Ten-year-old writes book to help young people with worries

This time of outbreak of COVID-19 can be especially worrying for children. Resources are available to support those who are concerned, such as ‘Kiki the Worry Monster’, a book written by ten-year-old schoolgirl Erin Smith to help children to manage their worries.

Kiki the Worry Monster was written last year in an effort to help children and young people to deal with and openly talk about their feelings and concerns, after Erin was referred to emotional wellbeing service Healthy Minds Lincolnshire.

Erin was referred by her mum, who was concerned over her daughter’s increasing worry over everyday things. The book features tips and advice Erin learned throughout her sessions.

Healthy Minds Lincolnshire is delivered by Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. The service helps children and young people to work through worries and low moods. It offers early help and support to address young people’s emotional wellbeing concerns before serious problems develop.

All Healthy Minds practitioners have a nursing, social work, counselling, teaching or mental health background, working both with children and young people directly, and with their teachers to assess how best to provide support.

While working through her concerns, Erin’s Healthy Minds practitioner Lucy Harte encouraged her to put her creative flare into practice by writing a book.

The storyline includes advice and techniques, as the reader is taken on an illustrated journey with Kiki the Worry Monster, who works through the different types of worries, offering advice on their management.

Lucy said:

“Erin is very creative and has written books of her own in the past, so her face lit up when the idea of creating a book during our sessions was suggested to her.

“Watching Erin’s learning process bloom on paper through this book has been immensely rewarding, and I think it’s helped her even further to know that the efforts during her sessions were making a wider impact.

“Erin has since shared her book with her friends at school, offering tips and advice learned during her sessions to help them. It’s a very relevant conversation but one that can be undervalued in people of Erin’s age, so it’s encouraging to see her help her peers become more open about their worries. 

Erin’s mum also commented:

“This has massively boosted Erin’s confidence and she even stood up in front of the whole school in assembly to talk about the book and the Lincolnshire Healthy Minds process.

A copy of ‘Kiki the Worry Monster’ is now available to read on the LPFT website by clicking here.