Ruby Finds a Worry

June 3, 2019
A girl named Ruby, clad in polka-dots and wearing puffy pigtails, loves to visit “wild, faraway places” and swing on a swing. But while in a peaceful, wild garden, she’s unexpectedly visited by “a Worry”— a floating ball of yellow scribbles with anxious eyes and a furrowed brow. In Percival’s subtle art, featuring ashy and pale yellow tones, it starts out small, but “then the Worry started to grow.” Ruby tries to ignore it, but the Worry is there as she works on art projects and brushes her teeth; at school, it stops “her from doing the things that she loved.” Eventually she realizes that others have Worries, too. Percival treats worry like a natural part of life, including the idea that sharing worries with others is a good way to ensure “they never hung around for long.” Ages 3–6.

Starred review from June 1, 2019
Ruby is an adventurous and happy child until the day she discovers a Worry. Ruby barely sees the Worry--depicted as a blob of yellow with a frowny unibrow--at first, but as it hovers, the more she notices it and the larger it grows. The longer Ruby is affected by this Worry, the fewer colors appear on the page. Though she tries not to pay attention to the Worry, which no one else can see, ignoring it prevents her from enjoying the things that she once loved. Her constant anxiety about the Worry causes the bright yellow blob to crowd Ruby's everyday life, which by this point is nearly all washes of gray and white. But at the playground, Ruby sees a boy sitting on a bench with a growing sky-blue Worry of his own. When she invites the boy to talk, his Worry begins to shrink--and when Ruby talks about her own Worry, it also grows smaller. By the book's conclusion, Ruby learns to control her Worry by talking about what worries her, a priceless lesson for any child--or adult--conveyed in a beautifully child-friendly manner. Ruby presents black, with hair in cornrows and two big afro-puff pigtails, while the boy has pale skin and spiky black hair. A valuable asset to the library of a child who experiences anxiety and a great book to get children talking about their feelings. (Picture book. 4-6)

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August 1, 2019
Grades K-3 Feelings are frequently depicted as amorphous blobs in picture books, and here a scribbly yellow splotch embodies a young girl's worry. At the outset, Ruby, a cheerful Black girl in a polka-dot dress and hair drawn into two explosive poofs, is carefree and adventurous. But when she discovers a small worry one day, she becomes frustrated that it won't leave her alone. Ruby does her best to ignore it, but the more she bottles up her concerns, the bigger it gets. Eventually, she sees a sad boy with a blue worry of his own, and she asks him what is on his mind. As the two talk, their worries shrink, until finally they disappear completely. Percival focuses on the social-emotional health of children in this simplistic story, providing a window for discussions about fear and anxiety. He makes effective use of color, with Ruby, the boy, and their worries being the only glimpses of color in a gray world until they share their feelings. A useful resource in getting children to discuss their worries.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)