Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book, and I wish something like it had existed when I was younger.

I like how much it normalized anxiety and it shows that everyone can get anxiety and does get anxiety from time to time. I also liked how informational it was as well as how it provided tips to combat anxiety.

All in all, this was a good book!

I really liked this book. It was about anxiety and how to find coping mechanisms on managing it. I myself have had anxiety since childhood and I know how hard it can be. This story is great for anyone who has or is dealing with anxiety. I also liked the illustrations. Everything was clear and crisp and got the message off clearly. I really liked how in-depth the author went into what anxiety is and how to cope with it.

What a great book for anxiety. So many of our kids these days suffer from varying degrees of anxiety. This includes my 13 year old granddaughter. She gets stuck with her anxiety, just as the book says and then can’t decide what she has to do first. Frustration sets in and she becomes paralyzed and then nothing is completed. This book is perfect for preteen and teens to help understand that their anxiety may differ from others and no two people will use the same strategies. As a speech pathologist, I would say that 70% of my students have some degree of anxiety. My daughters, who both have anxiety, started making bracelets for their friends. It is such a comforting idea. I also use calming breaths with my speech students by pressing our hands together tightly and then releasing all the tension. We finish with namaste
The pictures are perfect and relatable.
This is a very well written and artistically informative book.

This book tells the story of a 3rd grader struggling with anxiety, especially when she’s tasked with a book report but can’t even begin because of the overwhelming pressure. Her anxiety feels so real, especially with the metaphor of it being a heavy book in her backpack.

One quote that stood out: "Anxiety makes everyday stuff seem so much worse." So true!
I love how the book highlights the importance of mindfulness and teaches valuable coping strategies. The parents are wise and so supportive, really helping the girl understand and manage her emotions.

This is definitely a book I’d recommend to my sensitive kid, who’s a good student but sometimes feels stage fright or other anxious moments. It’s a great way to show them they’re not alone and there are ways to cope.

I am always looking for school age books that explain what anxiety is for my kids and neurodivergent clients, both pesky thoughts and biological alarm bells. This was a lovely find! My kids also loved this book, they related to the project stress and liked the idea of different tools - breathing exercises are not for everyone.

I wish younger me could have read a book like this because I would have learned what anxiety was and that there were ways to help calm the feelings. It might be a little wordy for a child to read and understand the message. I think this book would be best read with an adult so they can be there to answer any questions. This is also a great resource for parents if they have a child that's anxious and not sure how to approach it.

Thanks NetGalley for an e-ARC.

Looking back on my childhood, I realized there were a lot of instances where my anxiety showed up and had no idea that that was it. There were no adults around me that knew or cared, they simply dismissed it as me being scared. I wish I had this book when I was a kid, I wish my parents had this book too.

I do think this is more for parents than for kids. The topic has been simplified enough for them to understand, but I feel like this book will be more useful to them if they also have a parent to guide and explain.

I am 21, and i have am anxiety disorder. As a child i didn't even fully know and understand what anxiety was and that these feelings were something i needed help with. I think with how unfortunately bad mental health is these days, starting with young children a book like this can make a big difference. It would not only make kids feel not so alone but to take the steps to help stop that 'Alarm'. The art was really nice and colorful which would also appeal to any young one.

I wish I had books like this when I was young and dealing with anxiety. This identifies the issues with real language while still being accessible. The adults in the book are supportive and offer real strategies that readers can engage when they feel anxious. The story is relatable and the illustrations are beautiful. The tips for caring adults at the end are an excellent resource. I’ll be reading this with my kids.

Hello, Anxiety is an informative picture book that is also a work of realistic fiction. The story is told from the perspective of a girl in the middle grades learning about her anxiety and some strategies to help manage her symptoms. The author also weaves in some brain science in an artful way. I think this picture book would make the perfect classroom read aloud for students in Grades 3-8 , library groups, therapy sessions, etc. Anxiety is rampent in our children so this is a great way to help students understand their feelings and what is happening in their body in these difficult times of big feelings.

Thank you Net Galley, Jessica Sinarski and the National Center for Youth Issues for the opportunity to preview this title. The opinions shared are my own.

Hello, Anxiety is now available.

A vibrant and engaging children's book that beautifully explains anxiety through the story of Destiny Davis, a smart yet anxious girl. The colorful illustrations draw you in from the start, making it a perfect tool for helping kids understand anxiety and its impact. A wonderful resource for explaining and working through anxious feelings with children.

This was an absolutely phenomenal book, filled with so much helpful information. '

I can see this being great for children with anxiety, their adults, and even others wanting to learn more about what it's like to live with anxiety.

I am 37 and I bawled my eyes out the entire time reading this. It feels good to be seen and representation is SO important!

Highly recommend this book!

This was a spectacular children's book about anxiety and finding coping mechanisms to manage it more on a daily basis. I have dealt with severe anxiety for as long as I can remember (am now 30yo) but wasn't formally diagnosed until I was 20 years old (due to misdiagnosis with other mental illnesses). I can say for sure, that this short story would have been a great help for me as a kid and probably would have facilitated a lot of good conversations surrounding mental health between me and my parents.

The illustrations were cute and simple which I think will work well for the intended audience age. I really liked how when the author utilized the simile of comparing anxiety to a book that you're constantly carrying around, the illustration conveyed that as well. It's also just a great comparison in general! Continuing with that, the dad's metaphor of "that book has been in my backpack my whole life" was a great way to show both Destiny (the young main character) and the children who will read this story, that even adults have moments of doubt and worry.

Last couple of items I wanted to note/applaud -- spelling out the enunciation of a scientific/medical word to help children learn to pronounce it on their own, showing other children around Destiny also experience worry/fear but we don't always know it, adding a fidget item for distraction, and the "tips for caring adults" at the end.

Definitely going to be buying this book for my nephew & niece and recommending it to friends who have young, school age children.

Very helpful book for students on coping with anxiety. In this case, the focus is on giving a book report and mastering the steps to speaking in front of your class. The guidance is helpful and comforting and the tone is absolutely appropriate. A lovely book which, I hope, will help out students. I made part of my living as a public speaker/teacher, so I am familiar with the approach this book takes. It does work! Good success to you.

This a great book for kids who struggle with anxiety. It includes practical tips that kids can use right away. This would be good for counselors, elementary teachers, parents.

A very colourful children's book, I loved the art from the very beginning of the book. Following a girl named Destiny Davis, she's very smart, but also very anxious. But what is anxiety, and what is it's impact on not only our day to day life, but also on our bodies? This is a great way to explain everything to your child, or an anxious child in your life, to let them know how to work through what they're feeling.

Anxiety is a very heavy illness to live with. You're always jumpy, scared, and assuming the worst. It's the constant what ifs, what if my friends don't like me, what if i don't pass this big project coming up, what if my parents forget to pick me up after school. Anxiety makes every day life scary and unpredictable. But it's important to stop it before it gets too out of hand, and say "Hello, Anxiety." once in a while, and put it in its place.

Overall this was a very quick and easy book to read, and think it would be super helpful for not only kids with anxiety, but also adults around the kids with anxiety to help them know what's really going on. Definitely recommend if you're looking into it, it's great for all ages.

This book is cute! It’s a cute book for adults to read to their children and children to read to help understand when they do have anxiety. I also loved that it’s a person of color family :)

*as someone with anxiety as well, it is best described as being carried around like a book.

As an adult who deals with daily anxiety, and a mother of children with anxiety, I of course was drawn to this book. I thought it was fantastic!!

Hello Anxiety written by Jessica Sinarski and illustrated by Simone Douglas, follows a young girl named Destiny. Destiny, also known as DeeDee, has always struggled with anxiety in different situations, but needs help when she has to prepare for a book report. She gets so anxious and overwhelmed that even the thought of picking out a book to read is too much! But Dee Dee is lucky to have caring adults in her life who are able to help her come up with some ways to process her thoughts, and quiet her anxiety.
I really enjoyed this book, and the way it normalized both kids and parents experiencing anxiety. I appreciated the caring relationships shown between the main character and her parents as well as her teacher, and how Destiny recognized in the book that she was not the only student feeling anxious. I also loved that the book ended with tips for caring adults - these are so important for helping kids to grow!
Thank you to NetGalley and to the author, illustrator, and publisher of this book for an ARC in exchange or an honest review.