A children’s book about OCD that literally says at the end she can now be happy and playful because she doesn’t have OCD anymore., made me angry. 2 stars just for the beautiful art

This is such a good conversation starter to use with young children struggling with OCD or even just anxiety. I appreciate that it shows how the symptoms, intrusive thoughts, and rituals increase in intensity and complexity over time as Chloe listens to the bossy cloud. The ending where Chloe talks to her mom about her worries does seem a bit rushed in its helpful advice on how to counteract those thoughts. However, the advice is nonetheless good, if maybe a little over-simplified. Dealing with any kind of mental health issue can be a daily struggle and not so easily resolved. I appreciate that the author most likely wanted to keep this lighthearted and hopeful, but that is still the reality that children with OCD must face. I would hate for a child to come away from this thinking that there’s something wrong with them if they can’t simply tell their bossy cloud to leave them alone. Again, though, this makes for a great conversation starter and easy to understand visualization for children to introduce the concept. The artwork is also lovely and engaging!

What a beautiful book!

I loved that this book presented a problem and also offered a real, thoughtful solution. I think the strategies outlined in this book could help kids who have anxious, intrusive thoughts whether it’s related to OCD or something else and I think that is so wonderful! We could ALL use more healthy coping mechanisms!!! I also love the caregiver’s guide in the back of the book for adults; what a wonderful tool!

First off -- what a pretty art style! I really liked this book. As someone who suffers from OCD and as someone who works in the mental health field, I really liked this. It showed how OCD can start to come on, how, if you feed into it, it can get even worse. I appreciate it showing some cognitive behavioral therapy tips to help manage it. I also appreciate the caregiver tips at the end.

Wow! What a great read. This is perfect for the kiddos trying to get out from under their "Worries". Really helpful for those OCD-Type symptoms. The art and visuals are beautiful.

Chloe and the Bossy Cloud is a short story about a girl who develops OCD. It gives several examples of how it affects her life in ever increasing ways. When she finally asks her mom for help, she’s given three tools to overcome her “big cloud” and turn it into a manageable cloud again. The books serves as a good introduction to OCD.

This picture book explores what OCD can be like for kids. It depicts this mental disorder as a cloud floating over the protagonist's head, and this cloud gets bigger and bigger, making more and more demands on the little girl. The author did a great job of portraying common fears and different types of compulsions, and shows how these rituals get more and more involved over time. However, the resolution felt rushed, and the tips at the end for parents were very broad and oversimplified. Still, I appreciate the accurate representation of this frequently misunderstood mental disorder.

The illustrations are airy and expressive, perfectly pairing with a story about managing big feelings and setting boundaries. A light, empowering read with visuals that feel like watching emotions float across the sky.

Cute! This story would have helped me realize that what I was struggling with as a child was in fact OCD. I chuckled at the cloud-ception

This is a great tool for children with OCD. It normalizes and puts a name to the diagnosis and gives helpful child appropriate tips.

I would not recommend reading this to children who do not have OCD.

Chloe is a conversation starter

Chloe can definitely begin to open up the topic of behaviors and internal OCD thoughts. I would definitely encourage caregivers to pre-read the story and sample questions at the end. I think the caregiver who knows the child’s personality and behaviors best will be able to adapt the messages, questions and tips to the child best.

This book is not a one time solution, but should be looked at a conversation starter/refresher for children who may struggle with OCD tendencies.

The illustrations of Chloe’s progression of the cloud/her OCD displays was very visual and emotion provoking.

I received a copy of this book from Natasha Daniels and Hachette UK | Jessica Kingsley Publishers. I am voluntarily leaving a review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you, Netgalley, for this ebook ARC! All my thoughts in this voluntary review are my own.

The book has beautiful, colorful, and expressive illustrations! Lovely and engaging to look at. I especially loved the facial expressions and how the cloud was depicted.

I loved that the cloud didn’t disappear at the end, but instead became smaller and sat on a shelf. It would have been unrealistic for it to disappear completely. I also appreciated the child-appropriate explanations and tips, along with the resources provided at the end.

I do think, however, that the tips were too vague, general, and broad. ALWAYS doing the EXACT opposite of what the cloud says could go pretty badly in certain circumstances, for instance. The book didn’t entirely speak to the real fears and compulsions people with OCD can have.

The book also made managing OCD look too easy and too quickly accomplished. This could result in frustration, tears, and negative feelings about themselves. It could also lead to arguments if family believes managing symptoms should be easy and the child is still struggling.

I do greatly appreciate this book and think it is definitely educational, assuring, and entertaining. I wish, however, that the book had been a little longer to show Chloe struggling more with learning how to manage her symptoms and working with her family and professionals to support and help her.

‘Chloe and the Bossy Cloud’ is a great introduction to OCD for young children. Chloe is a happy little girl who loves playing and drawing until a dark cloud starts giving her rules to stay safe. At first, it seems helpful, but soon it becomes overwhelming and makes her more anxious. Written by child OCD specialist Natasha Daniels, this book does a fantastic job of explaining intrusive thoughts and compulsions in a way that’s easy for kids to understand. The illustrations are bright and engaging, and I loved that it includes resources and tips for parents on how to implement the strategies. It was a little cut and dry at times, but since it’s for young kids, I get why it was kept simple. Overall, it’s a great tool for families looking to help their child better understand and manage their feelings.

Chloe and the Bossy Cloud is a delightful children's picture book for any child who might be worried about OCD symptoms beginning to develop. With vivid and whimsical illustrations, Chloe and the Bossy Cloud will even become a wonderful resource for parents, teachers, and child therapists working with children discovered with OCD symptoms.

Natasha Daniels magnificently turns OCD symptoms into a literary character by developing the cloud through both narrative and illustration-- a literary character which children and parents alike will quickly identify as not being a hero or even a friend but also will not find as necessarily scary, either.

I love that there are so many more resources now for kids facing mental and/or psychological difficulties. The description of OCD is wonderful, too, (including the pictures) and how Chloe tried to deal with it on her own before. There are real tools here for learning to deal with OCD.
The only thing I would have to say is that when adults read this with children, they can also talk about the use of therapy and/or medication if those are needed.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

I like how straight forward this book is in explaining OCD, especially with scenarios that can easily resonate with young children. Like repeating things over and over when she feels it’s not perfect, or when she touches something with her left hand and then needs to touch it with her right hand.

I love that the book offers children a way to deal with the “bossy cloud”. This book will be a good asset to open the conversation about OCD with young children.

Thank you to Jessica Kingsley Publishers for the ACR on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book explained OCD in a way that would be extremely useful with children. It showed simple techniques that could help in overcoming some tendencies. Very well done.

This is a good book for young children to use with their caregivers or therapists in order to understand more about OCD. Many of the themes rang true for me, as someone who does have OCD. I saw common triggers that I experience with my own disorder, and saw ways reflected to fight back against it that young children can follow and understand. The illustrations were beautiful.

I didn't expect this book to be about OCD and how to manage it, but I was happily surprised! I love how the author conveyed what OCD might look, feel, or be like in a perfectly age-appropriate way that is easy for little ones to comprehend and understand. Adding onto that, the three tips for fighting your own "bossy cloud" were great to include, but I felt that they could have been a bit clearer. The tips that were given seemed a bit broad and general, and therefore difficult to apply to real life. I can imagine readers feeling frustrated that they can't get to that point *quite* yet. It would be beneficial for the author to break these steps into bite-sized pieces, so that managing OCD can be less daunting and easier. However, the plot and organization of this book was perfect, and made total sense. Lastly, the illustrations were very beautiful, and the illustrator used more muted or "drab" (in a good way) colors effectively, so bravo for that!

I received a copy of this eBook from netGalley for a honest review.

Chloe meets a cloud and in starts out being helpful but soon becomes big and bossy and interrupts her life. Her mom helps her find ways to upset the cloud and make it small again. I think this is a good book to help kids who over worry hopefully get things back under control.