Worry Moves On by Liz Haske is a flawlessly written children's book that begins with Sophia. As teacher's pet, she is an awesome student that is very confident, outgoing and smart. That is until one day when worry and doubt entered the scene. She began having panic attacks as doubt entered her mind, and her self confidence just seemed to leave her completely. She began losing all track of thought when it came to solving problems. Suddenly Sophia wasn't Sophia anymore. When it came to solving problems in math, her mind went blank, and she could not figure out how to work out the problems. It just did not make any sense. Even in her favorite subject, science, she just froze up and her mind went blank; no matter what subject she was being taught. Just as she thought that it could not get any worse, her friend Maya came to her rescue by telling Sophia how she conquered worry.

Haske does an outstanding job of describing all of the feelings and emotions that Sophia was going through, and how panic took over her mind, not allowing her to move past her fears and doubts. Then Maya comes to her rescue with some exercises that she conveyed to Sophia. This story brought back memories of my school years, and how I wished that I'd had a friend like Maya. Instead I received the teacher's help in the form of detention. Haske's writing style is very accurate and with the help of InSong Nam's illustrations, the ominous cloud of worry hovers constantly over Sophia's head. The lessons learned in Worry Moves On, and how to deal with the catastrophic lapse of confidence, makes this book a must-read for any child or student to overcome chaos when worry shows its ugly dark cloud. Well done!

Worry Moves On is a children’s educational/social issues picture book written by Liz Haske and illustrated by InSong Nam. Sophia was a superstar in school. Arithmetic was instinctive and easy for her. She loved learning about science and could ace any spelling bee or exam, but then something happened. Sophia changed, and her parents and teachers couldn’t understand what happened to the confident and happy child she used to be. She had begun to worry and lose her confidence. Math wasn’t simple anymore, and tests seemed insurmountable. Sophia didn’t understand why she was so unhappy and worried; she only knew she was so frightened of making mistakes and not knowing what to do. Then someone came along with a solution. Maya was very familiar with worry and what it can do to turn your life upside-down, and she showed Sophia powerful and effective ways to get past worry and fear.

Worry Moves On is an effective and insightful look at the issues of worry and fear that children may often experience. Sophia could be any child whose confidence might be shattered by a particularly difficult test or a challenging new math principle. Suddenly, learning seems impossibly hard as the child’s worrying takes a predominant role in her thought processes. Maya’s techniques are marvelous and are not limited to the targeted audience of grade-school kids. I’ve no doubt caregivers and teachers will be practicing some of those techniques themselves, as I already have done. Fear and worry can be debilitating no matter your age, experience and skill set; courage and confidence can effectively overcome them. Kids are given the tools to do just that in this accessible and beautifully illustrated book. I especially love the brilliant summation of Maya’s techniques, which is given on the concluding page. Worry Moves On is most highly recommended.