Genre:  Inspiration / Horror / Humor / Monsters

Year Published: 2005

Year Read:  2017

Publisher:  Tanglewood Publishing Inc

Source: eARC (NetGalley)

I would like to thank NetGalley and Tanglewood for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Now, I have read many children’s books that is usually either a straight up horror story or a straight up morality tale. But, I had never come across a children’s book that had both horror and life lessons for children all combined into one story until I had requested another children’s book from NetGalley called “Is a Worry Worrying You?” “Is a Worry Worrying You?” is a children’s book written by Ferida Wolff and Harriet May Savitz along with illustrations by Marie Letourneau and it is definitely one of the most creative and haunting children’s books I had ever read!

This book is basically about helping children deal with being worried about certain situations by showing their worries in the form of a monster that is constantly hounding the characters in the book. The book would put the characters in certain situations such as worrying about a hundred elephants coming for tea and you realize that you ran out of tea for the elephants to drink. So, the solution to the problem would be to offer the elephants lemonade instead, helping you not to worry so much during that situation and finding a reasonable solution to your problem.

Wow! I cannot believe that I just got around to reading this book (it was published in 2005, and I just discovered it on NetGalley)! Ferida Wolff and Harriet May Savitz both did a fantastic job at writing this book as I loved the idea about the concept of worry being portrayed as a scary monster that invades the characters’ homes every time the character in the story is dealing with a problem that causes them to worry! I also loved the fact that the story helps give out advice to young children about how to deal with worrisome situations such as finding a solution to take when dealing with such a situation. Probably my most favorite problem-solving situation that was shown in this book was the one where you have a group of elephants in your home who all want to have some tea and you do not have any tea left to give them. Instead, you decided to give the elephants some lemonade in place of the tea to solve the problem! Marie Letourneau’s artwork is surprisingly creepy in this book, which is much different from her work in “Argyle Fox.” I loved the fact that Marie Letourneau’s artwork is highly reminiscent of the character designs from the Tim Burton films with the characters having large rounded eyes with dark shadings underneath the eyes and also having tall and lanky bodies that make them look unnatural. I also loved the image of the worry monster itself as it is drawn as a blue monster with a mischievous evil grin on its face and it was quite entertaining seeing the monster pop up on each page whenever someone faces a situation that worries them.



Parents should know that the illustrations in this book might be a bit too creepy for some small children to handle, especially the images of the worry monster as it looks pretty threatening in the pages it appears in; especially whenever it is stalking the characters in the book. Parents might want to read this book first to see if their children can handle such creepy images.

Overall, “Is a Worry Worrying You?” is a truly fantastic and unique children’s book that would greatly help children overcome their worries in life and find reasonable solutions in conquering their worries! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the imagery might scare some small children.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

This book, first published in 2005, is an excellent starting point for discussing the issue of worry with young children. Aimed at ages 4 to 6+, many children may have worries that bother them, but that they can't quite identify. As with many childhood skills, the earlier they learn to identify and control worries, the better they are going to be able to cope as they get older.

In the book's illustrations, Worry is represented by a large monster who hovers wherever there is an opportunity for worrying. Some of the scenarios are possible and some are not. For example, one hundred elephants call for tea and you have no tea bags. Don't worry, offer them lemonade instead!

The author provides symptoms of worry to help a child identify that they are actually worried, such as feeling tired, suffering stomachache or nausea.
She helps a child to believe that there may be a solution and not to panic, and advises that a worry will stay as long as you let it.
Most of the time something you worry about never happens, but worries can get even bigger, the more you worry.
Then she suggests how a child can help themselves: think or do something else, put it to the back of your mind or share it with a friend, rationalise it.

While I think this type of book serves a very useful purpose, I'm a bit baffled by the examples of worries that it gives and why it mixes totally impossible scenarios with realistic ones. There's also an example of worrying about the first day at school, and the suggested solution is to take a gift for the teacher, I'm not sure that would still be considered PC.

Most importantly, this is a book to be shared with an adult and discussed, worries brought out into the open and solved. If it helps even just a few children then it will have been well worthwhile.
Highly recommended for parents and primary schools.

Genre:  Childhood / Family / Humor / Animals

Year Published: 2017

Year Read:  2017

Publisher:  Tanglewood Publishing Inc

I would like to thank NetGalley and Tanglewood Publishing Inc. for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It was time that I read more children’s books from NetGalley and I happened to pick up another children’s book from NetGalley called “Argyle Fox” by Marie Letourneau and I actually found this book to be quite cute!

The story starts off with a young fox named Argyle Fox who wanted to go outside and play, but his mother warns him that it is very windy outside and that he might not be able to play the games that he wanted to play. But, Argyle Fox went outside to play with his cards anyway and while Argyle was playing with his cards, the wind blows his cards away and Argyle had to go back home to find something else to play with. Argyle then finds an old spider costume and decided to play as a spider in the trees outside. But the squirrels warned Argyle that it is too windy outside to play as a spider. But Argyle ignored the squirrels’ warnings and continued playing outside, but then the wind comes up and blows at Argyle, which causes him to get tangled in his homemade webs. Argyle then goes back home and tried to find another game to play outside and every time Argyle tries to find a new game to play on this windy day, the wind just keeps on messing up his games. Just as Argyle was going to give up playing games outside, his mother quietly encourages to think of another game to play on a windy day.

What game can Argyle play on a windy day?

Read this book to find out!

I have been reading many children’s books that deal with the main characters (usually children) trying to find a fun game to play whether they are inside or outside and it has been awhile since I had read such as book as this. Marie Letourneau has done a great job at telling a story about a young fox’s determination to play outside, despite it being a windy day and I enjoyed seeing the various games that Argyle tries out on the windy day such as playing as a spider and playing as a pirate. I also like the fact that Argyle never gave up on trying to find the right game to play on the windy day as it shows that he has a lot of determination in trying out various games, no matter how windy the day got. I really loved the fact that Argyle’s mother was supportive of Argyle’s determination in finding the perfect game to play on a windy day as it was great seeing a parent support their child during their time of need and I liked the fact that Argyle’s mother encouraged Argyle to find a different game that would be more suitable to play in the wind. Marie Letourneau’s artwork is adorable and colorful to look at as I loved the images of Argyle Fox doing different activities such as playing as a spider and playing as a pirate and I also loved the images of the wind coming in with the words “WHOOSH” accompanying it as it gives it a huge presence in the story.



The reason why I gave this story a four-star rating was because even though I found the story to be really cute, I have already read plenty of children’s books where the main character is trying to find a new game to play either outside or inside the house and I just found this story to be a bit repetitive at this point.

Overall, “Argyle Fox” is a truly cute story about encouraging children to find good games to play on a windy day and I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

Argyle Fox by Marie Letourneau is a cleverly written children's book for ages three to seven. Argyle is a smart little fox who learns the different things he cannot do on a windy day and finally figures out what he could do that would be fun. I gave it four stars.

I received a complimentary copy from Tanglewood and NetGalley. That did not change my opinion for this review.

Link to purchase: https://www.amazon.com/Argyle-Fox-Marie-LeTourneau/dp/1939100097

This book is in pre-order status until March 14, 2017. I could not leave a review on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.