Book Review: "What to Do When You Worry Too Much: A Kid's Guide to Overcoming Anxiety"

I am always in search of books I can use for individual counseling, group counseling, and classroom lessons. When I find something great, I love to share it with my readers! What to Do When You Worry Too Much: A Kid's Guide to Overcoming Anxiety was recommended to me by Lacey, a School Counselor Blog Facebook Fan. I knew there was something special about this book the minute I opened it!

About What to Do When You Worry Too Much

What to Do When You Worry Too Much by Barbara Huebner is an entertaining guide to help children overcome and conquer anxiety.  What to Do When You Worry Too Much uses metaphors, stories, art, and writing to help children understand their worries and learn how to gain control over them.

What to Do When You Worry Too Much explains anxiety in kid-friendly terms. The book begins by comparing worries to tomatoes.  Like tomatoes, if you "water" worries by paying attention to them and "feeding" them, they will get out of control fast. Each chapter outlines an aspect of worrying and gives children practical ideas of how to understand and combat worries. The pictures and activities in the book are great.  Students really connect to the stories and examples. If you check out the "Look inside this book" on the  What to Do When You Worry Too Much product page, you can view images from the book as well as read excerpts.

Why I LOVE What to Do When You Worry Too Much

I LOVE that What to Do When You Worry Too Much EMPOWERS students to overcome anxiety and worries. The examples, metaphors, and activities help children understand how worries try to take control in a fun and engaging way. Examples of activities include: creating a sign for worry time, writing what you would say to a worry to make it go away, and learning relaxation techniques. To the right of the page is a picture from a previous post about "Things I would say to the 'worry bully'" to make it go away.

Ideas for Using What to Do When You Worry Too Much

I used What to Do When You Worry Too Much for individual counseling sessions with a sixth grade student; she absolutely loved it!  She loved the drawing and writing activities and she also enjoyed reading the book aloud to me. We did a chapter or two each time we met.  

It would be great to use What to Do When You Worry Too Much in a group setting! Each session could focus on one or more chapters.  A group would be beneficial for students because they would see they are not alone in their experience of anxiety. It would also be helpful for students to hear how others combat their worries and what they say to make their worries go away.

What to Do When You Worry Too Much is very interactive and has many pages where students are instructed to draw or write about an experience. I wrote a previous post about Really Good Stuff Ready to Decorate™ Journals, which would be PERFECT for use with What to Do When You Worry Too Much. 

How will you use What to Do When You Worry Too Much with students? Do you have any other favorite books about anxiety or worrying? Comment below, email me, tweet, or share on the School Counselor Blog Facebook Page!

Danielle is a K-12 Certified School Counselor, Nationally Certified Counselor, and blogger at School Counselor Blog, a place where school counselors share innovative ideas, creative lesson plans, and quality resources.  Contact Danielle via email, follow her on twitter, and become a fan of the School Counselor Blog Facebook Page.