Critters Cry Too: Explaining Addiction to Children (Picture Book)

It helped explain some things without saying it in a fun way. She loved the critters, wants to reread it, and over time has helped her understand what's going on in a kid friendly way. I'm glad I got this book.

I found Critters Cry Too by Anthony Curcio to be an extremely insightful, informative, and entertaining children’s book. I heartedly enjoyed reading this moving story of Calvin Critter and his family and their struggles with addiction. The author does an excellent job of tackling and explaining a hard topic to kids. I enjoyed the fun illustrations and the use of some of the words in the story, especially “madsad” to describe their critter feelings. There are many things in life that will make a person “madsad” and kids and adults can relate easily to the critters’ feelings in the book.The story is narrated by Dr. Rhymer Roach, who I found to be quite charming and engaging as the book unfolded. He was my favorite character. Calvin and his family are happy go lucky critters, who love to talk, sleep and best of all play Critterball, a game I wanted to play too as I read the book. Life is great until “whateveritwas” is introduced to their peaceful world of Zapatos. “Whateveritwas” is the substance to which Calvin and his family form an addiction to very quickly. I found the cookie to be a smart kid-friendly representation of a substance or activity that can cause a person’s addiction and it was utilized very well in the book. Without giving much away, I was very happy with the ending of this book.I found this book to be a beneficial tool in showing the perils of addiction and how it can affect a user and the people around them. As a child of a parent, who suffered from drug addiction, this would have been a wonderful book to read growing up. It would have helped me understand my father’s sickness better and his struggles as an addict and now a recovering addict.This is a MUST READ for all kids and should be a staple in library systems. Five stars all around!

The analogies are good. Helpful for young kids to understand addiction. But, with several grammatical errors (there instead of their, too instead of to), it should’ve been half the price.

Addiction is hard enough for adults to understand so imagine how hard it is for little ones to understand. This book was a great way to start the conversation but can be confusing depending on the age. Must continue to talk it out with the little ones. I applaud this book for approaching this very destructive and terribly painful disease for young children to understand. I actually saw a light bulb go off in my son's head when he finally understood what was happening with ***** and it was because if this book.

It was a great way to introduce the conversation to my 6 year old. It made it easier for her to ask questions and was easier for me to find a way to answer them. Definitely facilitated this very important and delicate topic regarding her dad.

I bought this book so that my daughter could help my small granddaughters understand the addiction that has been an inter-generational issue in our family. I was very much looking forward to reading it, due to the reviews here. Unfortunately, it was so disjointed that I could not see how it explained what the reviews claimed it would. I will admit I did not read the comment sections at the bottom of each page, as they were distracting from the bold print on each page. So perhaps those comments would help it make more sense.

This is another great book by a great Author! This book talks about addiction in a cute way in which is very relatable to children. The Critter family is the main focus and they seem like the perfect family until a particular “item” is introduced to their environment. The short read really speaks to children on their level and promotes healthy conversations regarding a emotional topic.

This just doesn’t quite hit the mark. Hard for kids to understand and follow and the whole book is black and white so not great in keeping their attention. I will continue looking for better options to use in my therapy practice.

I think this will be a great addition to my kid-appropriate bookshelf of addictions resources. It's so hard to find books that have an entertaining story for kids, while also providing an appropriate message, and most importantly an explanation of addiction that makes sense to them! I have other resources like "The Brown Bottle", "The Elephant in the Living Room", "Wishes and Worries", "Stoney the Pony's Most Inspiring Year", and "When a Family is in Trouble", but I am always looking for new ways to help the kids I work with understand what is happening within their family, and most importantly that it is not their fault. The story of Calvin is simplistic, yes, but kids will be able to relate to the changes in Calvin's family and community caused by Whateveritwas. Through learning about Ralph the dog who loves chocolate, kids can also see that we can have cravings for things that can really hurt us.

This is how my product arrive. With a huge piece of tape or something stuck on it. No it doesn’t come off.