What? Me Worry? The DON'T WORRY Book by Todd Parr

Easy for you to say!

To a small child it must seem as if the world is coming at them with the force of a fire hose. New sights, loud sounds, new people, new words, strange places, strong feelings, scary news.

Worrying happens when you think too much about a problem or feel afraid that something bad is going to happen.

You have to go to places you don't choose--school, the doctor's office, or on big, noisy vehicles. It gets dark, even in your own room. People get angry, sometimes at you! You have so much to do!

Todd Parr's latest little mental health picture book recognizes some of the sorts of events young children encounter, The Don't Worry Book (Little, Brown and Company, 2019), and he offers some coping strategies that are good to know about when you need them:

Keeping yourself busy, like talking to someone special.
Exercising.
Reading a book.
Wearing underwear on your head.

(And remember: you can wear underwear on your head while exercising, reading a book, and talking to a friend!)

Parr advises talking about worries with people who love you and remember to have fun--and DO SOMETHING, good advice for people of all ages (even being silly occasionally, all the while using his jolly faux naif blackline drawings of kids taking that advice done in bright primary colors.

Other books by Todd Parr include The Goodbye Book, It's Okay To Be Different, (Todd Parr Classics) The Feelings Book and among others, a good one for this time of year, The School Book.