My kiddos loved this book! In a time when anxiety is at an all time high (for kids & adults), books like this are very much needed.

This is an adorable book that teaches kids about emotions and that everyone has them. It's okay to feel what you're feeling and you can always work through it.

The story of a little monster dealing with general and social anxiety. He carried it around but after he opened up to his family and they revealed their own worries to him. He then didn't feel alone. His mother helped him with some practices to help deal with his anxiety.

A wonderful story to help children tackle their anxiety and know they are not alone.

Poor little fella worried himself into knots, but thanks to his mom's guidance, he was able to control his anxiousness. A book on teaching kids how not to worry and how to control their anxiety. An educative, fun, and memorable book for young readers.

This is a lovely book. I think it will help children to want to open up about their worries and ways to help ease them. Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.

This is a really good book and I'm glad I've had the chance to review it. It was perfect. Easy to read and follow this book is great for ages between 3-5 as this is the age group that will most benefit from the techniques in this book.

I like a lot of things in this book, such as the way Sarah Read relates to reader and takes them through different situations that most children can relate to or may even encounter, such as going to the doctor, or doing something new, these are things our little ones worry about, and Read simply breaks down such a big event and makes it something simple and by normalising it,

The relaxation techniques are really good for little ones and instills something in them from an early age which can help as they grow up, little things that keep anxiety at bay will help them when they're in a situation where we cannot be with them, and I love that.

No less than five stars, it's a great book, plenty of flow, great illustration and writing. Top marks!
I received this book from Netgalley and Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

Had my daughter read this as she was feeling rather anxious recently with current events going on she said she loved it and would like me to buy it her so she can read it again and again. Thank you so much

During corona everyone is feeling anxious. All of the children learning remotely and all of the teachers teaching. This book proves the point that everyone, even monsters experience anxiety This a great book to read aloud to students during Zoom instruction

This book is very relevant in our world today. Littles are worried and don't always know what they are feeling. It is a good book to read with kids because sometimes when they are acting out, they don''t know that it could be stress. This book puts a name to their legitimate feelings. The illustrations were fun to look at. The little blue monster was sweet and looked cuddly. I would recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the DRC.

This story was so cute and helpful for children that have anxiety over things that bother them. I love the aspect of the story that the little monster not only worried about one things but worried over a couple problems. But what I loved the most that he was able to turn to his family when he needed them the most to explain , we all worry. But how to overcome the problems. This is an adorable story and I would love to have a copy of this book to read to all my grandkids. The illustrations were beautifully and colorful made they made the story more real and you felt like you were right there with monster.

As a mum to a little girl suffering from anxiety, I jumped at the chance to read this with her. We talked through all the different things that makes her worried and decided to read the book as a way of clearing them from her mind.
She loved the illustrations, and the suggestions for relieving anxiety are ones we have adapted to our ways of overcoming. I'm looking forward to seeing how she associates this little monster with herself when she starts to worry or get anxious.
It's a lovely book with a hopeful lesson in mindfulness and managing our own emotions in stressful situations.

This was a good book for explaining anxiety to small children. I liked that it reviewed a few different types of worries, and it does offer some suggestions of things to try to feel better. It ends by showing the monster in one of the situations he was anxious about and using his calming techniques. The color illustrations are nice also.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I read The Anxious Monster with my 4 year old son and we thought it was great.
It was a lovely story with beautiful illustrations.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for my ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the opportunity to read "The Anxious Monster" in exchange for my honest review.

I feel that this book is an excellent resource for parents, teachers, caregivers - everyone involved in educating children. While this book is aimed at children ages 3 to 5 (or preschoolers), I feel that older children and even adults can benefit from the core values in the book.

The lesson in this book is that we (children and adults) all feel scared and anxious at times. Be that children being afraid to talk in front of their entire class, children and adults may worrying about a visit to the doctor. Parents worry about their children getting sick or hurt. Adults worrying about tasks at work. There are many examples that you can talk through of difficult things that can make anyone anxious. The important thing is to start that conversation.

I think talking through ideas about how you can relax - taking deep breaths, going for a walk, listening to your favourite music or just talking to your trusted adult can make you feel safe and realize that your worries can't hurt you.

I think the illustrator of this book did a fantastic job creating the characters. The pictures are all colourful, engaging and adorable. The book will appeal to all children as they love bright colours and fun characters.

I think Ms. Read did an exceptional job writing this book and I absolutely encourage anyone that is involved with children and educating them to use this book as the wonderful tool that it can be to start a conversation with children and encourage them to keep talking.

It is hard to find palatable, helpful young children's books on how to explain anxiety and offer help on working through it. The Anxious Monster does a great job combining cute but useful illustrations and easy-to-read storyline to help navigate a discussion on worries.

That being said, I think the publisher's continue to market to the slightly-wrong age group for these books. This would be a much more beneficial book for kids 4-6 (maybe even 5-7, actually). Yes, there are always exceptions and I'm sure many 3 and 4 year old kids would enjoy the story because the illustrations are eye-catching. But, the practical application of describing worry applies much more broadly to Kindergarten/First Grade than pre-k. In my opinion, this book should've been called The Worry Monster instead of The Anxious Monster because there is a difference between them. Being nervous or worried is not the same thing as genuine anxiety. As a parent of an unfortunately anxious little one, this book is not one I would reach for to help her. BUT, that is not an insult to this book, I just think it is missing its key audience. My only other issue is that I wish it had wrapped up the worries better. The only one that gets a discussed resolution is the Monster reading in front of his class. I do wish the author made more books with girls or gender-neutrals main characters, the few we've read have all been predominantly boys. Nothing wrong with it, but inclusiveness is important even in picture books.

This is a great conversation starter for parents to use a gentle approach when their child may be struggling with nervousness.

My Anxious 4 1/2 year old Angel's Opinion: "My favorite part is when he figures out how to breath his worries away and goes to chase butterflies, that seems very fun. I really love the pictures, the monster is sooooo cute. The book makes sense! I wonder if his doctor appointment wasn't scary, do you think it was okay?"


My rating: ★★★☆☆
My child's rating: (✿◠‿◠)
Overall: ★★★★☆
<i>Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and BooksGoSocial for providing us with a free digital copy in exchange for our honest review and opinion</i>.

An enjoyable, comforting short read for younger children that will be particularly helpful for those with anxiety.

This is a good book about a monster who felt anxious while in different situations and how he coped with it after talking to his family about it. The illustrations of the book were lovely, and overall, this is a useful book to help children with their mental health.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very expressive and explanatory book about anxiety and the feelings it gives some children. The illustrations were bright and captivating. My only criticism would be, from a library perspective, it would be a little long for some children. But if it were to be read for kids, say, 7 and up, I think it would be most helpful to let kids they are not alone with their anxiety.

How do you share emotional concepts with your young one? Sarah Read may have found the inspiration in a series of books aimed at the under 5s with colourful characters and wonderful illustrations.
Here we have a little monster overcome with problems where anxiety threatens to stifle all fun and collective activities.
From visiting the doctors, attending a friend’s party or speaking in front of class at school.
I liked the examples that can maybe identified with easily and where fear can paralyse adults as well as children from becoming involved in medical matters, social gatherings and work activities like training.
This gives one the connection with your own toddlers listening to the story. For as with little monster the answer lay with expressing worry to other family members.
Children need to learn that being anxious and stress is natural and part of living in society. The lessons of the book can be repeated by expressions of our own difficulties. Then focusing on the simple things that can help and make us better at overcoming these natural but awkward times.
Communication, talking to others is key. I am pleased to see this is the main message of the book as many children can be beset with and overcome with worries and their mental health succumb without love and support. A much needed book, part of an important series.

Ahh I love that we are normalizing anxiety so much so it is in a children's book, this is great for kid's mental health and coping. This book is super cute and tells kids its okay to be anxious and gives some coping mechanisms which is soo important to teach them young! I also love that there are some pictures to color at the end. I will definitely purchase this for kids in my life!