Hot Stuff to Help Kids Chill Out: The Anger Management Book

by Jerry Wilde

Shows how to recognize feelings of anger, discusses how angry feelings are created, and suggests ways to calm down and deal with the emotion.

58 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1997

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had serious problems with this book. It basically tells children - "life is unfair - just get over it." Which is all well and good when we're talking about minor conflicts and injustices. But this author seems to live in a fantasy world where there is no child abuse or racism or poverty or serious injustice. It's easy for him to say people should just accept that life is unfair - he's a white, heterosexual, affluent male. I think this book could be really damaging to, say, a kid who has experienced serious abuse and has legitimate anger issues as a result. Should we tell this kid who was beaten or molested that "you're making yourself angry" as this author likes to say?

Also, the author says at one point "Anger has never accomplished anything," which isn't true. If anger is well-managed and channelled in a thoughtful and productive manner, it can be used to fight against injustice. I found myself wondering if this author thought that Rosa Parks should have just told herself, "Oh well, life is unfair and I need to just accept it and give my seat up to this white man, even though this rule is completely unfair and I'm exhausted from working all day and my feet hurt and I was here first. I need to question my cognitive distortion that life should be fair," and then practice some guided imagery to keep from "making herself angry".

I think the author meant well, but he came across as a real know-it-all, yet he seemed oblivious to a lot of really serious problems. Also, a lot of the jokes, such as the ones about how fat Elvis got at the end of his life, were stupid and mean-spirited - and kids probably wouldn't get them anyway. There was some good information in here, but I definitely would not recommend this book to anyone.

[Megan Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the writing style a bit patronizing, but I'm not exactly the target audience, either. I think the information is valid, and the techniques actually made me think about what I do when I'm angry--how I deal with it in my head, so it's not a terrible book.

[Tami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ideas to calm your child.

[Yycdaisy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This might be a useful book for an anger management class for kids.