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marieleigh73's review
5.0
Deals with anxiety for our youngest friends. What if everything goes wrong??? Or, what if everything goes right!
moxiegirlzriot's review
5.0
As an adult with anxiety, I want this book to go back in time for when I was a small child, please and thank you
heetlibrarian's review
4.0
A great book to start the conversation with littles about insecurities in ways they can understand. The illustrations are adorable and go great with the text.
bbckprpl's review
5.0
Reviewed Here for CBR 13 .
In short: I love this little pig.
Longer though: Pig is the very best of friends: He’s kind and generous & fun. He’s such a good friend that he has so many other good friends, and decides that the best thing to do would be to throw an amazing party. But before the date of the pig party arrives, Pig starts to worry about it. A Lot. And as party time draws nearer, his worries grow and grow, and become more absurd, and more overwhelming, and Pig worries so much that he has to cancel the party, just to get through the day without all of his huge worries attacking him. His friend, Mouse, understands: The idea of throwing the party was too much for Pig right now… but it turns out that Pig is not only a good friend, he also HAS really good friends, because after he cancels the party, they all get together and decide to throw the party FOR him. Surprise! The party isn’t the only surprise in store though, because all of Pig’s friends also have their own worries – sometimes BIG worries – and they all share them at the party, making all of Pig’s what ifs seem a little less scary. Poor Pig. Me too, Pig.
This illustration of an anxiety spiral – because when I was 5 – if I had someone to illustrate an anxiety spiral so well in a book I was reading, maybe I would have better understood what the heck was happening in my brain. Why it got so caught up on hypotheticals, and why that’s not a really weird thing that only I was doing. Pig’s dissent into panic is believable, and relatable, and -just- this side of overwhelming.
"The completely validating emotional aspects of all of these stories (in so many different ways), are one of the reasons I love them so much. Pig is buoyed and appreciated by his friends, regardless of his anxiety. Alfie misses something that seems “important”, but the world doesn’t end when he misses it. His parents LISTEN to him, and BELIEVE him, and let him choose, and deal with the consequences of his choices. Dragons exist, and can be conquered. Sometimes they just happen, on any ordinary day, and there are ways to deal with them, no matter how overwhelming they feel.
Pig’s illustrated ‘what if’ spiral; Alfie checking in with his dad after the day goes crooked; Nick’s Dad taking him to the soccer field in the middle of thing night to find a magical dinosaur – all of these books are VALIDATING the emotions of young children in hugely positive, forward thinking ways. Pig’s descent into panic is believable, and relatable, and just this side of overwhelming. Nick’s Dad understands the need for a comfort item without question. Alfie’s parents figure out an alternative to the thing that was giving their kid sleepless nights.
Learning that Dragons aren’t a punishment, or a thing you have to pretend away, and that being brave takes practice, but gets easier the more you do it. It’s the way Alfie is able to express “All around him, the ocean felt as heavy as the world,” and we know what he means. And – more importantly – KIDS will know what he means. Without ever mentioning (ever!) the words anxiety or panic, all of these books convey those FEELINGS in a way kids can understand and connect to.
And having it broken down like that? Is such a valuable tool for teachers, and parents, and kids. Because that tornado of ‘worst possible things that could happen’ is NOT rare, and anxiety – in these pandemic times, especially – is so common, that it’s its own mental health crisis. We should be addressing it now, as it’s happening. Kids deserve to have books that treat mental health like just another part of their life, body, & experiences. They need these kind of books to help them build the social-emotional vocabulary, and essential skills that understanding how our brains work, & how to adapt to our brains, requires from us. It’s not even that difficult to incorporate coping skills and understanding into everyday stories, honestly? As illustrated beautifully in each of these books.
I don’t know about you, but my goal for the kids in my life – big & little – is to help them build their emotional intelligence up to the point that they’re eventually able to recognize, express, and feel all their feelings – even the really hard ones – in as healthy a way as possible. Having books like these around, as part of our emotionally literate library, is one of the tools I consider essential for that.
Hence, my gift giving book budget continues to grow & grow, and I have yet to feel even the tiniest bit sorry about it.
In short: I love this little pig.
Longer though: Pig is the very best of friends: He’s kind and generous & fun. He’s such a good friend that he has so many other good friends, and decides that the best thing to do would be to throw an amazing party. But before the date of the pig party arrives, Pig starts to worry about it. A Lot. And as party time draws nearer, his worries grow and grow, and become more absurd, and more overwhelming, and Pig worries so much that he has to cancel the party, just to get through the day without all of his huge worries attacking him. His friend, Mouse, understands: The idea of throwing the party was too much for Pig right now… but it turns out that Pig is not only a good friend, he also HAS really good friends, because after he cancels the party, they all get together and decide to throw the party FOR him. Surprise! The party isn’t the only surprise in store though, because all of Pig’s friends also have their own worries – sometimes BIG worries – and they all share them at the party, making all of Pig’s what ifs seem a little less scary. Poor Pig. Me too, Pig.
This illustration of an anxiety spiral – because when I was 5 – if I had someone to illustrate an anxiety spiral so well in a book I was reading, maybe I would have better understood what the heck was happening in my brain. Why it got so caught up on hypotheticals, and why that’s not a really weird thing that only I was doing. Pig’s dissent into panic is believable, and relatable, and -just- this side of overwhelming.
"The completely validating emotional aspects of all of these stories (in so many different ways), are one of the reasons I love them so much. Pig is buoyed and appreciated by his friends, regardless of his anxiety. Alfie misses something that seems “important”, but the world doesn’t end when he misses it. His parents LISTEN to him, and BELIEVE him, and let him choose, and deal with the consequences of his choices. Dragons exist, and can be conquered. Sometimes they just happen, on any ordinary day, and there are ways to deal with them, no matter how overwhelming they feel.
Pig’s illustrated ‘what if’ spiral; Alfie checking in with his dad after the day goes crooked; Nick’s Dad taking him to the soccer field in the middle of thing night to find a magical dinosaur – all of these books are VALIDATING the emotions of young children in hugely positive, forward thinking ways. Pig’s descent into panic is believable, and relatable, and just this side of overwhelming. Nick’s Dad understands the need for a comfort item without question. Alfie’s parents figure out an alternative to the thing that was giving their kid sleepless nights.
Learning that Dragons aren’t a punishment, or a thing you have to pretend away, and that being brave takes practice, but gets easier the more you do it. It’s the way Alfie is able to express “All around him, the ocean felt as heavy as the world,” and we know what he means. And – more importantly – KIDS will know what he means. Without ever mentioning (ever!) the words anxiety or panic, all of these books convey those FEELINGS in a way kids can understand and connect to.
And having it broken down like that? Is such a valuable tool for teachers, and parents, and kids. Because that tornado of ‘worst possible things that could happen’ is NOT rare, and anxiety – in these pandemic times, especially – is so common, that it’s its own mental health crisis. We should be addressing it now, as it’s happening. Kids deserve to have books that treat mental health like just another part of their life, body, & experiences. They need these kind of books to help them build the social-emotional vocabulary, and essential skills that understanding how our brains work, & how to adapt to our brains, requires from us. It’s not even that difficult to incorporate coping skills and understanding into everyday stories, honestly? As illustrated beautifully in each of these books.
I don’t know about you, but my goal for the kids in my life – big & little – is to help them build their emotional intelligence up to the point that they’re eventually able to recognize, express, and feel all their feelings – even the really hard ones – in as healthy a way as possible. Having books like these around, as part of our emotionally literate library, is one of the tools I consider essential for that.
Hence, my gift giving book budget continues to grow & grow, and I have yet to feel even the tiniest bit sorry about it.