12/19/2016
With their mix of words and pictures Kathy Hoopmann's books have always put a smile on my face even as they've explained complex and sometimes scary issues in terms any child can understand. All Cat's Have Asperger's made autism relatable to thousands of children. Her new book on anxiety promises to do the same for a much more common condition that all of us know, and many of us live with.
Anxiety is a highly topical and pertinent issue, since it is being identified as a barrier to social inclusion and learning for more and more children. The book explores its complexities in an innovative way, using different types of birds to beautifully illustrate the fears that anxiety might produce, the thoughts and emotions that can arise, and crucially, what children could do that might help them to manage these more effectively.
Once again, I am in awe of Kathy's ability to make the seemingly complicated, simple and accessible for all. Anxiety runs deep in our society - sometimes emerging as a pattern, and impacting on a negative way in our classrooms, home places and work places. 'All Birds Have Anxiety' is a wonderfully engaging resource that reminds us how to recognise the symptoms of anxiety in ourselves and others. She provides practical advice on how to acknowledge and deal with this emotion effectively. Not only will this book benefit the children that access it, but so too will it remind the adults in their lives of effective strategies that we can employ for ourselves and model for the children in our care. I will be recommending this resource as part of an intervention strategy to be implemented by parents, teachers and therapists of children that are facing challenges in managing anxiety. So too will I recommend it for use as part of a pro-active approach to promoting and maintaining positive mental health in our schools.
Kathy's wonderful book is a powerful educational resource for parents and teachers alike. This book normalises the experience of anxiety, it explains how worry happens and how it affects us, but it also gives hope on how to overcome worry, stress, and fear. It helps children and adults overcome self-doubt and life challenges. The beautiful images are carefully selected, displaying common emotions amongst all living beings.
Whilst anxiety is a normal and universally experienced emotion, problems with anxiety are becoming increasingly common in children. Anxiety affects many aspects of children's functioning. Children who experience excessive anxiety find it more difficult to learn, and they feel uncomfortable socially. Anxiety can take the fun out of childhood. In the book, All Birds Have Anxiety Kathy Hoopmann creatively communicates in a developmentally appropriate way information about anxiety, how it affects people and most importantly what can be done to manage it. Using beautiful pictures and carefully crafted words, All Birds Have Anxiety is an excellent book that will enable adults to discuss anxiety with children and together develop better strategies to cope with this difficult emotion.
Associate Professor James Scott
Useful for discussion on anxiety, how it manifests and different ways of dealing with it. Oh - and the pictures will make you smile a lot!
A very worried little snowy owl looks out from the cover of this exceptional picture book. In wonderfully expressive photographs and short bursts of text, we learn a lot about anxiety...Not sleeping, feeling groggy or panicky, not being able to cope with ordinary tasks - all of these are talked about in simple terms with amazing photos of birds illustrating the problems involved... This is a book that could be used by anyone from about 9 upwards (adults as well) and will provide humour as well as serious content.
Once again, I am in awe of Kathy's ability to make the seemingly complicated, simple and accessible for all. Anxiety runs deep in our society - sometimes emerging as a pattern, and impacting on a negative way in our classrooms, home places and work places. 'All Birds Have Anxiety' is a wonderfully engaging resource that reminds us how to recognise the symptoms of anxiety in ourselves and others. She provides practical advice on how to acknowledge and deal with this emotion effectively. Not only will this book benefit the children that access it, but so too will it remind the adults in their lives of effective strategies that we can employ for ourselves and model for the children in our care. I will be recommending this resource as part of an intervention strategy to be implemented by parents, teachers and therapists of children that are facing challenges in managing anxiety. So too will I recommend it for use as part of a pro-active approach to promoting and maintaining positive mental health in our schools.
02/01/2017
