Zach Gets Frustrated (Zach Rules Series) Hardcover – April 2, 2012

I was looking for a book to help my 7 year old express emotions appropriately. This book appealed to me because the "chill skills" discussed are skills that can be used almost anywhere (deep breathing, counting to 10, re-framing your thoughts, etc) as opposed to other books that mentioned skills that are not always possible (leaving the area, drawing, listening to music, etc) in most settings (ie school). In this book, Zach is angry and frustrated, because his kite deos not fly. This puts him in a negative mood. Zach's anger is not explosive and he is not dangerous expressing his feelings. Zach's father teaches Zach a 3-step process to cope with anger/ frustration. As a licensed professional counselor with over 10 year experience working with youth and a mother of 2, I found the the steps to be based in solid anger management techniques, presented in a catchy way, and explained well in the book. I also liked the book because the main character is a human similar in age to my child. My son was able to relate the story and anger management techniques to his life. He also liked practicing some of the "chill skills" and thought he could use them when he is feeling frustrated/mad. There is additional information at the end of the book aimed at parents and caregivers that I found helpful. This book exceeded my expectation and I believe it will help my son learn appropriate ways to express and cope with his feelings. This is a good book for children who struggle expressing anger/ frustration appropriately. I believe it is better for early elementary kids. It may be too advanced for pre-schoolers. Parents, caregivers, and counselors will not regret adding this to their library.

This book presents a great tool for helping kids identify their anger/frustration, learn to tame their emotions by controlling their thought process, and then to reframe their thinking to be more positive and realistic. A great resources for kids struggling with controlling any strong emotions. If we can use tools like this book to help kids learn that they have the ability to control their emotions by changing what they are thinking, what a wonderful life skill we they will have.

I have read this book with several preschool and young school aged clients since it arrived last week! Zach gets frustrated and he is viewing his whole day in a negative light until his dad teaches him to name, tame, and reframe his frustration. The illustrations are appealing to children and they also learn a simple, 3 step way to manage their frustration. As some have mentioned in previous posts, Zach does use some "frustrated words" as I have said to my young clients when his kite won't fly (stupid kite, idiotic). I used it as a teaching tool to let kids know that when people are frustrated, they may say things they shouldn't say. Would I have liked to see the book not have those words? Sure. But, it's not a deal-breaker. I did bring the rating down a star because some parents might not like this aspect. As a professional, I would say the age range (or social/emotional age range) for this book would be about preschool to age 8. You'll most likely be reading this book TO kids, so if you don't like the words, substitute them!

My first graders could relate to Zach. The book is a bit lengthy so I broke it down into three segments. The story kept their attention over those days and was a great learning tool. After reading, we made a shark kite chart with the steps (name it, tame it and reframe it) so that they can refer back to them. With prompting and debriefing of future frustrations, we can build on the concepts introduced in this story. Definitely a good choice for me, but I wouldn't recommend it for children younger than 6.

Zach learned about name, tame and reframe the issue at hand, so that he can better deal with whatever may arises from a situation.

Our favorite book in this series. My son even started using a triangle as a visual cue in his calm down area because of Zach’s strategy. This book IS helpful if you have an explosive child.

Very interesting and simple for kids. Good strategies offered during the story to help rethink emotion of frustration.

This is a great one method technique book.My kids dont' want to read it over and over again but I like the concept and technique it teaches.

This book is good at expressing the frustrations that are very common with children. The ideas are positive and supportive.