The Drama Llama: A story about soothing anxiety

My five year old loves reading this. The rhyme is bouncy and fun and the illustrations are suitably bonkers! It’s great for opening up a conversation about how to tackle worries in an accessible, child-friendly way - but crucially the story never feels preachy

Perfect for children around 4-7 years old but younger children would also love the growing llama even if theu don't understand the underlying message.Great story with a light message to encourage children to talk about things that worry them in a very visual way! Beautifull written again by Rachel and wonderfully illustrated!

Duncurin has been taking a look at this “Drama Llama” book courtesy of Vine and Puffin books. It’s a lovely sized rectangle as tall as A4 but then a bit wider. It also has a lovely embossed cover with tactile graphics, raised up just a little and of course the Llama in question, itself in a nice pink sparkly finish.The book is about Alex being the centre of our story and his propensity to harbour worries. These worries are personified by said Llama in question who proceeds to become larger and more intrusive in the little boy’s life – until such time as he learns a coping strategy to deal with some of his worries and thereby shrinking our Llama.It has some nice, impactful illustrations and a perhaps, none too subtle rhyme that runs as the story unfolds.At the end of the book some hints are provided as to how children of all ages (including adults!) can learn to live with their Llama, by keeping worries in perspective and adopting coping strategies.The whole thing comes together well and it would make for a great present for anyone you know who is perhaps worrying more than they should.For sure it’s a worthy enough tale and also a useful way forward given the above requirement. I was perhaps hoping for something just a little more impactful as surely each children’s tale gives the author a free hand to do something amazing while you have the child and parent within the confines of your pages; and for me, I guess, although it’s a great effort I would hope for just a little more – something that sparkled as much as our llama, if not a little bit more.Finally, remember too that although worries are not nice, they are an essential part of growing up and also in coping with the things as adults that we will have to deal with. Worries will fuel a child’s learning, their growth and also ultimately their happiness, provided they are containable – and to be fair this is the book’s aim though sometimes children will nevertheless have to deal with some worries on their own and try as we might we can’t be there to insulate them from all of them. Many thanks.

This book was part of a gift for a five year old, who likes the story. Good illustrations and a positive message, so would recommend.

This is my Greatgrandaughters Areayah-Joy who is 3yrs old favourite book. At bedtime this is the book she most request her mummy to read it makes her smile.

With the pandemic and world events still swirling round it’s a known fact that anxiety amongst children is very prevalent. In her inimitable style Rachel provides parents with a guidebook how to address these fears with younger children via the vehicle of a Llama. Brilliantly illustrated this book is a fantastic tool to help adults calm children in these challenging times.

We love this book 😍. A fun and gentle way of discussing emotions with younger children. The rhyming is fabulous, as are the illustrations. It’s already a firm favourite.

This is a lovely rhyming story and one that made it very easy to read. The story is about worries and it really was an engaging read! It was written in a way to help children understand about worries and how everyone has them. However there’s a fun edge as a Llama appears and causes quite a bit of mayhem for the main character, Alex. So this definitely makes it easier for kids to understand and also gets them invested in the story.My seven year old could read most of the book although there were a few words that were a little trickier for her and she needed help on occasion. I liked the fact that the book introduced some new words to her though. I really love the helpful ‘How to Calm a Llama’ on the back page. It’s a lovely little checklist that you can read through with your children or for them to read. With helpful hints on how to calm your worries.Overall it’s a lovely story but one with a meaningful message!

A lot of books are too slow or not interesting enough to keep the attention of my very busy ADHD 5 year old but this one has become one of his favorites and it helps teach important skills and lessons in a language he can understand. He really enjoys it.

My 6 year old child was having anxiety issues at school and wasn't ready to talk about it.I bought this book for her and we read it maybe just three days in a row.We made a big joke about not taking the Llama to school...we even joked that the book should not be opened, else the Llama would escape and follow her to school.I am thrilled to say this, that the book worked it's magic and just like that, she overcame her fears and is happy again at school...P.s. the language in the book is simple and she enjoys reading the book on her own now.

Absolutely love this book. In fact we loved it so much we bought it for a gift for one of my kids friends!

A mis niñas de 8 años les encantó el libro y su mensaje llegó en forma clara.