Abstract

Once upon a time there was a Little Meerkat with a very important job to do. Today was the day when Little Meerkat finally took a turn at being the lookout meerkat - watching for dangers to protect the meerkat gang.

It was all going well until Little Meerkat fell asleep and woke up to find everyone had disappeared! This sent Little Meerkat into one very big panic. With help from Small Elephant and Mini Monkey, can Little Meerkat calm down and find the missing meerkats?

This playful full-colour storybook shows children aged 2-6 easy ways for them to calm their body and brain when feeling anxious. It also includes guidance for parents or professionals on the neuroscience behind the strategies, and how they can use the book to help children.

Older children will find the factual part of the book about the brain fascinating, but younger kids will enjoy the exercises, such as thinking of a calm, happy place you like to be, breathing in and out slowly, standing on one leg and reaching for the sky, having a cool drink, and telling someone how we feel. They will also enjoy the computer generated comic-style pictures.
HealthyBooks
This gentle, engaging story cleverly conveys sophisticated concepts about feelings and emotional regulation. With animals used to personify parts of the brain, children are taught how worry and fear quickly take over, and what to do about it. Recognizing feelings, doing something soothing, and making plans are presented as helpful strategies, with a different animal character embodying each. A helpful explanation for parents follows, with enough detail to put parents on the right track in coaching their children to regain equilibrium when they are upset. A fun, useful story.
Dawn Huebner, PhD, Author of What to Do When You Worry Too Much: A Kid’s Guide to Overcoming Anxiety
The inspiration of Little Meerkat's Big Panic is to bring to life for children the often confusing complexity of the emotional brain, as played out by the contrasting character roles of Little Meerkat, Small Elephant and Mini Monkey. Jane Evans' wonderfully innovative book will undoubtedly become that rare thing: a lovely story for children to share with the important adults in their lives as well as an invaluable therapeutic resource for personal, social and emotional development.
Tony Mancini, Chartered Practitioner Psychologist
Lovely storytelling that will entertain children while effortlessly educating kids (and parents) about emotional life and the brain.
Graham Music, Psychotherapist and Author of Nurturing Natures: Attachment and Children's Emotional, Sociocultural and Brain Development
Jane Evans is a Trauma Parenting Specialist, international speaker and Freelance Trainer. She has worked as a respite foster carer, a domestic violence parenting worker, a registered child minder and a family support worker. She is the author of How Are You Feeling Today Baby Bear?: Exploring Big Feelings After Living in a Stormy Home and Kit Kitten and the Topsy-Turvy Feelings: A Story About Parents Who Aren't Always Able to Care, also published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
The story about Little Meerkat and his 'big panic' will ring a bell for every anxious child and for that matter, anxious adults too... The book aimed at parents and carers... The three little animal friends (Little Meerkat, Small Elephant and Mini Monkey) represent the three part of the brain, and each of them has a particular talent. They then give us exercises to do to help us be calm. Older children will find the factual part of the book about the brain fascinating, but younger kids will enjoy the exercises... They will also enjoy the computer generated comic-style pictures. A great book for anxious kids and their anxious adults.
Elizabeth Schlenther
Healthy Books blog
Subtitled 'A Story About Learning New Ways to Feel Calm' and don't we all need those right now... Enjoyable, but very vital book.
Red Reading Hub, Jillrbennet's Reviews of Children's Books