Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Let me start by saying that the illustrations in this are beautiful. I wish that it had more information in the main part of the book about how to deal with anxious feelings and when to bring it up with a trusted adult though. There was a lot of good info in the back, but it was not very kid friendly.

Thank you to NetGalley & Annick Press for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. My review is of the published version.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Instagram!

I love the gorgeous gentle illustrations depicting what anxiety feels like, but feel like the “sparingly written” part does a disservice. This teaches kids to ask for help and use coping skills when anxiety gets overwhelming. There are parent resources and resources for professional help in the back as well.

Anxious takes readers into the mind of a little girl, who sometimes feels strange. Her world feels 'too fast and too loud.' 'Everything feels dark' and 'scary'.

Natalí Barbani's illustrations do a fine job of portraying what all that feels like and how it makes the child retreat into herself.

Is there a solution? The girl tells us she's learned she can ask for help and a hug; take slow, deep breaths; and - find her way to laugh again.

This book is perfect for helping young, and not so young, ones understand those anxious feelings. This book should be a part of every library, classroom, and doctor office.

This book was absolutely beautiful! The illustrations were just amazing. It's about a little girl who wants to do all of the things kids love to do but can't due to her anxiety. As a mom of four, I loved that the author explained what anxiety looks like and suggested ways to cope. My 9 year old has anxiety and sometimes it's hard for her to put into words what she's feeling and I think this book helped her realize that anxiety is actually pretty common. I would definitely recommend this book to all parents, not just those who have kids who deal with anxiety but to all kids because kids in general sometimes struggle with big emotions. This can help with one of them and that is a huge thing. I would defintely check out future books by this author.

For a picture book this deserves 5 stars. I would 100% read this to children and even to pre teens. The author does a really great job explaining what anxiety feels like and that it's ok to ask for help. The illustrations are great for younger kids. I think it can be helpful for a child to identify how they feel and see it in the pictures. What really made me love this is the end. There is some helpful information for children, adults with children and caregivers of children in the back. Phrases to use and start a conversation with. Things to say and do to offer help for children. Really well explained and definitely worth the few mins it takes to read it.

Gorgeous cover. Beautiful illustrations! Great book for kids with anxiety. My 7yo identified with the characters feelings and descriptions.
I appreciate the resources in the back.

This was a nice book about anxiety and mental health. I enjoyed the illustrations. I don't remember much about it, though.

Too simple for my purposes, but absolutely beautifully illustrated. A sweet way to explain to children what that awful tied up feeling they get sometimes is, and how to help get past it.

Really very pretty.

A book I definitely could have used as a child, but with not enough time given to helping. Our unnamed narrator describes how anxiety feels, in depth, and using several metaphors.

The book spends a bit too much time describing the feeling of anxiety, and not enough on how to manage the emotion. In fact, there’s just 6 pages on management, and only if you include two text-less pages of the young girl hugging her mother. The advice in the image portion of the book is simply to take ask for help, get a hug, and take a deep breath. There are a few pages at the end that give a more in-depth set of instructions for caregivers, as well as a few websites to consult.

I wish I could rate this book higher, as I think anxiety and anxiety disorders in children need more focus, but this one is just lacking.

Advanced reader copy provided by the publisher.

Excellent book to explain to young children what anxiety may feel and/or look like and to let them know they are not alone in their feelings. Beautiful illustrations as well.

At first starts with a short story about a girl feeling anxious and what she does to combat it. The second half (?) is notes to readers, parents, and caregivers about what to do when your child is feeling anxious.

Even though adults can also use this book in order to combat their anxiousness, it is more for children, since I thought the tips were really simple. This was a good resource for parents to use for their children to help them and I would recommend it them.

I wish I had understood what anxiety was when I was a child. Back then, my severe anxiety was often dismissed as mere shyness.

This book provides essential education on anxiety for both children and parents, complete with aesthetically pleasing and appropriate illustrations.

I highly recommend this book to any parent looking to understand and help manage anxiety in their children.

As a mother of a daughter with generalized anxiety, and a teacher of children with varying needs - including increased mental health struggles over the past several years, this book is a wonderful addition to a home or school library. The illustrations are relatively simple, but pack a big punch with the color scheme and details and depict feelings of anxiety in age appropriate written and visual ways. The to-the=point story is beautifully written while also being easy enough to read like a self-affirmation, and short enough to be effectively used in a such a way. I really appreciate the addition of the resources sections at the back of the book, particularly for readers who may be picking this up at the beginning of their journey finding calm. Will definitely add this one to the daily rotation. This would also make a lovely gift for little ones if your life who may be experiencing these feelings.

4+ stars

As an anxious kid who became an anxious teen and then an anxious adult before *finally* figuring out what was going on and starting to get some support for it, I appreciate that people are now writing more books about this kind of topic. I think it’s great that the notes and resources for adults are included along with the nice little story for kids. The illustrations are also gorgeous and would, I think, appeal to a range of people. I would be happy to gift this book to friends who have and/or teach young kids.

I really enjoyed this book. It was different than anything else I've read recently. I couldn't put it down! I will keep an eye out for this author's future work!

A beautifully illustrated book about anxiety.
The story was simple and straightforward, and provided a great description of what anxiety can look like that kids will understand.
I appreciated the information for both readers and caregivers at the end!
The muted color illustrations were beautiful and captured the feeling of anxiety perfectly.

Thanks to Net Galley. Thanks to the writer and the artist. Thank you thank thank you for making this book. The world needs it. I need it.