I Know Scared: A Book About Feeling Scared, Worried, and Surprised by Lindsay N. Giroux, illustrated by Alicia Teba Godoy, is an insightful and compassionate resource for helping children better understand and manage their emotions. While it's recommended for ages 3 to 7, I believe its tools and strategies can benefit children of all ages who are learning to regulate their feelings.

I LOVE the concept of becoming a "feelings detective"- encouraging kids to tune in not only to their own emotions, but also to the body language and expressions of others. It's a brilliant, age-appropriate way to build emotional awareness and empathy. I also truly appreciate the author’s suggestion of using a “feelings notebook” to draw or jot down thoughts when emotions become overwhelming. This simple tool helps children reflect, process, and begin to connect their feelings to specific situations, which can lead to better coping strategies and self-regulation.

The back of the book includes a wealth of helpful tips and guidance for parents and caregivers, making it an excellent tool for both home and classroom settings.

I rated this book 5 out of 5 stars. As I read, I found myself wondering if the author was a therapist or behavioral specialist- and she is! It’s wonderful to see a professional share their expertise in such a thoughtful and accessible way. I’ll definitely be purchasing a copy for my daughter.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book offers a straightforward yet impactful approach to teaching children how to recognize and navigate strong emotions from an early age. The inclusion of the "Detective Notebook" is a brilliant touch—an engaging feature that not only supports emotional understanding but also sparks curiosity and encourages creativity. A thoughtful and effective resource for both parents and educators.

What a well written book! The illustrations are simple, yet beautiful. Books on emotions are such a great resource for parents. I loved the sections with tips for grown ups, especially since it used inclusive language for caring adults instead of “mom and dad.”

This book offers an excellent resource for helping children to recognize what they are feeling. It also has suggestions for how to cope with feelings, as for example, anxiety. Young kids are invited to interact with this book when they are asked about their own feelings; they are encouraged to be feeling detectives and to keep a notebook.

Throughout there are cute illustrations. A cat figures in them as do the adults in this child's life.

I recommend this book as it will help to build children's emotional intelligence. It also offers a good starting point for important conversations between adults and children. There is even a helpful section for adults.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Teacher Created Materials for this title. All opinions are my own.

This is a gentle, engaging book that will help young children understand and express feelings like fear, worry, and surprise. With simple language and relatable illustrations, it will reassure kids that all emotions are normal and okay. A thoughtful resource for building emotional awareness and resilience.

This book uses a simple, sweet story to teach children the feeling of "scared"--what goes into what fear, what it "feels like" (where is it in my body?, Can feel fear like other emotions I know? Surprise? Worry?).

I like that the story sets up our protagonist seeing herself as a detective, so it gives the story a basis for her wanting to investigate this feeling. She has a trusted adult handy (in the case of this story, two: dad and granddad).

The book offers coping mechanisms appropriate for kids (snuggles, deep breaths, writing down/draw the feelings, practicing what a future situation may be like and what to do).

The book series (We Find Feelings Clues) is an exploration of emotions, and I love that it features a letter to the parents with additional information to help us understand what our children are experiencing and offering things we can do to help. It's especially useful to first-time parents.

I Know Scared will be published August 19, 2025.

Thank you to NetGalley, Teacher Created Materials, Free Spirit Publishing, Lindsay N. Giroux (author), and Alicia Teba Godoy (illustrator) for this free, advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really appreciate the heart and intent behind this story! As a mom of a neurodivergent child who struggles with anxiety, I am always looking for encouraging books that will help him identify and overcome these intense feelings. Overall, I thought this was a very good story with lovely illustrations. As an aspiring artist, my son really liked the idea of drawing out his emotions in a “feelings detective book.” My son is also very logically minded with MANY “what if” questions, so I thought it was a great idea to explain the reason “why” situations are actually safe. For instance, the little girl in the story was scared about a tree falling, so her father talked to her about “the tree’s strong roots”—reinforcing the feeling of safety.

However, I felt the formatting could be slightly better. For instance, there was a line that says, “When do I feel scared?” and rather than listing the instances when a child could become fearful, the book goes straight into listing beneficial things a child can to do when they feel scared. Therefore, the answer did not coincide with the question. I wonder if it would have been less confusing if the question was instead “What can I do when I feel scared?” or something to that effect. Nevertheless, I thought this was a simple yet sweet book that helps children identify when they are scared and utilize the provided tips to regulate their strong emotions.

Excellent book about understanding your feelings. Great suggestions on being a feeling detective and using a journal. Good suggestions for parents and lots to talk about with your child. A must have on your child’s bookshelf.
I received this galley from NetGalley.

This is one of those teaching type of picture books. Meant to explain different feelings to kids and make them understand that their feelings are okay. This book helps with the feeling of being scared. It asks kids about different emotions and what it feels like when they’re having that emotion. This book is fine for what it is. It will do the job it was written to do.

Thank you NetGalley and Free Spirit Publishing for this ARC.

As a counselor, I really enjoyed that this book talks about feelings and how she looks for clues in her body to figure out how she is feeling. I enjoyed that it stops to ask what the reader questions because it allows for lessons during this book if time allows for it. I liked that the book recognized the importance of communication as a way to cope with big feelings.

I liked that book provided information at the end to help caregivers create detective notebooks for their children. I also appreciated the message about accepting emotions without judgement and noticing clues in the children and in themselves. I feel that the information at the end is so helpful to the message the book is providing.

The illustrations in the book did a great job at capturing the emotions. I do feel that it was unclear that the lights had flickered until Dad starts looking for flashlights.

Good book for understanding emotions and how to work through them. Would be a good read aloud for social emotional learning lessons. For grades PreK - 1

I really like the plot and examples in this book. I think they are excellent for helping young kids understand what they are feeling and put words to those feelings. I was confused by some by the storyline though. First we were talking about listening and seeing whats going on around us to help us know whats going on but then we got to dad looking for flashlights. I had no idea the power went out or there was a storm until the end of the book and the movie came back on. I also like the examples of, for instance, being worried as it relates to the plot but then all of a sudden theres examples about holding a baby doll and being in the pool. I couldn't keep track of where the book was going there. I think there must be a smoother way to include all the information without jumping around and having to connect so many dots. The end section for parents is great! It very clearly outlines the reasoning behind the book and suggestions on how to help kids understand and label what they are feeling and then learn coping strategies for those emotions. I love this part and found it well written and helpful!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the eARC!

This is a great addition for feelings books for young readers. Its okay to feel all the feelings and teaches kids to listen to their body!

this is a really good book and someone like me that have bad anxiety I never thought having a notebook and writhing it down so that really helps a lot so I say to you thank you for writing this book.

This story helped me (my 10 yr old daughter) recognize my feelings. It helped me know that even if it’s scary, it doesn’t mean it will last long.

Such a good book, so well written with great thought to the needs of young children and the people who support them. I think it would be a very helpful book for young children. The story gently explains the emotions scared and surprised in cartoons with easy to read words. I think it’s such a well written story and the graphics are really appealing.
I thought the end part of the book where the advice for adults looked at how to support children and to encourage identify their emotions was especially helpful. There are practical ways suggested to support their children, such as creating a note book to explore emotions. Allowing emotions rather than trying to get your child to push them away is such an important approach and I think most adults struggle with this so putting it into a children’s book is just fabulous.
I think for some adults these concepts could be very helpful for them and their children. Definitely an excellent addition to any home, school, library or therapy setting for children and their supporters.

I have two young children, and we read every day. I really enjoyed this book. The pictures are colorful, simple, and beautiful. I like the idea of ​​the emotion detective and the notebook where the childs draws what they feel.

I also really liked the questions throughout the book to open up discussions with the child and the options for solutions to address negative emotions. The information for parents at the end of the book is also very useful.

Overall, I loved this book and would recommend it to parents of children ages 3 and up.

Very cute book to help teach kids about their feelings. The illustrations were great. I would recommend this for anyone with little ones that are learning about feelings and expressing their feelings

My daughter loved reading this with me, she was very interested in the story as I was reading it, she doesn't fully understand it but still enjoyed it. She also loves the pictures

A lovely, very well written and stunningly illustrated book about feelings. I loved how every emotion is explained in detail, how every little body reaction is noted, and the whole cozy tone of the book.

The illustrations are beautiful, they add so much to the whole story and are so well executed.

This is a book I would definitely use even for my kids aged 4. Thank you for the review copy, it was a lovely read