The Case of the "What Ifs?"

A Book Review of Mindful Bea and the Worry Tree

Mindful Bea and the Worry Tree
Written by: Gail Silver
Illustrated by: Franziska Hollbacher
Published by: Magination Press

I chose Mindful bea and the Worry Tree to review this month as I think all of us have been feeling some level of anxiety about the pandemic and are worried about what the future will bring. The most pressing worry as we are approaching August for children, parents and teachers is whether or not they will return to school in person this Fall. If so, what will that look like? Will it be safe? What happens if I get sick? What if I don't return to school? What will online learning be like with a new teacher? So many important questions and so few answers. Anxiety and worry are a normal reaction to these current circumstances. 

Pandemic panic aside, anxiety disorders are the most common psychological issue among children. Anxiety has been on the rise in our society for many years.  Anxiety and worry are a normal part of childhood, but it can become more severe in some children. This book, Mindful Bea and the Worry Tree, is excellent for children within the whole spectrum of anxiety, from everyday worries to severe disturbances. This book will help children name and understand their feelings of anxiety as well as learn to cope with it. 

The author, Gail Silver, utilizes a tree as an analogy for anxiety, with beautiful writing as follows: 
"like a seed from underground, it sprouts alive, unleashed, unbound. With knarled roots, this kind of tree feeds on thoughts ..."  The story begins as Bea, in anticipation of her birthday party, is bombarded with thoughts of "What if ..." "What if nobody comes? What if we didn't bake enough cake?" These "what if ..." questions are very common in all of our thoughts when anxiety starts to take hold. 

Through Bea, Ms. Silver does a thorough job in describing the physical sensations in our bodies when we are feeling anxious. This is an important step in helping children recognize and name their feelings, which is crucial to coping. She then takes children through a meditation process, including deep breathing and slowing down thoughts in order to choose what to think about. Repetition of words is used in the text to show Bea slowly calming herself down and quieting her irrational thoughts as she is employing her coping skills. 

Franziska Hollbacher, the illustrator, follows the mood of the story beautifully through her illustrations. Initially the vines of the tree are taking over. Slowly these vines recede and the illustrations become more and more calm and then full of fun energy as the birthday party begins. 

This book includes a Note to Parents, written by a psychologist, which includes helpful information on how to use this book, information on understanding anxiety in children, how parents can help, and when to seek professional help. 

I strongly recommend this book for all children ages 4-8, whether struggling with temporary, everyday worries or with an ongoing anxiety disorder. Check out other books on emotions by Gail Silver at https://gailsilver.com/books-and-more/.

I have included additional resources below and an activity to further help your child with their worries and anxieties. 

Activity and Resources for Mindful Bea and the Worry Tree

Belly breathing is the most important skill to acquire and not easy to teach young children - here are a couple of links to videos to help teach belly breathing to kids
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOnDA6_MAWI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Relaxation/Meditation/Mindfulness - an abundance of apps are available on Iphone or Ipad with meditation/mindfulness exercises for kids. A few of the higher rated apps are:
Stop, Breathe and Think Kids
Breathe, Think, Do with Sesame Street (for the younger crowd)
Calm (has a specialized kid's section)

Activity
Materials needed: 

pinwheel template https://www.firstpalette.com/printable/pinwheel.html

Paper (cardstock works best)can use colored paper or white
unused pencil with eraser
push pin or tack
scissors
crayons or markers
black marker
glue -strong glue is helpful
bead or small button

Directions: I suggest that you make two-one for child and one for adult helper
1. Talk to child about their worries,
write them down and set aside for now

2. Share a couple of your minor worries 
as an adult without overwhelming
the child

3. Print out 2 templates(one plain and one with desired design) for each pinwheel
on cardstock or paper



​4. Cut out squares






5. Color designs on one square as desired





6. Glue un-decorated sides of the squares together





7. Cut inside of squares along dotted lines





8. Bring every other tip of each of the sides
to the center without folding paper; 
Glue in place; Hold in place until dry;
Trickiest part-need strong glue









9. Pull out the list of child's worries
and write on the solid parts of the
pinwheel with a black marker




10. Insert push pin through center
where tips come together; wiggle it around 
to make the hole a little bigger

​






10. Add bead or button to pin on
the back side of pinwheel









11. Insert push pin into the eraser 
of the pencil; make sure it's not poking
​out the other side of the eraser. 





12. Blow on it to make sure it twirls freely; 
if not, loosen the pin and wiggle it around more; works best if you blow toward the front of the pinwheel and not the sides

13. Blow those worries away and make the pinwheel spin!
Adult should breathe with them with their pinwheel. 


14. Pull the pinwheel out when child is having worries.
Have fun!