Will It Be Okay?

Picture book, 40 pages. Harry S. Abrams, Publisher, 2022.

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"Yes, my love, it will. It will be okay."

Why do I love this book? I love Jessica Love's illustrations - she is one of my favorites!  And I really admire Dragonwagon's reassuring narrative which walks a narrow line between acknowledging the little girl's fears and encouraging her with concrete actions to deal with her concerns.

Most importantly, I love this book because of the historical context surrounding the first and second editions of the book!

Children are anxious; some more so than others. And it seems the recent pandemic plus extreme weather due to climate change plus a constant bombardment by social media keeps us - including our kiddos - on edge most of the time. But you know, the world has always been ending.

The original publishing date for Will It Be Okay? was 1977. And the problems we faced 45 years ago were not much different than today - except for the omnipresence of today's digital news -

• There was a new disease, Legionnaire's, which scared everyone (and AIDS was just around the corner.)
• The Nixon administration's deliberate attempt to slow down civil rights gains would have continued throughout the decade had he not resigned due to the Watergate scandal - which was alarming all on its own.
• The decade saw a pretty stark energy crisis and well as inflation topping out at 12%.
• And around the world there were more than 60 conflicts, skirmishes, insurgencies, and civil wars between 1970 and 1979.

This is not meant to minimize today's problems and challenges, but to say that we need to take a big breath and to tell our children every day, "Yes, my love, it will. It will be okay."

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Crescent Dragonwagon & Jessica Love

Dragonwagon is the award winning author of over 50 books for readers of all ages. Born in New York, Crescent spent the majority of her life in the South, in the Ozark Mountain resort town of Eureka  Springs, Arkansas. And, yes, that is her real name!

Love studied printmaking at the University of California and theatre at Julliard. After working as an actor in New York for ten years, she made a pivot and created Julián is a Mermaid  - which received numerous awards including the 2109 Stonewall Book Award - followed by Julián at the Wedding in 2020.

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Five Resilience-Building Habits for Children
Give Your Feelings Room
Be Kind to Yourself & Others
Think & Breathe
Cultivate Joy
Transform the Story

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Ideas to Make it Real

What are your child's biggest concerns - her biggest "what-ifs?"  

Our children are not usually looking for logical answers to their fears, but reassurance that we understand and will face it with them.  Some stories address the "what-ifs" with silly responses to encourage children to giggle through their fear and others, like Will It Be Okay? present some pretty rational responses to give older children a way to get a handle on their world. Either approach is okay, but you will be the one to determine what is best  at any given moment for your kiddos. Our children need us to listen and to thoughtfully respond to the very real fears in a way which empowers them.

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