Why Michael Ian Black wrote I'M WORRIED (launches from Simon & Schuster BFYR on June 4, 2019)

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Thanks to Matthew Winner for doing the cover reveal of I'M WORRIED earlier this week; do check out Matthew's blog post for sneak peeks inside our upcoming book, find out what it's like for me to work with Michael Ian Black, what I thought when I first read the manuscript, and more. I'M WORRIED is the newest picture book collaboration written by Michael Ian Black and illustrated by me, a sequel to I'M BORED and I'M SAD that comes out from Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers on June 4, 2018....I can't wait!

I asked Michael what inspired to write I'M WORRIED, and here's what he said:

"When I was a kid, I used to worry about all kinds of stuff. Small stuff and really big stuff. I always felt like adults tried to smooth over my worries, telling me that everything was going to be okay, which was a little bit reassuring but I also remember thinking: 'How do they know???' Now that I’m an adult, I realize they didn’t know. They had no idea if things were going to turn out okay or not. Most of the time, things turn out okay, of course, but we can never know for sure and so I wanted to write a little book that says everybody worries, and that one good way to deal with worry is to focus on the present. Right here and now, things are ok. Right here and now, you’re with people who care about you and love you. And that’s a pretty good place to be.

"One of the things I’ve rediscovered as a parent and as a kids’ author is that children are no different from adults. They have all the same questions, concerns, and emotions. The idea behind the 'I’m…' books is to let children know that whatever they’re going through is normal. Childhood is an amazing period of exploration, and I’m interested in letting kids (and potatoes and flamingos) know that they can feel however they feel at any given moment without judgment."

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In this third book in the I'M book series, Potato is worried. About everything.

Because anything might happen.

When Potato tells his friends, he expects them to comfort him by saying that everything will be okay. Except they don’t. Because it might not be, and that’s okay too.

Still, there’s one thing they can promise for sure: no matter what happens…they will always be by his side.