Wonderfully written and illustrated book exploring children’s normal emotions and how to recognize. Thank you for allowing me to review.

I absolutely adored Lindsay N. Giroux’s I Know Scared. This is such an excellent children’s book exploring various feelings that a kid may be learning about in their young lives. From scared and worried to surprise, the book follows a young girl who calls herself a “feelings detective” as she journeys through an experience involving a rainstorm and power outage. She first discusses the changes to her body that she can feel to give her clues to what emotions she may be feeling at any given moment and follows up with ideas for how to support herself through each emotion—some of which includes some of the amazing adults in her life providing that support as well—and then gives readers a moment to reflect on how they might address similar emotions.

The artwork was well done, colorful, and engaging, Each character was creatively drawn and, as a reader, you truly feel quite immersed in the story as a whole. This is definitely the kind of book I think nearly every kid should have on their shelves and be introduced to. You can certainly count on me adding it to my shelves for both my students, nieces, and future children. One thing to note, however, is that this is definitely a book to read with and to your kiddo since a lot of the language is a bit more advanced. This is definitely not something you’d give to an emerging reader.

I Know Scared is a picture book that helps kids learn yo differentiate between different emotions that may feel like being scared. The story shows different situations where the character might feel these things, and how to identify and use coping strategies. This would be a great resource for young kids. I liked that it included information at the end for hiw grownups can be a support and expand on the story.

Thanks to Free Spirit Publishing and NetGalley for an eARC of this book for an honest review.