What to Do When Your Temper Flares: A Kid's Guide to Overcoming Problems With Anger (What-to-Do Guides for Kids Series)

This book is amazing! I am admittedly dubious of self help books in general but bought this when other methods of improving the anger response of two my children continued to fail. We have been using this book as a family with all of our children because let's be honest, we all can use improvement in how we cope with our anger. The language of this book is humorous and easy to understand. We are using it with children that range in age from 6-11 and all are enjoying it. I love that the book helps children to not feel bad for feeling angry, there is no shaming. Instead it focuses on how we manage and respond to our anger rather than teaching that we should not feel anger. The explanations of anger that begin the book lay an excellent foundation for kids to be able to identify their emotion in preparation to begin implementing the specific strategies discussed later in the book. The strategies are easy for kids to use and effective! I would recommend working through the strategies slowly. After reading a chapter we focus on implementing the tool for several days or even a week or two until my kids have really gotten the hang of it and can use it on their own without prompting. Then we move on and learn and use another tool. This book has helped my entire family and our home life is much more peaceful. Not only are my children managing their anger better but their self confidence and pride has soared as they see that they can manage their emotions well.

As a parent, this book has given me some concrete tools to work through frustration points with my kids. Around our house, now we talk about what our "hot thoughts" are and what we can say instead as our "cool thoughts." It has totally influenced how we respond to situations. Please forgive me if this sounds a bit cheesy, but the techniques work. Not just for kids but adults, too. The author explains things in a simple, yet honest way and it makes sense. Somehow, this book worked for us and I believe you will find something useful from it. My daughter (age 7, 1st grade) really wanted to read this book in one setting. And, she is a great kid by all reports from her teachers (and us). :-) It's just that this book helps all kids, with any coping ability. On a scale with 1 being no coping skills, to a 10 being perfect, this book will move any kid up by at least one point... if not several points. If your kid is already at a 10... maybe you just need the book on anxiety. ha, ha just kidding This is a great book and I recommend getting it. [...]. Thank you

I've never bothered to write a book review before, but this book promises to be a life changer. I hope others will find it as useful as my daughter and I already have. Dawn Huebner and Bonnie Matthews are spot-on with their examples and illustrations depicting our personal situation. It's almost as if they've been peeking through our windows. Like some of the other reviewers, my daughter pitched the book across the room as soon as I showed it to her, but when I called her bluff and made a move to trash it, she quickly back-pedaled and assured me that she wanted to get better. Once we started working through it, she would take a mocking tone and say something to imply that the author didn't know HER and the very next sentence would speak to her grumble. Dawn nailed it every time and the illustrations were strikingly familiar as well. The book's credibility has risen to a surprising level, though she will never acknowledge it. The workbook style with humor sprinkled throughout has made the book much more fun for both of us. She likes writing in the book since that is usually considered "bad" behavior. I have two favorite parts. The first is a list in Ch. 3 of "why bothers" that include such gems as "Has anyone ever said, 'I want to be your friend because you are so good at losing your temper'" and "Have you ever fallen asleep with a smile on your face, thinking about all the times you got mad that day?". The second is a caution to parents not to provide the "cool thoughts" for the child as that will only infuriate her more. I've experienced that response many times in the past and now know that it is typical and not unexpected. I do suggest following the method outlined by the author for best results. My daughter and I are simultaneously working on the Dreading Your Bed book to undo 5 months of problems after she saw part of zombie movie at a neighbor's house. It has been equally good, but different enough to keep it fun. We will start the Grumbling book next. If you have a child with a short fuse, get this book - you won't regret it.

I really liked how this book addressed the problem of anger in a unique way. The children I work with really like the analogies that are used that help them think about anger in a different way. However, I like to use this in a group and think this would be a great resource if broken down in lesson format. Also, I would have found it more useful if the activities presented were in more of a workbook format. Otherwise, I think the author had an interesting and new way to approach anger. I would recommend this resource as an innovative way to address anger management in children!

This is a fantastic resource for parents! I have a bright, amazing, caring 6 year old with an explosive temper. As any parent raising a child with intense emotions knows, it's extraordinarily difficult attempting to help your child contain their huge, oftentimes destructive feelings. What I love about this book is it does a fantastic job of not just offering coping skills, but clarifying that anger is a choice and it is a choice that has consequences. Using techniques from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, it empowers kids to take accountability for their responses to situations. There are tons of books out there offering coping skills, mindfulness techniques, etc, but this is the first I've found that focuses on thoughts and behaviors in a simple, comprehensible way. Training my kiddo in calming techniques, like taking ten deep breaths hasn't helped that much, but she seems to respond well to the idea that she is in control of her responses. Perhaps it has something to do with the element of control...anger is often a bid to feel powerful in a difficult situation. The element of choice -- "how will I respond to this difficulty?" -- is one way to apprise control, though in a positive way. Anyway. Last thing: the price is awesome. Such a great deal for such a great tool. I'm so grateful for it.

This is a great book to use with kids who have difficulty managing their anger. It's kid-friendly and gives good examples and analogies that make sense to kids. The chapters are short and have a couple of exercises for the kid to do. It is based on cognitive-behavioral therapy and teaches kids how they can change their thoughts to change their feelings. I think this is great because many people with anger issues (kids and adults alike) tend to blame everyone and everything around them for making them angry. This book teaches that you can't control what happens around you but that you can control your response to it. This is a very important lesson to learn, and I think that if we can teach it during childhood, we can possibly prevent problems in adulthood. This book could be used in therapy sessions with a mental health professional or at home with parents.

I am a teacher and mom to an 8.5yo son recently diagnosed with ADHD. His temper has gotten him in to a lot of trouble this year at school. He is constantly focused on what everyone is doing in the classroom instead of himself, and his friendships are starting to suffer as his arguing has increased with them. This book is PHENOMENAL. We are several chapters in, and it is like looking in a mirror for him - so much so, that it made him really angry the first day we were reading it. As soon as we finished the first 2 chapters, he did ask when we were going to read it again. As I picked it up today to read with him, he was eager to get started. We got through the first technique to try to work on, and I want to work on that for at least a week or more. He actually wants to read more. I told him we should wait until we work on the first technique a bit, as that is how the book is designed. On his own, he started thumbing through to look ahead. I just can't believe how much this book nails my son. I look forward to trying the various techniques. My only regret is not finding it sooner ...

I purchased this for my son nearly 9 months ago. He is now 8, and for about 2 years, he has struggled with anger, rooted most often in feeling bullied or teased, or somehow otherwise wronged. His anger has resulted in terrible heartache for him, and frustration and concern for us, his older brother and younger sister, and for friends and teachers. He and I started to work through the concepts in this book when we first got it, but it didn't resonate for him at that time. I think that perhaps he just wasn't ready then, and was still seeing it as others causing his problem rather than him looking at a way to take control of it for himself. Over the Christmas break, after more hurt feelings and outbursts, he was ready to sit down with me again. We reviewed what we covered before, and are now taking the chapters step by step, and he's figuring out how to incorporate the coping mechanisms in his life. In the last 6 weeks, I believe he's had fewer than 5 meltdowns, and he used to have that many in a single day. Additionally, he's able to control the intensity of these moments by using the skills we learned in the book. I'm so grateful for the change in him, and I don't think I could have done it without this guide. The terminology and approach was spot-on for my 8 year old. The examples, illustrations and worksheets were also very helpful and engaging for him. I highly recommend this!

We have a couple of books in this series and I think they are terrific. They're great for the 7-8 yo and up. Easy for kids to comprehend and work through at their own pace. We do a chapter every couple days in the evening before bed. The activities are fun and relevant. My 8 yo son request these books when he has an issue that he wants to work on.

Livre excellent. Dommage qu'il ne soit pas disponible en français

Estrategias excelentes, escrito para que los niños le entiendan y si se trabaja al lado de un adulto...puede tener excelentes resultados.

Really good book. My 8 year old has a new found temper since lockdown, this book has been really useful. We read together and talk and do some of the excersizes, but it's basic enough for him to read and understand alone. There's a lot in here for anyone from age 3 or 4 upwards (including adults!) The key for us has been talking about it together and exploring and developing ideas the book gives us. It's certainly not exhaustive, but it is very user friendly and is designed as a journey to be read from beginning to end, but there are strategies and thought processes that help from the very beginning. Another real plus point is the fact it examines why gettimg angry is not desirable, before diving into how to avoid it. Although this can be read and the basics understood by an 8 year old, the key to maximising the benefit is taking the time to go on the journey with them

Gran libro para poder aprender a educar y gestionar las emociones de los niñ@s, y para adultos, ayuda a entendernos mucho mejor. Sin duda una gran compra. 100% recomendable.