Editorial Review

The situations outlined in the Dealing with Life Challenges series are familiar to any human. Each title shares strategies to cope with personal difficulties and support friends through the same. The books convey gentle, clear, and consistent suggestions: talk about troubles with trusted people, check in with friends having difficulties, listen to others without giving advice. Visual representations of information enhance the succinct reporting. Dealing with a Move features a pie chart of reasons why people move. Dealing with Bullying uses an annotated photo series to depict different feelings caused by bullying. A similar photographic approach is taken in Dealing with Divorce to illustrate various family structures. Dealing with Family Changes contains a diagram of stress’ effect on the body. Each kid-friendly title is divided into three chapters and begins with a concise, relatable summary of the issue. Challenging words are highlighted and appear in a glossary. Captioned photos depict kids and adults representing many colors, identities, and abilities. A bonanza of back matter completes each volume, including questions to ponder and ‘Fast Facts’ that recap key concepts. An empowering touch is the text’s use of the term people in lieu of kids and children. Offering helpful messaging, these books lend themselves best to exploration in a one-on-one or small group setting, led by a teacher, counselor, or caregiver.