Your anxious child
John S. Dacey
Your anxious child
Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide
How Parents and Teachers Can Relieve Anxiety in Children
by John S. Dacey
The text is written at a 6th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for middle graders (ages 9–12), and the content has moderate intensity with some emotionally heavy themes.
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About This Book
Here's a secret: feeling worried sometimes is more common than you think, even if it feels like a big, scary monster inside. This story shows how kids just like you can face their fears and learn to calm their racing minds—but that's only the beginning.
Themes
Quick Assessment
This book offers a compassionate look at childhood and adolescent anxiety, providing practical strategies based on the COPE Program to help children recognize and manage various anxiety disorders such as phobias, panic attacks, and OCD. Suitable for ages 9-12, it supports parents in understanding and assisting their anxious children with accessible language and helpful tools.
Why we rated Your anxious child 11ME
Your anxious child is written at a Level 6 reading level across 242 pages. Strong independent readers around grade 7.0 can typically handle this book on their own; with parent or teacher support, Your anxious child works for readers up to grade 8.0.
We rate Your anxious child as 11ME ("Moderate — Emotional") because the content sits in the "Moderate" range — moderate conflict that may involve loss, scary scenes, or interpersonal stakes. The strongest signals come from emotional weight — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.
No specific content flags were raised by community reviewers, which is consistent with the moderate intensity score.
Thematically, Your anxious child explores anxiety, stress management, parenting, and coming of age — these threads give the book room to mean different things to different readers.
Good fit for
- ✓ Children in the Ages 9-12 range — the maturity and attention span match the story's pacing.
- ✓ Patient readers who enjoy slower, character-driven stories.
- ✓ Kids drawn to stories about anxiety, stress management, parenting.
Maybe not for
- ! Readers who get easily upset by emotional or moderately dark scenes — the conflict here is real, not just background flavor.
- ! Reluctant readers who need a fast hook — the pacing here rewards patience.
For Parents
Content Intensity
11ME — Moderate — EmotionalReal stakes and emotional weight. May include sustained danger, loss, or bullying.
Was our "Moderate" content intensity rating accurate for this book?
Reading Insights
Hook Factor
1/10A steady, thoughtful read that rewards patient readers.
Discussion Potential
3/10A lighter read — great for independent enjoyment.
Book DNA
Multi-dimensional content fingerprint
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Details
Book Length
- ISBN
- 0787949973
- Pages
- 242
- Publisher
- Jossey-Bass
- Published
- 2000
- Type
- Fiction