Of Course It's a Big Deal!: A Story about Learning to React Calmly and Appropriately (Executive FUNction Book 3) Kindle Edition

This book is about a boy, Braden, that overreacts to several different situations. His mother talks to him about a 4-step process she learned from her Grandfather to react calmly, and throughout the book there are examples of Braden putting those steps into play, while also describing a parent's role in implementing and facilitating these changes in thought process. The situations that Braden is placed in are ones that many children experience, which helps the child reading to identify with the character and think about what their reaction would be in these situations. This book is a little lengthy and might not be as interesting to those children without this particular behavior issue, but for parents and children who struggle with overreacting and subsequent negative consequences, this book is great to help give guidance for both parties!

It is all too easy for us grownups to criticize a child who blows up when things don't go his way. We forget that there is no 'small stuff' for little kids. Everything is really, really important! Want an example? We have seven balls for two kids to play with, each ball a different color. For some reason, the blue ball is the ONLY ball worth playing with, and there are tantrums galore from the kid who got stuck with one of those other suckie balls. This book holds up a mirror to our boys' behavior, and has given them something to think about. The main character is a likeable kid, and we all enjoy reading the book together.

I wanted desperately to like this book because of the focus on executive functioning skills. The biggest downfall was the illustrations. They were not engaging and most importantly only depict white people and the main character is male. There is a lack of diversity in the illustrations in all of the books in this series. I can maybe understand one book depicting a family with a boy. However every single book in this series has the same white boy character. Not what I'd expected considering the positive reviews.

Way too wordy...

I like the idea of the book but am disappointed in the execution. It has all of the tired, mainstream kid-book tropes. Video games, watching baseball on tv, ice cream sundaes, parents not understanding kids because they're so old... Like they're trying too hard to be hip and cool. It feels too stereotypical and not relatable to real kids. The parents utilize unhealthy, outdated parenting methods (rewards and punishments, plus using food as both). I found the parents to be cold, disrespectful, and invalidating. The part that helps them learn to cope isn't very helpful. Step one is to stay calm, but it doesn't elaborate despite that being the hardest part to learn. Step two -- find a way to make things better. Three -- try it. Four -- ask for help if it doesn't work. Then at the end, the main character uses the steps on his own. Though what actually happens is he suppresses his emotions and distracts himself by thinking of something else, and no problem solving occurs. He merely forces himself to not say or do anything because he says he doesn't want to get punished. Then the dad rewards him with ice cream for not "overreacting," and the book ends with him making fun of his brother and calling him an "over-reactor" for getting upset by not getting ice cream as a punishment for doing something completely innocuous and devopmentally normal for a young child. So overall, it's toxic garbage, and I sent it back.The focus of the book is on getting the end result of compliance and acquiescence from the child when they should have focused on developing self-awareness, self-empathy, and self-validation without shame, educating on why we lose our cool, and building emotional regulation and problem solving skills when those moments inevitably happen.

I bought this book, for my son; he is 7 and experiences some anger issues. I changed the names, to his and his big sister's; I think that helped keep his attention. The tips are wonderful; they give 2 examples of situations, to show the main character utilize, the tips he learned.

I love Bryan Smith’s books! My kids were adopted and have early childhood trauma and don’t handle their emotions very well. I bought 3 of Bryan Smith’s books and my kids are in love with them- they sit on the couch and read them over and over again. I’m hoping the info will soak in, lol, and help them control their emotions better.

This is a comes from a Christian publisher. I like that it offers realistic situations and real coping tools and not fanciful stories that some kids might miss the point of. No superheroes , no super villains, just personal accountability, and ideas for flexible thinking.

Brilliant books! Great to read and work through together. Several different scenarios throughout book, so varying predicaments to think about and process.

Over priced in my opinion did have some good conversation with my child throughout reading the story together but we’ll never read it together again.

I hate books with multiple fonts and font sizing!!! It makes it impossible for younger kids to follow along.The way the book is written it’s not suitable for kids under 8

Love the message in the story. Great discussion with students

Great book!