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Jacqueline B. Toner
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What to Do When the News Scares You: A Kid's Guide to Understanding Current Events (What-to-Do Guides for Kids Series) Paperback – October 5, 2021

by Jacqueline B. Toner (Author), Janet McDonnell (Illustrator)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 41 ratings
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This latest installment in the bestselling What To Do series tackles children’s feelings of anxiety around current events and what is portrayed in the news. Scary news is an inevitable part of life. This book can support and guide efforts to help scary news seem a bit more manageable for young people. 

Whether from television news reports, the car radio, digital media, or adult discussions, children are often bombarded with information about the world around them. When the events being described include violence, extreme weather events, a disease outbreak, or discussions of more dispersed threats such as climate change, children may become frightened and overwhelmed. Parents and caregivers can be prepared to help them understand and process the messages around them by using this book.

What to Do When the News Scares You provides a way to help children put scary events into perspective. And, if children start to worry or become anxious about things they’ve heard, there are ideas to help them calm down and cope. This book also helps children identify reporters’ efforts to add excitement to the story which may also make threats seem more imminent, universal, and extreme.

Read and complete the activities in What to Do When the News Scares You with your child to help them to understand the news in context—who, what, where, when, how—as a means of introducing a sense of perspective.

 Also available in Spanish Qué Hacer Cuando las Noticias te Asustan: Guía para Niños para Entender las Noticias Actuales
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  1. Reading age
    6 - 12 years
  2. Part of series
    What-to-Do Guides for Kids
  3. Print length
    80 pages
  4. Language
    English
  5. Grade level
    2 - 7
  6. Dimensions
    8 x 0.25 x 11 inches
  7. Publisher
    Magination Press
  8. Publication date
    October 5, 2021
  9. ISBN-10
    1433836971
  10. ISBN-13
    978-1433836978
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From the Publisher

What to Do guides for kids
What to Do When the News Scares You
What to Do When Fear Interferes
What to Do When You Dread Your Bed
What to Do When Mistakes Make You Quake
What to Do When It's Not Fair
What to Do When You Feel Too Shy
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Customer Reviews
4.6 out of 5 stars 41
4.6 out of 5 stars 124
4.5 out of 5 stars 1,135
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4.7 out of 5 stars 252
4.6 out of 5 stars 207
Price — $14.98 — — $15.80 $15.80
Subtitle A Kid's Guide to Understanding Current Events A Kid's Guide to Overcoming Phobias A Kid's Guide to Overcoming Problems with Sleep A Kid’s Guide to Accepting Imperfection A Kid's Guide to Handling Envy and Jealousy A Kid's Guide to Overcoming Social Anxiety
Short Description If the news of world events like war frightens or overwhelms you, this book is for you. If your fear is getting in the way of everyday activities, this book is for you! If you're a kid who is convinced that nothing short of magic will make nighttime easier, this book is for you. If you try to be right all the time, or if you worry about being less than the best, this book is for you! If you're a kid who focuses on one thing you want and thinks "it's not fair," this book is for you! If you are uncomfortable in the spotlight and miss out on cool activities because of it, this book is for you.
Ages 6 to 12 6 to 12 6 to 12 8 to 12 6 to 12 6 to 12

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

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. VERDICT Though purchasing books with fill-in sections isn't the norm for libraries, this work's content and usefulness proves the exception to the rule.-Myra Zarnowski, City Univ. of New Yorkα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Review

Short, interactive lessons about media tactics and source reliability are interspersed with exercises to help kids cope with the strong emotions that can accompany exposure to “scary news….” Children are invited to become investigators, with the book providing spaces for them to jot down observations each time they learn a new aspect of reporting, including camera angles, opinions versus facts, and the famous W questions…. From knowledge comes power over emotions. ― Kirkus Reviews

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… 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. Though purchasing books with fill-in sections isn’t the norm for libraries, this work’s content and usefulness proves the exception to the rule. ― School Library Journal, STARRED review

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Magination Press; 1st edition (October 5, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 80 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1433836971
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1433836978
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 6 - 12 years
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 2 - 7
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8 x 0.25 x 11 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 41 ratings

About the author

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Jacqueline B. Toner

Jacqueline B. Toner

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Jacqueline B. Toner, PhD, is a retired clinical psychologist in Maryland with over thirty years of experience in private practice working with children and parents. She is author of several self-help books for young people.

About the process of writing with co-author, Claire Freeland, PhD she notes, "Our first books grew directly out of the needs we perceived in our clinical practices. For example, What to Do When Mistakes Make you Quake was prompted by experiences with dyslexic students who were developing good academic skills but struggled with inhibition when faced with writing tasks because of the fear of making errors. Then there were the very accomplished kids who would become terribly upset about a lower than expected grade, sports standing, or other 'performance’, and the children who worried a teacher would be disappointed in them if they made the typical errors that are a normal part of learning."

Get to know her better at:

www.jacquelinetoner.net

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
41 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Karen Stanish
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great series
    Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    I have used several of these books with my kids. It helps put things on their level. They are interactive to give them time so take in what has been discussed in the book.
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  • Williams Family
    5.0 out of 5 stars What the world needs now! Perfect for families
    Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2025
    This is the book every family really needs right now. No matter what the age, from young child to adult, the news can be a scary thing. We see and hear people talk about what is in the news, what is happening around the world as well as hearing opinions of others. It can be so hard for little ones to understand. Especially when things like weather and violence are dealt with. It often adds to the stress and upset when the things we see are things we are dealing with ourselves, like bad weather. We recently went through the disaster of Helene in our community, some of our family and friends lost homes and family members. It was a scary time. I was so thankful to have been given this book by NetGalley and the publishers to help us guide our children through this scary time. My favorite activity was Taking Care Of You. In this activity we looked for the people and community that helps to take care of people, like firemen, police and rescue teams. We talked about how the community comes together to help with supplies and rescue as well. This book was also great at helping them understand what is news, what is un-news and how to understand what we hear and see.
    I love this series. It has been a huge help in our home. My son is on the autism spectrum and these books are so helpful.Some times news and events are harder for him to understand and this book was essential to me during this time. I can not say enough about how amazing this book has been. I would give it a million stars!!! Share together with your family.
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  • Howard Freeland
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fair and balanced
    Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2024
    Important ideas for kids to learn
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  • Randall Ferreira
    5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommend
    Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2022
    Recommended this book to my mom for my nephews, knowing they had probably heard things earlier this week that no 7 and 5 year old should have to worry about. I didn’t realize how much of a difference this book would make. It has opened the door for some great conversations; heavy and emotional, gives them space to explore and understand their anxieties and fears. It is a little too much for 5 year olds and I know it’s not aimed at that age, and right now he isn’t able to comprehend news, but the book will be there when he’s ready and the 7 year old is benefiting and very interested. **Highly recommend**
    2 people found this helpful
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