Draw Along With Sammy Sloth

Get to Know Me: Anxiety

Louise Lightfoot, Catherine Hicks

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9781351164825
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

The 'Get to Know Me' series is made up of resources aimed at children with additional needs and those who support them in the classroom. Developed by child psychologist Dr Louise Lightfoot and illustrated by Catherine Hicks, the series includes activities specific to anxiety, depression and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). This book, Draw Along Sammy Sloth, is an activity-based picture book story, in which individual children are encouraged to interact with the story in a creative way – through writing, drawing, scrap booking, collage, activities etc.

Active engagement helps children to understand and process information, and aids long-term recall. It has been designed to support the individual child and encourage an empathetic and inclusive environment. In this book, we meet Sammy, a sloth who lives in a beautiful tree by the sea. The story follows Sammy as he wakes up one day to find he feels funny and strange. He can't sit still and does not feel like his usual happy and relaxed self. After pacing up and down he meets Anna the Armadillo who tells Sammy that he is silly and has no right to be sad when his life is good. Sammy hears this and feels embarrassed and ashamed of how he has been feeling. Sammy hides away until he meets a kind lizard who shows him kindness and empathy.

This book was written with children with anxiety in mind, providing an opportunity to relate to Sammy's thoughts, feelings, behaviours and experiences. However, children with a range of needs may benefit from the story. The book is written in a narrative style, so it does not use diagnostic labels and is not intended for this purpose. Instead the focus is on creating a common language which children can understand and use to make sense of how they are feeling.

A practitioner guidebook is also available (ISBN 9780815349419).

A sloth called Sammy
Lived in a tree
In a faraway land
Overlooking the sea.

QUESTIONS: Where do you live? Is it busy or peaceful?

He spent happy days
Climbing up trees
Enjoying the sun
And the cool evening breeze.

QUESTION: What do you do in your spare time?

Sammy was happy
In his beautiful home;
He had family and friends
And was never alone.

Then one morning he woke
Feeling all funny,
With ants in his pants
And a knot in his tummy.

QUESTIONS: What did he feel like was in his tummy? Have you ever had this?

He couldn’t keep still,
Like he drank too much pop,
Thoughts rushed round his head
And they just wouldn’t stop!

QUESTION: What thoughts rush around your head?

He felt whizzy and fizzy
And tizzy inside,
And he couldn’t relax
Though he really tried.

QUESTION: How do you relax?

So he paced up and down
Till it made his feet ache,
But he didn’t feel tired
He felt wide awake.

QUESTIONS: Do you have trouble sleeping? What helps?

So he climbed down the tree
And sat on a stone.
“Get off me!” he heard.
He wasn’t alone.

He’d found Anna the Armadillo,
He’d sat down on her shell.
“I’m sorry” said Sammy
“I don’t feel too well.”

“Whatever’s the matter
Why can’t you sit still?
Watching you pace
Is making me ill!

QUESTIONS: Is Anna kind? Do you think she understands what he is going through?

“I thought sloths were slow,
They don’t rush around,
They’re still and they chill
And they generally lounge”

“I was slow,” said Sammy.
“But there was a change
And now I feel buzzy
And fuzzy and strange.”

“You must know what’s wrong,
So fix it today.
So stop with the worry
And you’ll be ok.”

“But that’s just the problem,
I don’t really know.
Nothing has happened
for my worries to grow.”

Anna looked puzzled.
“That sounds silly to me.
You have plenty to eat
And your very own tree.

“You have family and friends
And a place to belong;
And you lie in sun
So what could be wrong?”

QUESTIONS: What advice did she give her? What advice would you offer Sammy?

Then Sammy felt silly,
As that was all true.
And ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Work book instructions for practitioners, parents and carers
• Draw Along With Sammy Sloth