Review: Ruby's Worry by Tom Percival

Ruby is a bookish, nature-loving girl who suddenly develops a worry that continuously plays on her mind. Day by day Ruby is more affected by her worry—illustrated deliberately as undefined yellow blob—but sadly no one else seems to notice! How will Ruby get rid of her humongous worry so she can enjoy reading and playing again?

This inspired and sensitively written book, from author-illustrator Tom Percival, addresses racial and gender inequality in an indirect way. On one level, it’s an everyday story about a young child experiencing an unutterable worry like we all do from time to time. 

On the another, and without shouting, it places a Black female character firmly at the helm while positively celebrating her non-stereotypical attributes. Ruby is an accomplished well-adjusted all-rounder whose intelligence is far beyond her years. She reads Tolstoy and plays piano but also loves bike riding and junk-modelling just like her peers. This enlightened more nuanced portrayal of a Black child warrants the story’s evaluation against the Jericho Benchmark, despite the fact that the author is white.

Ruby’s Worry is a reassuring, perfectly pitched story which is very apt for the anxiety-inducing times in which we live. All children in EYFS and KS1 should enjoy the lively thought-provoking illustrations and engage with the main theme of feelings.

So many curriculum links can be made with this book but primarily it’s a good way in to talk about mental wellbeing in PSHE: What makes Ruby happy? What is a worry? How does it feel when we have a worry? In literacy, young readers will gain a deeper understanding of characters and their thoughts/actions by making predictions and inferences about Ruby and relating her story to their own experience.

It might also be a useful to read this text with children who have additional needs for example, those with ASD who can sometimes tend to think quite intensely about their worries. It may help with their social communication and management of anxiety.   

Guide for teachers and parents

Genre	Narrative – stories with dilemmas
Child-led interests (EYFS)	nature, making music, junk-modelling (dinosaurs), reading, physical play
Age group (EYFS, KS1, KS2)	EYFS and KS1
Curriculum links/topics (EYFS/NC)	EYFS: CAL PSED  KS1: English (Y1) – listening to and discussing a wide range of poems, stories and non-fiction at a level beyond that at which they can read independently; being encouraged to link what they read or hear to their own experiences; discussing the significance of the title and events; drawing on what they already know; making inference on the basis of what is being said and done; predicting what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far PSHE: managing feelings; boosting self-esteem/confidence (recognizing what you're good at; what others are good at); trying new things; importance of good communication
Suitability	whole-class teaching, storytime school and class library, home-reader
General  features	third-person narration; strong themes; illustrations support the story

All the Black children's books that I review are checked against my Jericho Benchmark.