Call Me Penny Pickleberry - Meghan Grana - ★★★★.½

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AUTHOR: Meghan Grana
ILLUSTRATOR: Fanny Liem
GENRE: Children's Picture Book
PUBLICATION DATE: September 1, 2022
RATING: 4.5 stars.

A beautiful and inspiring book for little readers who battle with anxiety. (and for other kids too.)

Penelope Pickleberry, a first grader, is “simply spectacular” at her work. But she has a big problem in Nelly. Nelly isn’t a real person but a voice in Penelope’s head, constantly telling her about bad things that happened or might happen. Luckily, there is one more voice in Penelope’s head – that of Penny, the smarter voice who trusts that Penelope can do anything. Whom should Penelope listen to?

I appreciated the idea of the book. It focussed well on how to get rid of negative thoughts, and to focus on the positive. I also loved the idea of naming the voice in your head. Imagine how wonderful for a child to give their own names to the good voice and the bad voice in their heads! It would make their choices and their internal conversations so much easier. The book ends with a lovely and practical guide on how to “shush your Nelly”.

This is a chapter book and the content is built in paragraphs of 2-3 sentences, with each page containing 2-3 paragraphs. Though Penelope is mentioned to be a first grader, the book would work for slightly older children for independent reading, maybe grade 3 onwards. As a read-aloud, it might work for kids age 4 onwards, but things would definitely need a lot of explaining.

The illustrations are adorable and suit the story perfectly. Nelly and Penny are sketched wonderfully, as can be seen from the cover image.

Definitely recommended to all little ones who want a boost in their confidence and are tired of being pestered by the Nelly in their minds. This book would also be a great addition to school reading sessions.

My thanks to Girl Friday Productions and NetGalley for the DRC of “Call Me Penny Pickleberry”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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