There's long been a tradition of introducing kids to difficult subjects in the form of picture books. There's Ibram X. Kendi's odd counting book about how kids can confess their racism, Antiracist Baby. There's Jeanette Winter's Our House Is on Fire: Greta Thunberg's Call to Save the Planet about the teen activist phenom. There was Maira Kalman's Fire Boatabout 9/11, and now there's Calm the F**k Down!: A Covid Bedtime Story by the aptly named Ivana B. Dunne. Tracking the emotional reality of the Covid crisis and distilling it into manageable bites, Dunne tackles the anxiety, the disinfectants, the incessant and ever-expected deliveries. With delightful illustrations from Walter Carzon, she pokes fun at face masks, toilet paper hoarders—remember those?—and the grocery washers.
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This demonic book must be put to the flames of a thousand teeny candles, preferably with sparkles.
The pandemic starts and you decide it's time to finally get through War and Peace, The Power Broker or Proust with a dose each night before bed. Notice that this is somehow NOT quite what the doctor ordered as a tonic for lousy times? This book actually is. Save 100 Years of Solitude for weekend afternoons and use Calm the F**k Down to get through the week itself
A great book to read at bedtime. Even to kids
Calm down? Anathema! Getting hysterical during this pandemic is our only entertainment.
I love this book. When everything feels to be falling apart, out of control, it's a great reminder that laughter is what holds us together as individuals and as a community.
I used to work out, eat well and meditate to feel calmer during the pandemic, but who's got the time when we don't even know what day of the week it is? Now, I just read this book once daily before bed and I sleep like a baby... who wakes up in the middle of the night screaming and crying. Calm the F**k down is like a warm glass of milk before bed when you're lactose intolerant.
This book is good for your soul - even if you don't have one.
Finally! A funny book about COVID! But the truth is, it's about a lot more than that. 'Calm the F**k Down' is good advice for a lot of what ails us, both culturally and politically. It's the perfect gift for the person in your life who seems to be freaking out about everything. Especially if that person is you.
