SHRINKING THE
WORRY MONSTER
A Kid’s Guide for Saying Goodbye to Worries
Written by Sally Baird PhD, and Kathryn O. Galbraith
Illustrated by Annabelle Barrett
Edited by Nancy Tupper
Shrinking the Worry Monster
Worry Monster has been whispering mean things to kids and making them feel terrible. Now it is up to Brooklyn and Jackson to discover the monster’s secret—and stop him!
This delightful story contains research-based strategies that kids and their parents can use to overcome worry and fear. An introduction explains how faulty thinking can lead to worry, and three appendices offer the tools needed for reducing a child’s worries. This is a very entertaining book, but it also contains an important lesson that really does help kids learn to “shrink” their worries. Author Sally Baird has successfully used these strategies with her clients for over 20 years.
The book is suitable for ages 4 to 12, but can be useful for ages 4 to 94!
Shrinking the Worry Monster will be available for purchase via this site at Village Books and anywhere books are sold!
For Parents…
Does your child worry often? Does your child cling to his or her worries despite your best efforts to offer assurance that the worry won’t happen or isn’t true? If so, you are not alone. Research tells us that more children worry now than ever before, with anxiety being the number one mental health concern. Children’s worries can range from minor and infrequent thoughts to incapacitating anxiety preventing a child from fully engaging with school, friends, and activities. A worried child may display such symptoms as restlessness, tiredness, distraction, irritation, tension, and sleep difficulties. The child can become “stuck” believing that irrational or distorted thoughts are true.
Though a worried child can become very distressed and distressing to others, there is good news: worries can be diminished by changing the way we respond to them. The strategy used in this book is based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), one of the most effective treatments to decrease anxiety. The main concept in CBT is that our worried thoughts are based on “faulty thinking” and once we correct the faulty thinking we can “shrink” the worry. In faulty thinking our brain tricks us by saying that something bad will happen or something is wrong with us. If we listen to these negative thoughts, we may start to believe them and then act as if they are true. A negative cycle can take effect, which is very difficult to break unless the worrier can change his or her thinking.
About Sally Baird
Dr. Sally has been a public health nurse, a school psychologist, and finally a clinical psychologist in private practice where she specialized in children’s issues. Over the years, she noticed that more and more children were coming to her for anxiety.
To help these children, she successfully used cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to teach them skills to decrease their worry. She realized that one of the main concepts in CBT could be taught in a book format and the idea for this book was born.
Kathryn O. Galbraith, a successful author, and Dr. Sally had great fun writing this book. In fact, the entire book process from idea to printing has been one of Dr. Sally’s most creative times!
She is now retired but still volunteers in the schools. Dr. Sally currently writes about kids and anxiety on her blog and for online magazines. Recent articles have been published in Red Tricycle and Parent Map/Seattle. She lives in lovely, green, wet, NW Washington State with her husband and near their two daughters and four grandchildren. She loves to see the grandchildren, play ukulele, hike, bike, kayak, and travel.
About Kathryn O. Galbraith
Kathryn O. Galbraith is an award-winning author of 22 children’s books. She loves working in many different genres with many different characters, but this is her first book about a Worry Monster!
Kathryn began writing in the second grade and never stopped. She grew up in Plymouth, Michigan, with four brothers, two birds, one dog, and lots and lots of books. Kathryn always felt – and still feels – lucky to have so many brothers. She felt sorry for girls who only had one or two. When she writes about boy characters, they all seem to have a little bit of Chuck, Tom, Ed, or Jim in them.
Today Kathryn lives in the green, rainy, watery, beautiful state of Washington with her husband Steve, their naughty puppy, Duffy, and lots and lots of books. You can find out more about Kathryn and her books at http://www.kathrynogalbraith.com/home/.
Annabelle Barrett is an illustrator and designer from Bellingham, Washington. She studied art and design at Western Washington University. She loves all things children’s books and has loved being a part of this project.
Nancy Tupper is a former English teacher who enjoys fussing over words on the page, making jam, playing flute, and backpacking. She has met with bears in the wilderness, and she survived the second most powerful earthquake ever recorded. Contact August Editorial Service.
Blog, Press, and Upcoming Events
Boo!! Eight Tips to Decrease Children’s Halloween Worries
Let's face it. Halloween is about scaring others and being scared. It is one of the most anticipated holidays of the year, but it can involve blood, gore, scary faces, loud noises, darkness, and going to stranger's homes. Whoa! How does this fit with trying to keep...
Shrinking the Worry Monster Free on Kindle!
Shrinking the Worry Monster, A Kid's Guide for Saying Goodbye to Worries will be free on your Kindle starting June 27 and ending June 29. This ebook format will be available to you and your children all weekend and into Monday. It will include the helpful guide to...
Help for Children’s Sleep Issues–Red Tricycle Article
At various times, all parents will need help for children's sleep issues. Red Tricycle online parenting magazine recently published my article titled How to Tame Your Child's Sleep Monster. After focusing my energy on worry, this is a slight turn to look at children...
Why Can’t I Sleep? Ways to Tame the Sleep Monster
In the land of kids and monsters, Sleep Monster wouldn't let anyone sleep a wink. Although Sleep Monster said it was fun not to sleep, he was telling a lie. Kids and monsters alike were tired and cranky, but no one knew what to do. And so begins the saga of the Sleep...
Virtual Event on Reducing Worry for Children 4/29
The Bellingham Public Library will be hosting a free virtual event on how to reduce worry in children. The even will have readings from the book Shrinking the Worry Monster, A Kid's Guide for Saying Goodbye to Worries, along with how to make Worry Box. Preregistration...
Kids Grieving Life Before COVID Article Published
Red Tricycle online parenting magazine recently published my article on kids grieving life before COVID. (How to Help Kids That Are Grieving Life Before COVID). We are all grieving our losses from the past year, children included. Just some of their losses include...
Reviews
“What if I can’t do it?”
“What if no one likes me?”
Shrinking the Worry Monster naturally lends itself to library story times — with, as I imagine, the inflation and deflation of a balloon “monster” while children practice their new responses to fear — as well as cozy one-on-one sharing with loved ones. Dr. Baird’s book provides a welcome reminder to children and their grown-ups that we’re really all in this together, and shrinking our worry monsters is a life long, life-enhancing skill.
Picture books provide a wonderful way to help children with their struggles, and Dr. Sally Baird’s book, Shrinking the Worry Monster, is the perfect antidote for those wrestling with anxiety. Its characters and their frets are completely relatable, and readers are sure to find the strategy for defeating worry easy to apply in their own lives. A helpful guide for caretakers and suggestions for further reading are also included.
Shrinking the Worry Monster is a fabulous tool for anxious children and those who love them.
Shrinking the Worry Monster is an engaging ‘read to’ book for children about their worries and an easy to use self-help technique for parents to give children who suffer from anxieties.
Shrinking the Worry Monster should be in every household. It is written in understandable language for children and has practical tips for caretakers. The tips can be used by adults without the story for older children! I wish I’d had this book when my children were young.
It is difficult to watch WORRY dwarf our children, grandchildren and students’ capacity for joy. The story in this important and timely book helps children stand up to WORRY. It also provides concrete tools to help adults and children work together to empower children towards quieting
that worry voice that can be so loud.
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