Backpack might be a good conversation starter with troubled children who carry a lot of heavy loads in silence. A happy bedtime story it isn't, as it involves a child who is afraid of her father, among other things. Zoey's backpack contains a book named Worry, and another titled Shame, Her new substitute teacher, her school counselor and her mother help her deal with her conflicting feelings, with the aid of encouraging bookmarks. Everyone has bad feelings and it's okay to ask for help to avoid carrying them around all the time. I liked the principal idea of the book and the colorful illustrations with a diverse crowd of children.

I read a digital review copy I got from Netgalley on my phone Kindle app but unless you have better eyesight than I do it would be better suitable for bigger screens or a paper copy. I had to zoom in to read the text and then zoom back to see the illustrations.

This is such a good book for a child that is struggling with change in their home. Also, if there has been any traumatic instances that haven't been dealt with. This book walks with a little girl who is carrying around the weight of her circumstances and does not know what to do about them. She doesn't even really how heavy things are to her. Once she is helped by a teacher, she is able to open up and feel better. This would be wonderful for any child struggling with coping what has happened in their family.

This was a very well written book about a young girl named Zoey who is dealing with feelings involving the adults in her life.

I loved the idea of a backpack carrying all her hard feelings and the “bookmarks” that help her deal with hide hard feelings. I think this would be a wonderful book for any elementary school and a great tool for guidance counselled and wellness workers. It was very easy to understand and had great tips for adults who may have kids in their care who are dealing with hard feelings and need to “unpack them”.

The description of this title had me curious & I was positively surprised how well the topic of children and traumatising experiences, was touched in this little lovely book.

Instead of offering an escape into a dream world, this book shows how a child can learn to live with trauma and horrible memories - the metaphor of a "heavy book" was so fitting and the idea of the bookmark placed, very helpful.

What I loved the most was that the book showed that negative experience does not mean for the child to have to cope with it alone - there are people here to help deal with it & to become stronger.

I wish we had more such books, as for children who had to go through hard times - these kinds of books must feel like their new best friends.

What a timely book for kids trying to understand trauma. I love that it shows how the backpack weighs Zoey down with the heavy books and feelings she has. That is exactly how kids feel when they carrying those difficult experiences. This book is really practical with how kids can have positive self-talk to fight against the thoughts raging in their minds. I would definitely recommend this book for a counselor or any adult helping a child process some difficult experiences they have had in their life.

What a heavy topic to cover for a children's book, and I think this one did it well. It used a wonderful metaphor of carrying around the weight in a backpack, something most kids can relate to. I liked that the adults taught them ways to cope with their emotions, but I struggled with the bookmark idea. Are the children meant to come back to these emotions? I know that being brave is meant to overcome shame, but how does the bookmark in a book metaphor work in this way? It felt a little too literal.
While the story covered a diverse set of emotions and issues, it might be a lot for a young reader to get.

I greatly appreciated the resources at the back of the book for parents and educators.

Absolutely amazing diverse book for children about emotions. Helps teach them how to cope with negative thoughts and positive coping skills. The illustration are beautiful, I appreciated how the emotions were shown.

As mother I’m always looking for mental health books for my children. Being a homeschool mom books multiple uses is an absolute pl. this is a story that can easily be made to have extra hands on activities.

I would like to add tw for abuse, some children maybe upset. Zoey had an abusive father. I would recommend this book for young readers who like/need to learn about emotions. Also who have experienced trauma and see they are not alone.

***I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.***.

I absolutely adored this book. I read it through the first time with my 4 and 6 year old. I love that it gave us tools to talk about our big feelings by visualizing them as book and then adding positive bookmarks to them to help handle those feelings. The main character’s biggest feeling was about an unsafe dad. The author handled it well but figured I’d mention it in case it’s a bad trigger you may have to talk about first.

My kids review says:
“A trillion, billion and million percent good book” 6-year old
“I like there’s a Zoey in the book” my 4 year old Zoey

There’s a great message behind this book & one gosh everyone could definitely learn from but in a way I think it’s a bit too heavy to have included all that detail about the parents broken relationship. This may be a book better suited to be kept for specific situations and possibly used as a tool within the correct settings. It just seemed really heavy for a children’s book unless it’s used again in the appropriate context .

Wow! This book would be a wonderful tool in a school counselor's office. The little girl in the book has so much weighing her down and I think a lot of kids could relate to her. I liked how all the adults in the book had strategies to help her. I think this book would be helpful for so many kids. A very relevant topic was nicely written.

Review of eBook

Zoey carries some heavy books in her backpack . . . worry, unsafe parent, shame . . . and struggles to deal with the traumatic issues that she has experienced. Fortunately, her mom, her teacher, and the school counselor all have some very good advice for Zoey.

How will the advice help Zoey? Will she be able to set aside her worries and concentrate on playing basketball with her friends?

In a perfect world, children would never feel worry or shame or know the scary feelings that come with having an unsafe parent. But the world isn’t perfect and “What’s Inside Your Backpack?” suggests some ways that adults might help the children living lives touched by trauma.

Listening and talking with the child can help develop resilience as it provides the child with the needed coping skills. By using the representation of books and backpacks . . . something familiar to every schoolchild . . . the author provides an easily-understood context for the worries the children carry inside themselves. By encouraging them to share the things that are so heavy, they can ease their concerns as they discover their own strength and courage.

Tips for adults to help children cope follow Zoey’s story.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from National Center for Youth Issues and NetGalley
#WhatsInsideYourBackpack #NetGalley

Loved this book and it’s up to date look at issues that are concerning our kids in the classroom, while showing them helpful strategies they can transfer to real life application. This would be a wonderful book to share with my students during circle as a way of building community and addressing current student anxieties.

What’s Inside Your Backpack?

This picture book is such a gem! We meet Zoey who is weighted down by “books” or problems that she is experiencing in her life. She learns how to lighten the load with help from the educators in her life. Educators – we have students are experiencing unprecedented trauma due to changing family dynamics, loss of loved ones to COVID, financial situations etc. We have to be prepared to help them navigate all of these worries. This book is a great starting point to help with those difficult conversations. I can’t wait for a published copy to keep in my classroom. Thank you to #netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I think the bookbag analogy would be very helpful for many young students who are carrying around heavy things that could be a powerful discussion tool for the adults/teachers in their lives. This book depicted that very well. The illustrations helped add to this metaphor and understanding. I appreciated the tips for adults at the end. This is a good book for school counselors especially to be aware of.