100 books like The Worrier's Guide to Life

365 Days of Drawing is such a positive and personal book. It feels like an art diary that I can take in my bag for whenever I get a quiet moment between hectic moments of life. You can look back on your year through the prompts and see how much you have improved, whilst taking some time to practice your craft and to do something that you enjoy.

It is perfect for those who want to draw more but don’t know where to begin.   

It was hard to just choose ONE Richard Scarry book as all of his books are so brilliant.

Like many children’s illustrators, I am heavily inspired by his books. The characterisation and details of the animals are so fun and lively, everyone has little quirks you can pick out, and you can imagine what they say or do!

What Do People Do All Day? is such a fun and creative book that I would challenge people of all ages to pick up and enjoy without having a huge smile on their faces! 

I’m a firm believer that picture books are for everyone. They are modern, affordable, and accessible works of art that can be viewed at home, school, or a library, rather than a busy gallery. You will find some of the most inspiring, creative and charming work being made today in them and The Artist is a perfect example of this.

Art is for everyone at every age and this book perfectly reflects this and encourages everyone to have a go, no matter what stage you are at! It is a mantra I try to instil in my work and that Ed Vere delivers in this book so perfectly. 

I have had a copy of this book since I was a teenager. It is now slightly worn with a ragged sleeve from all of the rereads in my stages of life.

I wanted a career in art, and I just didn’t know how to make it happen. Martin Salisbury is a well-known and hugely respected lecturer of children’s book illustration and founded the MA in Children’s Book Illustration in Cambridge, UK. This course has produced a large list of incredible talent, whose work you will find everywhere in book shops.

This book talks about different mediums and methods of creating illustrations in a way that not many other books discuss, such as printmaking and collage. Although I am a big doodler myself, there is such a rich tapestry of mediums for everyone to try!

This book is brilliant for those looking to learn more about children’s illustration as a… show more.

I loved this book as it clearly separated the two areas of the brain associated with some of the most challenging feelings we experience (fear, worry, etc.) and how we can use this knowledge to truly overcome the most frequent presentations I see in my practice–stress and anxiety.

Having experienced crippling anxiety at points in my life, I found comfort in further understanding why we as humans are essentially programmed to be anxious–without these neurological systems, we would not have survived.

But we needn’t be slaves to the amygdala and cortex, and so, I like that this book also outlined many easy and practical techniques to get to grips with an anxious brain in a complex world. 

One of the greatest days of my professional career was when a media outlet called me a “Digital Dale Carnegie.” They had no idea what a fan I am of Carnegie's work. Carnegie passed away (1955) long before I was born but he continues to have a profound impact on my life. My grandfather, and father have both taken Dale Carnegie Courses. While Carnegie’s book How to Win Friends and Influence People is wonderful and is one of the best-selling books of all time, my favorite is How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. 

In our modern world, worry is almost a certainty. We worry as parents, business owners, employees— we never seem to run out of things to worry about. Dale Carnegie’s How to Stop Worrying and Start Living reframed my perspective on the cost of worrying. Eliminating the fear of the unknown is often the first step… show more.

This workbook has a wealth of helpful tips on how to deal with overwhelming anxiety. It’s written simply with great illustrations that really help littles figure out the scary world that surrounds them. I love the example of worries growing like tomato plants. If we want the worries to stop growing, we stop watering them! At the time my daughter was four and we had a huge over-producing tomato garden so this was a perfect illustration for both of us. We set up a time to talk about worries and we kept to that time limit. It helped both of us go through the anxiety instead of getting overwhelmed by it. There is no cure for anxiety and medication is not really an option for small children so dealing with it head-on was the only way that worked for us. This book really gave us both tools. It’s practical and… show more.

Most people who suffer from OCD also suffer from anxiety in general. Anxiety is the most common mental health disorder that we see. This book is a great resource to help you understand the nature of anxiety. It also offers practical and well-researched techniques and tools to help you manage anxiety more effectively in order to help you minimize the impact of anxiety and worry on your life. 

With my fascination for whales, I was taken by Gold's book.

Rio, who lives in London, is sent to California to be with his grandmother, while his violinist mother recovers from a breakdown. Everything is alien to Rio. Gradually, he begins to notice the migrating gray whales.

With his new friend, Marina, and her father, who runs a tourist boat, Rio becomes intrigued with one whale in particular, White Beak. They track White Beak, until suddenly, there's no trace of her. Rio and Marina, concerned that she has gotten entangled in fishing nets, are determined to locate her.

Their strong resolve leads them further out to sea and into a deep involvement with White Beak. 

Worms are slimy and wiggly, and you can’t tell their tops from their bottoms! *shudder* This is one of those books I want to immediately read at storytime because I know the room will erupt in giggles.

From the idea of a fierce tiger being terrified of worms to the physical humor to the hilarious dialogue, this book is full of laugh-out-loud moments. I also love how the ending flips this story on its head … or is it its tail!?