What to Do When the News Scares You: A Kid’s Guide to Understanding Current Events

Gr 2-4–This very timely book should prove enormously helpful to parents, teachers, librarians, and especially children. Designed to be shared between a trusted adult and a child, the book deals with topics like identifying and investigating scary news to figure out what’s happening, understanding different types of news, understanding how reporters make news sound more exciting, identifying viewpoints offered, determining the reliability of sources, and asking questions to make sure your ideas are accurate. There are many interactive activities offered and spaces in the book for readers to draw and write. These drawings could serve as the basis of conversations. There are even activities that deal with “un-news,” the ordinary things happening all around us that are comforting to recognize. The book’s short chapters have titles such as “What is News?”, “What’s the Viewpoint?”, and “What’s Your Source?” The author, an experienced clinical psychologist, provides many activities and strategies that will help children feel safe and secure. The black-and-white illustrations include diverse family settings that highlight conversations between children and parents, as well as images that highlight news reporters on the job. In these times of climate change, infectious diseases, and political unrest, a book that focuses on helping children deal with their thoughts and feelings about news is welcome and much needed.