What will help? Anxious Andy

by Adam Ciccio

#ClavisPublishing #NetGalley

Pub Date 07 Sep 2021

Young Andy worries… a lot! That he is bothered by this is clear. The author of this picture book shows him looking for help from some non-human friends. For example, a dog says to bark. (Is this helpful for a human child?) Finally, Andy makes it home and looks to his mother for what he needs. In a didactic way, she explains that anxiety is just a feeling. So, Andy takes this in and begins to feel much better (this feels kind of simplistic to me although the message of trying to work with one’s feelings is true.) By the end of the book, Anxious Andy is Andy.

I almost never give a low rating to a book but this one did not appeal to me as either a reader or a mental health professional. I disliked the use of labels like anxious or shy. I also found the quick turnaround that Andy undergoes quite unbelievable. Kids usually progress, regress, go in spurts but rarely are so quickly cured.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. I regret that I cannot recommend it more highly.