Very cute story about the first-day jitters and worrying in general! I think children will love the artwork and the vibrant colors. A good extension activity would be to have students make their own mantras to face their worries.

As I mentioned in Sunday’s post, today is my eldest’s first day of school, well college actually! While my conversations with him prove he has it all under control, the mom-in-me feels like telling him donut worry!

This book does just that (maybe I should get him to read it!) It addresses all those first-day jitters in the right way to get you ready, and to meet that first-day head on, no matter what. Adorable and cute characters, bright and colorful illustrations, clever and catchy dialog and storyline, all make this a fun and just-what-you-need read.

thanks to netgalley for the e-rc of this book. these are my honest opinions.

A sweet first day of school story that also covered the topic of anxiety and worrying in a caring way. I loved the pictures and the message.

I love the graphics in this book. It provides an excellent opportunity to teach about anxiety and has very good extension activities like the bubble breathing. I think it is a great book that I can use later in the year with my multi age group. Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.

Here we have poor Donut who is worried about starting school.

"What if I miss the bus? Who will I sit with at lunch? What if I get everything wrong?"

(Oh, no! We all know the only thing a doughnut should EVER have to worry about is proper sprinkle distribution, and the distinct possibility that someone like me will chomp down on their yummy deliciousness.)

But . . . back to poor Donut's dilemma. Luckily she finds a new pal who lets her know that sometimes, it's okay to not be okay. And, together they discover ways to help ease Donut's worries.

If sentient foodstuffs can't help kids cope with anxiety, I'm not sure what can.


Thanks to NetGalley for the arc.

I loved this book! From the viewpoint of a school district library clerk I think this is going to be a must read "read aloud" for elementary school classrooms and counseling offices to help students acclimate back into the school setting.

Donut is so relatable in her back to school stresses. I think we all get a little tense thinking about returning to something like school, work or other activities we have not done in a while. I was impressed by how the author, Christianne Jones, acknowledged the common fears students have in returning to school, especially in the throws of Covid 19. I also appreciate how she dealt with handling those fears, worries, concerns. It was nice to have that reminder that it's okay to not be okay.

The illustrator, Jack Viant, did a great job. The artwork is fun and whimsical. I really like how Donut and Cookie stand out as well.

I posted this review on Goodreads.

Donut feels anxious….about a lot of things. A lot of her friends and family keep telling her not to worry, but that doesn’t help someone who is feeling anxious. Then she meets Cookie, who tells Donut that she also becomes anxious but has learned ways to cope with the anxiety.

This is a great book to read with children who may be worried about a particular thing or who are prone to anxiety in general. No only does it open dialogue, but it gives constructive techniques for kids, such as taking a deep breath and pretending to blow out a candle, as well as to their grown ups, such as talking through the worry rather than telling the child not to worry.

The illustrations are fun and quirky, combining actual photographs with graphic media. However, I wish the placement of actual photographs was more consistent. Some characters in the book involve photographs of actual objects while others are not.

Little Donut is adorable!
As a mom of a worrier I almost cried reading this book. It will make me think twice about just saying "don't worry." The 'fear of the unknown' anxiety really does a number on my child - unfortunately inherited from me.
No one really understood Donut. Why was she so worried about going back to school? Cookie knew. She experienced the same feelings and shared what worked for her.
At the end of this book a few tips for calming yourself are added. It's very kid friendly to make it easier for them to relate to and remember. It's going to be helpful for me as a parent as well to help my little donut through the worries.
The animation is super cute!

The ages listed is 5-7 which is good when read with an adult to help them understand. To read on their own may be a little difficult. Some words may be too big for them to read.
It's most definitely a good conversation starter about worries. I think it will be very helpful for the child and adult to meet in a common ground to discuss and hopefully help ease fears.

(Thank you to NetGalley for a complimentary copy of this book!)

This is the book about worry and anxiety that I've been waiting for! In a light hearted way, it addresses the idea that what works for you, might not work for me, and that's ok. It shows that it is ok to worry, it's ok to not be ok, and it's good to find your own way to work through worries. I love the fun illustrations and agree completely with the way it addresses anxiety.

Thanks NetGalley

This was a great book! I loved how it showed how to work through your worries instead of ignoring them. It’s full of bright illustrations and it’s very relatable.

I am Donut, Donut is me. But seriously, anyone that has or struggles with worry or anxiety will enjoy and appreciate this book. From the fun, bright art style to the practical steps to combat worry I think this book would circulate well in libraries, child therapists, and behavioral analysts, basically anyone who works with young children. I like that the author also included mindulfness activities and explanations of things kids can do to deal with worrying.

I really like the message behind this book, I'm just a little confused as to the target age range. The illustrations are very cute and would appeal to a young child, but the concept of mantras and meditation etc, is much more suited for an older child, for which the illustrations are too young.

Good book for the right child.

Donut Worry by Christianne Jones uses photo donuts and cookies with cartoon-like illustrations to tell the story of a young donut with a lot of worries on her mind. Though well-meaning, the adults and friends in her life tell her not to worry instead of sharing ways to deal with the worries she is already holding. Meeting a new friend who shares her methods of facing and trying to eliminate her worries helps Donut prepare to face a new school year, and to feel more prepared overall to handle the uncertainty of life. Great for a one-on-one read-aloud or in a classroom where a discussion would follow about terms that might be unfamiliar, like therapy or mantras, School-age, 5-12.

This book was received as an ARC from Capstone Editions in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I love the message this book carried through from beginning to end. I am a person who has so many worries that I can relate to the struggle donut is going through and how she was missing all of the fun times with her friends because she was afraid and worried about all of the things that could go wrong, she missed out on all the fun activities and chose to stay at home and watch TV. Then she gets frustrated and annoyed when her friends and family tell her to simply "don't worry" and she screams stop right on the top of the mountain until her friend Cookie comes along and says the complete opposite, 'so worry." See reverse psychology to the rescue, really puts a lot in perspective and then you get the courage to face your fears so they disappear. Such a wonderful book with a powerful message.

We will consider adding this title to our Picture Book collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

I did not realize that the cookie and donut on the cover were real and not illustrated. I am not a fan of real pictures being mixed in with illustrations, but I loved this book and thought it was so important for kids to see. I liked that this book talked about some very real concerns that children have when it comes to going back to school. The anxiety that donut was dealing with felt so real to me. I definitely experienced this kind of anxiety when I would get ready to go back to school and I'm sure this is something other kids deal with as well. Cookie brings up ways to deal with anxiety, including the line "it's okay not to be okay." Tips on dealing with anxiety were included at the end. I think this book will be a great addition to many libraries.

This was a really cute story about anxiety and worries and how to deal with them. I love the illustrations of the donuts and other tasty desserts. I thought the Cookie and the way they described their worries was awesome.

This book would be a great way to get kids to talk about their worries and concerns.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
This cute, colorful book is great! Telling Donut not to worry isn't helpful and it's good to see a book that teaches kids that it's okay to not be okay. It offers a few ideas to overcome worrying saying that it's not a one size fits all answer for everybody. Some tricks work and some don't. The illustrations are adorable.

I really like the graphics in this book. I appreciate that this book continuously made it known its okay not to be okay. More children need that. Great sorry for elementary schools. Maybe 1st to 3 grade

Donut Worry helps young readers know that worrying is normal and shares several coping strategies for them to try. The images are a colorful mix of real-life and illustration drawings. Great supplemental purchase for libraries/collections looking for social/emotional titles.

Special thanks to NetGalley for providing a digital copy in exchange for an honest review

A children book about anxiety with a character that literally says "It's okay to not be okay"??? Sign me up. Although it focuses on worries, it's very much about anxiety in language that kids can understand. I love that this shows kids it's okay to worry about things but it's also okay to get some help when that worry starts to become unbearable. With mental health being what it is today, kids need more books like these to grow up with