Keep Your Cool : How to deal with life’s worries and stress

This is an impressive book carefully honed for children growing up in the modern world. It gives sensible advice and some very useful information about coping  with what  life may throw at children in the late primary and early secondary school years. It addresses the young readers directly and the authorial voice is pleasantly conversational. Nevertheless, parents and teachers would also find it helpful.  It covers all the things likely to worry children and teenagers: bullying including cyber bullying, examinations, relationships, identity and body image.   The issues social networking can create are carefully addressed with some sound Do’s and Don’ts. The book  is helpfully organised in sections: About You; Life at Home; School Life; Friends, Frenemies and Enemies; Modern Life ; Now That You’re Cool.   A major message is that it is best to keep ‘cool’ and work out calmly how to solve problems and make changes for the better. Dr Balick,  a  psychotherapist, shares his knowledge, experience and insights lucidly.  He explains how thoughts and feelings  lead to certain kinds of behaviour. Young people wanting to change their perception of themselves to a more positive one need to understand how these three things interact. He is also a great believer in collaborating with others over problems rather than doing too much brooding alone. As well as clear written explanation, the pages are peppered with diagrams and exercises to encourage positive thinking. There are interesting ‘Try it out’ boxes, including one on how to keep a journal and being honest enough to write absolutely openly about your problems. Other ‘Try it Out’ boxes give help with relaxation exercises and deep breathing.   The section on ‘Life at Home’  is realistic: ‘sometimes families can be tough because parents and siblings can be hard to get on with’. It is also true that we need a broad notion of family and in this book it means ‘those people you live with and spend most time with’. Whatever tensions may arise, those closest to you can be a support in times of great anxiety and stress.  The organisation of the  pages and the illustrations which  often borrow some of the features of cartoons – speech bubbles for example make this a book that will appeal to the young people it is intended to help.