This beautiful picture book tells the story of Penelope, a grade 1 student who is constantly fighting with Nelly, the negative voice in Penelope's head that warns her about all of the bad things that might happen. Luckily for Penelope, she also has Penny, a positive voice in her head who reminds her that she can do big, scary things. The story shows the conflict between Penny and Nelly as they both fight to try to convince Penelope of what choices she should make. I think this story demonstrates, in a way that young people will understand, that people have worries and that it takes a lot of work to deal with them or ignore them and to remind yourself of the positive affirmations. The book also shows strategies like deep breathing, five minutes of worry, both in the story as well as in a list with clear descriptions at the end of the book. I could also see using the nelly and penny characters as part of my mental health lessons, and would encourage my students to find names for their voices in their heads.

My only wish is that the author did not specify which grade Penny was in. I think that the first grade comment was not needed and if it hadn't been mentioned readers would easily assume that she was somewhere between grade 1-5, but by specifying her grade, older students who might find this book very helpful and relatable might be scared off by it being written about (for) little kids. As a grade 3/4 teacher I could definitely see many of students relating to this concept and wanting to learn how to combat these feelings, thus gravitating towards this book in my classroom library or as part of home reading to share with families. The text is probably at approximately a grade 3 reading level, with about 1-2 multisentence paragraphs per page. I would recommend this book to teachers and families of children in the age 4-10 range. I so appreciate Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Call Me Penny Pickleberry uses engaging illustrations and a simple, yet exciting story to introduce young children to emotions- specifically to anxiety. The two voices in first-grader Penelope Pickleberry’s head follower her around her days’ activities: one voice is the condemning voice of anxiety, and one voice is hopeful and encouraging. This book helps children see how they can choose which voice to listen to- and provides them with helpful tools to deal with anxiety.