I Can Handle It!: 50 Confidence-Building Stories to Empower Your Child

Best for kids 10 and under...

The title promises to help empower children and make them more confident but the writers really miss the mark in a number of places.Some examples:1) Charlotte expresses her fears that her parents will forget to pick her up from school. Part of the affirmation is "I'm just being silly" which minimizes the child's fear.2) John is angry that his sister Megan is sick and needs to go to the doctor all the time, taking his parents away from him. The vignette never normalizes John's feelings. It just says that he doesn't understand it and that it might help him be less angry if he helped his parents and sister more.3) Parker is upset that his parents can't afford to buy him video games, like his friend. Part of the resolution vignette includes Parker saying that when he is older he will make a lot of money and he will buy Mom a new car and dad new suits. This recommendation by the author encourages the child to feel responsible to take care of his parents.4) Henry talks about how angry he is that he grows out of his favorite shoes. In this affirmation the writers refer to his anger as being "silly." Minimizing children's feelings does not deliver on the promise of the book's title to help empower children and make them feel more confident.I was hoping that this would be like a "Chicken Soup for the Soul" but for very young kids but was very disappointed. Jeffers and Grandstein address many issues that kids struggle with but often miss the mark in the affirmation/advice sections.Dr. Jenn BermanAuthor of  The A to Z Guide to Raising Happy, Confident Kids

Very positive uplifting and empowering stories for childrenThank you

This is a lovely little book which was recommended to me by a good friend of mine who's daughter took it along with her to Uni. It would have been nice to have it stated clearly in the write up that this is a more recent addition of Jeffers' book of almost the same title. I can handle it: How to Have a Confident Child.