Anxiety, worry, and phobias affect everyone, including young ones who may not be able to fully explain what they are feeling. Children may not know what is going on with them and parents can feel stuck trying to help their child. That’s where our friend Harley comes in! When Harley Has Anxiety by Regine Galanti walks children and parents alike through anxiety and some helpful ways to help combat it, all through the story of one adorable hedgehog named Harley.
Emotions Are Normal
Emotions are feelings that go along with a reaction in your body. When Harley is scared, her spines stand up straight and sometimes she rolls into a ball. When people get scared, they sometimes get a stomachache, or their muscles feel tight. How can you tell when you feel scared? Or worried? Or excited? What does your body do to tell you?
Here are some important things to know about emotions:
Emotions are normal. Everyone has them, even emotions that don’t feel so great. Even grown-ups feel sad, angry, or worried sometimes.
There are no right or wrong emotions. It’s okay to feel all your feelings.
Emotions have reasons for showing up. Even if an emotion seems to come out of nowhere, there’s always a reason, even if you might not know what it is right now.
Emotions can’t hurt you. They can sometimes make you feel uncomfortable—like when you’re sad, and you cry, your body might get tired. When you’re anxious, you might feel shaky and your heart might beat fast, but these emotions aren’t dangerous. Your body is totally safe.
You can have many emotions that it can sometimes be hard to tell which ones you are feeling.
