An informative and compassionate translation of Schwartz's Internal Family Systems model for children. Our brains can be scary and confusing, especially when we're first learning how to truly articulate how we think and feel. This does a great job of laying out the basics, allowing kids to learn that we're made up of many working parts and that none of those parts are, in fact, bad.

The illustrations are fun but a bit busy set against the text; however I am only reviewing the unpublished ARC, so final font formatting may change that.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

No Bad Parts! Is a child's version of a book by Richard Swartz called No Bad Parts. Which explain Internal Family Systems in a very clear and child friendly way. As an adult learning about Internal Family Systems this book helped me to understand some of the nuances of the theory through analogies and simple explanations. It would be a perfect book for a parent, therapist, teacher or librarian to read to children to explain how their brain works and protects them in different situations. It also helps them understand why they react in different ways when faced with challenging situations. The book explains the different roles The Manager, The Exile and The Firefighter and the kinds of reactions that might be the result of these parts taking over. I think this would be a perfect addition to a personal library, therapist library and school/public libraries.

Thank you NetGalley, Richard Schwartz, Bethany Hegedus and Sounds True Publishing for the opportunity to preview this title and the opinions shared are my own.

No Bad Parts! is expected to be released Sept. 9, 2025.

Well written and illustrated book that explains that people are composed of different people, having different roles and jobs in life. This approach helps to explain why and how we are sometimes helpful to ourselves, sometimes critical, sometimes healing, and sometimes harming. Psychologically comforting and easy to understand. Useful, wonderful, I enjoyed it.

I was eager to read this book since I've read other titles by Schwartz, and so was enthused to see Internal Family Systems in a format for younger kids. Generally, No Bad Parts does a good job explaining the different parts - Manager, Firefighter, and Exile - but the illustration style felt too busy/bright/almost chaotic for me. A pared-back, simpler style might be more effective in conveying Internal Family Systems, but perhaps that's just my preference. Overall, a sweet book for older children (7-12) to read with their adults and re-read as they grow.