Anxious Kids - NEW BOOK for parents and children "12 Annoying Monsters" by Dawn Meredith

Hey! My fabulous book for kids (and grown-ups) is purchased here -  Five Senses Education website and 12 Annoying Monsters on AMAZON    So, what's it all about? Perhaps you are a bit anxious at times, get that pounding heart and shortness of breath. It can feel like it will NEVER END! But guess what? There are 12 annoying monsters chatting inside your head, telling you all the wrong things. Such as: 'change is always bad!' or 'the whole world is a horrible mess!' or 'everything has to be perfect!' These monsters are a real pain. But you can learn how to banish them, through awareness and useful strategies. This book comes highly recommended by counsellors, psychologists and parents.

About me:
I've been working with children and their families for 25 years. I've noticed that so many kids suffer with panic attacks, feelings of misery and helplessness! I've put all  my tips into this fun book. By identifying some of the unhelpful thoughts and casting them as monsters who live outside their heads, children can learn to recognise these unhelpful messages and ignore them. Developing new, more positive messages, more helpful thinking habits and accepting that the symptoms of anxiety can be managed gives an enormous sense of relief and freedom to someone who has suffered with this sometimes paralysing condition for many years.  

The funny thing about this book is that adults will flick through it and exclaim out loud, "Oh, this one talks to me!"   There are ways of thinking which are inherited, as personality, and therefor run in families. In this way, my book can stimulate conversations between parents and their children.

As a writer, I run workshops all over the country for children and adults. I speak to audiences about writing, about what kids like to read and about trends in publishing and literacy. I love hearing what readers think of my books! If you'd like to write a review I will post it here on my site.
Enjoy your day!

Gendered Books - are we forcing stereotypes?

Just been chatting to Linda Mottram, radio host ABC Sydney 702 am
I've just been on air, chatting to Linda Mottram about books and the gender divide. With Sydney Writer's Festival coming up this week the topics are running hot. What do girls want to read? Why do boys have to have beasts and macho characters? Why can't girls read adventure stories too? The fact is, girls will read about male protagonists, but boys generally won't read about female main characters, just in case it's too 'girly'. 

So, pink for girls and blue for boys, right?
Uh... no. As a young girl myself I loved the adventure stories of Enid Blyton, in which a group of both boys and girls had wild and daring escapades. So what's with all the fairies for girls and monsters for boys? Publishers maintain they are providing what the market demands, but everyone knows, what children are exposed to influences their choices. DUH! Already at home, with our eight year old daughter, we are exposing her to non-fiction interests, buying Meccano sets and reading classics such as Treasure Island. And it's taking her far away from the rubbish other girls her age are reading - High School Musical, Monster High. Blargh!

 What are publishers producing, then?
As a children's author I'd love to write more stories about feisty girls, but unless its a heavily structured series, like EJ12, there doesn't seem to be much interest in female protagonists in more unisex books. It's no surprise to me that most of my published books have a male protagonist or two. They sell because there are boys on the cover. However I'm holding out hope that my next chapter book will be about a girl. I've submitted two stories to New Frontier's new series. The main character is a girl who saves her sister, trapped in nasty fairytales. It requires enormous courage from her, but she fights her own fears as well as the very real dangers of ogres, witches, bears and the like. Let's hope the publisher wants a change from boys fighting demons and girls chatting to fairies!

Have we actually come any further in gender stereotyping?
The day my daughter came home from school and informed me, 'I don't like Science. Science is for boys,' my blood starting boiling! We realised we had a job to do. She rarely watches TV now. We buy DVDs that have suitable material for her age, no ads and don't give her nightmares. Hearing her laugh while reading Paul Jennings' Singenpoo adventures is such a treat! She reads books about raptors, dinosaurs, machines, marine animals - whatever we can get our hands on. We want her to have a broader sense of herself and the world.

 The scary worldwide trend
It's all getting very dark in the world of entertainment. Vampires, werewolves, monsters and kids dressed like Goths. Where has the innocence and fun of childhood gone? As I say to my little girl - "Enjoy being a kid, Sweetie. Childhood goes pretty quickly. Have fun! And here's a book about time travel and wormholes."

STAR WARS new film - So why Can't Babes be Warriors?

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Whoa, you were there?
Yes, I know this makes me SUPER old, but I remember going to see STAR WARS when it was released to cinemas in 1977. I don't remember who took me, but I remember almost everything I saw on the screen that day.
What an amazing phenomenon Star Wars has become!
Sequels and Prequels - it's all downhill
Some people are of the opinion that it's been a steady downhill rush since those first three films, that each subsequent installment has failed to impress. I love the characters and I'm inclined to think that the film makers could do just about anything. The world George Lucas created can take it. Heck, we even survived stupid, pointless Jar Jar Binks!

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So, why can't babes be warriors?
I admit, I have a soft spot for Harrison Ford. I don't think anyone else could play that role the way he did. And it was certainly the making of his career, as a wise-cracking sometimes incompetent but lucky hero. Carrie Fisher, however, is perhaps best known for her gold slave bikini and for nearly kissing her brother. Which brings me to the only criticism I have of the series - the lack of female protagonists. Surely, so far into humanity's future, women would do more than wear gowns and bikinis? Where are the warriors? Even Hercules came up against Zena. The new cast shows no sign of improving this lopsided view of life in space. But perhaps deep into our future as a race there aren't as many females. Perhaps we all got fed up with being ignored and buggered off to another universe.