Introducing a story highlighting the importance of sharing our feelings and acknowledging our emotions ~ featured in the MaiStoryBook Library Collection:

“Ruby Finds a Worry” by Tom Percival

*~Click here to purchase your own copy of *Ruby Finds a Worry* to start on your own reading adventure! (This is an affiliate link~ 5% of your purchase will go to MaiStoryBook to help create Reading Resources for your littles)~*

Book Synopsis and Review

*~Ruby loves being Ruby~* Our protagonist, Ruby, is cheerful, happy-go-lucky, and adventurous. She loves swinging as high as high can go on a swing and exploring every inch of the gardens. But one day, curious Ruby finds something…new…and a bit different, Ruby finds a *Worry.* At first, the Worry is small and Ruby ignores it, hoping it will go away on its own. However, as time passes and Ruby fails to acknowledge the Worry, it starts to grow bigger and bigger, until now it is impossible for Ruby to be *Ruby.* Instead of happy, creative Ruby, she is sad and anxious Ruby. One day, with her large Worry looming behind her, Ruby finds a boy at the park, a boy who *looks* how Ruby *feels.* Could it be, that he has a Worry too? Join Ruby in this reading adventure as she discovers that everyone has worries, and learns the best way to *get rid of a worry.*

Helping littles recognize and address their feelings is key to their social-emotional well-being and mental health. Being able to recognize and express their feelings is a skill littles often have to be taught. Seeing a model for how to talk about feelings, how to label them, and how to share them, gives children the tools to process their own emotions. Children’s books are one of the best ways to expose littles to these tools and ideas. With the combination of text and pictures, children get a direct visual and hear a story that may reflect their own experiences, providing them with the opportunity to see a direct model of how to handle new and uncertain situations. When littles can relate to what they read, and when they talk about what’s been read, they can more readily apply what they learn in a storybook to their own lives. *Ruby Finds a Worry* provides that exact opportunity for kids~ the chance to see how to handle *Enormous* emotions, such as *Worry*, and how they are not alone in feelings these ways. Through the text, they find a connection not only with the story, but with others around them. Plus, they are given the tools to confront their feelings , until they are feeling *happy* and like *themselves* again!

Vocabulary

• discovered (p. 5) to find something or figure out something
• enormous (p. 17) super big
• unexpected (p. 21) didn’t think it was going to happen
• hovering (p. 22) floating in air
• tumbled (p. 26) spilled, fell out

Themes/ Main Ideas

• The best way to get rid of a worry is to talk about it. Don’t bottle up your feelings and ignore them. This can make you feel worse. Instead, find someone you trust and share what you are thinking and feeling.
• Everyone has worries. Your are not alone in how you are feeling. People understand what you are going through, and you can find comfort in shared experiences.

YouTube Video: Guided Shared-Reading Read Aloud Example

Example of a shared-reading, interactive Read Aloud of “Ruby Finds a Worry” – how to subtly introduce the vocabulary list words within the text, ask guided questions, and spark conversation!

*~Check it Out~*

Subscribe: MaiStoryBook Youtube Channel for additional read aloud videos!

If you missed it~ join MaiStoryBook for the first book in *The Big Bright Feelings* Series: “Perfectly Norman” by Tom Percival

Plus~ check out MaiStoryBook’s “Perfectly Norman” blog post for reading resources and a *Perfectly Me* craft inspired by the story!

*How to Get Rid of a Worry* Crafivity

Sharing our feelings makes us vulnerable~ that’s why it can be scary to say aloud what are worries and concerns are. Saying them makes them more real~ they can no longer be ignored, because now someone else knows, someone else heard them. It can be frightening… but also *~freeing~*. Now, it’s not only you holding these big emotions inside; it’s not only you worrying, and thinking, and hiding (all of which is exhausting). Instead, now someone you love and trust can help carry some of the weight, and you may even find, that the more you talk about what you are feeling, and the more you share, the better you will feel. As I mentioned earlier in the blog, how to describe and talk about feelings is a skill littles must learn. Sometimes, they can’t even put words to what they are going through on the inside. That’s why direct modeling of this sharing is vital. If you are looking for the perfect read aloud and craft to encourage and remind children of the importance of sharing their feelings and of *How to Get Rid of a Worry*, check out this week’s interactive read aloud and craft inspired by the story!

Materials

• *How to Get Rid of a Worry* Downloadable Template
• Scissors
• Glue/Tape
• Colors: crayons, markers, colored pencils, etc
• Pen/pencil

Directions

• Choose a ”Worry-Cloud” template. There are colored and black and white versions. Each one has 2 choices: “How to Get Rid of a Worry”, “When I’m Worried I Can…”
• If you chose the black and white version, color it in.
• Cut the cloud in half on the dotted line so that you have two pieces. The “Rainbow” will go in between the two pieces and attach them together. 

• Next, choose an “Rainbow”. There are colored versions, or black and white versions. 
• There are also different fill in template versions a fill-in version with steps and prompts, a version where you fill in the steps with no prompts, a version where you fill in your own steps, and a blank version.
• Fill in the “Rainbow” and then cut it out. **Keep the white top and bottoms tabs on**

• Fold the “Rainbow” on the lines. 3 lines = 3 folds. Fold the top section down, and then ”accordion fold” the rest. 

• To connect the “Rainbow”to the pot, fold the top tab back, and tape the top tab to the back of the bottom of the top half of the “Worry Cloud”
• Fold the bottom tab back. Then tape/glue the tab to the back of the top of the bottom half of the “Worry Cloud”

• The “Rainbow”should fold together to join the top half and the bottom half of the “Worry Cloud,” and then unfold to show all 4 sections when the lid is lifted.

Enjoy Your *How to Get Rid of a Worry* Craftivity!

• Use your craft to remind you how to get rid of your worries.
• Display your craft to encourage you to share your feelings and emotions.
• Share your craft with a family member or friend and use it to help you share your worries.
• Show your craft to a family member or friend and teach them the best way to get rid of a worry.
• Use your craft as a reading buddy as you reread the story, and use your model sharing your worry like Ruby does at the end of your book.

*~Overall, I hope you find a way to share your emotions so that you can feel happy and *perfectly you.* Tag me on Instagram @MaiStoryBookLibrary, Twitter @MaiStoryBook  – post on FaceBook – or contact me via email to share your photos of your own *Worry Cloud* Crafts, and your own reading adventures! I’d love to hear from you!~*

*~Until next time, Happy Reading~*