Me And My Fear

New country, language, school, and wanting to fit in. A young girl moves to a new country and finds a lot is strange. She has an imaginary friend she calls, Fear, but he’s actually a stark, real emotion she struggles with. He grows larger as she finds it harder to adapt. Both not knowing anyone at school, and language differences, contribute to her fears. She eats a lot at home to cope and has trouble sleeping. Then we start to see another student appear in the pictures a few times, quietly looking at her. Not in a bad way, just interested. Finally, he shows her a picture and they begin to paint and draw together. And, you guessed it…they become friends and she wants to go to school now. Her companion, Fear, gets smaller over time. She also discovers that she’s not the only one with fears; her new friend is afraid of a barking dog. Hmm, she thinks that maybe everyone at school has something they are afraid of. The story ends with her playing with the other kids and smiling.

Beautiful book with a great message and gorgeous illustrations. Both my 5yo and 3 yo, loved it.

An absolutely gorgeous book! And a spot-on representation of anxiety. I recommend it to anyone who has a child struggling with shy/anxious feelings.

Such a sweet story! Though it’s about a little girl’s fears as an immigrant, it opens the conversation about fears of all kinds and that everyone struggles with fear of some kind. I loooove this book!

Beautiful illustrations combined with a compelling story.

I’m a youth services librarian and bought this book for my personal library collections because it’s beautifully written and illustrated.

I really loved the illustrations in Francesca Sanna's The Journey (which I included in my list of picture books featuring refugees). So when I saw she had a sequel out, I jumped at the chance to read it. In a way, Me and My Fear picks up where the previous book leaves off -- a girl and her mother and siblings have fled a land of war (there are no national identifiers here in order to apply to the broader refugee experience). Here, she is trying to adjust to a new location where she is unfamiliar with the language and customs of the children around her. But she has a little friend who helps to protect her -- Fear. I like that fear is occasionally portrayed in a positive light -- able to provide some services that are good, and not as something that has to simply be eradicated from a person's life. But this girl's Fear friend soon grows so large that it keeps her from doing a lot of things. It causes her to feel lonely, anxious, and to engage in negative self-talk. This is also an interesting picture, as Fear is at once an essential part of the girl, but also something outside of her that she has to contend with when their desires are at odds. I thought the allegory was well done, and portrays this often tempestuous relationship in a believable way. In the end, one thing that helps the girl to deal with her fear is to recognize that, contrary to what Fear tells her, she is actually not alone -- the children around her all have Fear friends as well, even if they're often smaller than hers. This contrast between loneliness and solidarity was also helpful in understanding fears. I think this book could be very helpful, especially for anxious kids or adults, and even for those who are not trying to make the shift between cultures. (Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.)

Added this to my 7th-grade classroom as we learn about refugees around the world, a gorgeous addition to our collection.

A great book in helping my young daughter understand and manage her fight with anxiety. Highly recommend.

My 4 yr old starting school for the first time completely related with this book. This book helped him visualise his fear better and hence relate and deal with it better. I will say very effectively made book,the concept hits home with everybody who has had the nerves on trying anything new. Thank u

The girl in the book moved to another country and started a new school, she doesn't speak the language at first and the settling in is difficult. Her fear is depicted as a white koala-like creature mostly clinging on to her back and affecting her freedom of movement as she grows in size or gets smaller depending on the situation and which looks like a koala to me, as he is As Francesca slowly settles into the community, Fear becomes a manageable, polite friend, and she also finds out that everyone else lives with some sort of fear. The winning point of the story is that the girl's emotions are depicted as a tangible, visible entity: this makes it more grounded and understandable to young children, and less negative and gloomy at the same time. Although Fear is annoying at times, she looks more like a cute, mischievous puppy needing some training. Fear is also a matter of safety: 'Fear has always looked after me and kept me safe' and that's a very good point which has aroused my daughter's interest. The sense of fear keeps us away from danger when kept at a healthy level, which is somehow an interesting idea to remind children about. A therapeutic read with a bittersweet end, and the comforting finding that we all live with our own pet-Fear. And that’s ok.

Very interesting and kind book. Good for anxious kids. Or kids who have strong fears.

I even cried towards the end of the book. I'm not sure when to read/give this book to a child (when they are in a similar situation as the heroin, perhaps) I'm always hesitant to read such books with "deep" themes to kids, but I guess I can read this to older kids with similar problems.