The WorryWoos Help Kids Embrace Emotions

While us adults are always telling kids how good they have it, little ones have a big world to learn their way around. Bombarded with scary and inexplicable events on television and online, intense emotions can be frightening and difficult to cope with. One way Andi Green dealt with those scary feelings was through art. Her drawings created a lifeline to express the complicated monsters in her head. And by personifying the emotions, she was empowered and began to share her creations. And so our world has been gifted with The WorryWoo Monsters, an award-winning series of books and plush dolls written and illustrated by Green. Emotions are turned into quirky characters designed to help promote healthy emotional awareness and wellness.

Nola, the Monster of Loneliness, lives in a beautiful world that is missing only one thing — a friend. Her book, The Lonely Little Monster Storybook, deals with the importance of seeing the world in a different way, following her on her journey to seeing her friends were right in front of her all the time.

Next to loneliness, general worry is one of the more prevalent emotions in kids, but one of the hardest to quantify and explain. Wince, The Monster of Worry, has a problem — he constantly feeds his WorryBug. And the more he worries, the more the WorryBug grows. This story was so popular, there’s even a companion guide for teachers, parents or any professionals dealing with worried youth.

Other common emotions have corresponding animals like Rue, The Monster of Insecurity. He thinks his nose is too big and wishes he looked different. Rue needs to be reminded he looks beautiful just the way he is, a message frankly some of us can still use as adults. Fuddle, The Monster of Confusion, gets overwhelmed by choices and gives up.

Squeek, The Monster of Innocence, is too scared to try anything at all. And who hasn’t felt the Monster of Frustration grow when something doesn’t work out? Twitch can sure relate, and when things don’t go his way, he stomps, yells and gives up. Learning about appreciation is a valuable lesson and Zelly, the Monster of Envy, is just the one to teach it.

Each hardcover storybook is printed with environmentally friendly soy inks, and most are hand-illustrated. These make great gifts, especially for teachers. Fret not, plenty more information is available at www.worrywoos.com