Poppy and the Overactive Amygdala

This book was eye opening for me as a Mom. Very informative especially about emotional control. My son has ASD, ADHD and anxiety. While reading to my son, he was able to tell me how it feels for him when his amygdala is acting out. We problem solved a few things, that otherwise would not have been a topic of conversation. Highly recommend this book.

Just enough brain science for an intro to how the fight/flight/fawn/freeze/fib reaction works. The right advice for caregivers. A quick read with great illustrations and a compelling character. I’ll be using this to help set grandparents, baby sitters, teachers, etc up for success with my kiddo who has an intense stress response.

Perfect book to to talk about what is going on. Shared with teachers to give insight also.

I love this book. We have bought multiple copies & have given them out to the adults in our child's life. It makes a complex issue easy for the people who interact with your child but who do not have the background to understand what is really going on with them. People like grandparents, babysitters, music teachers, parents of friends, etc. It's not a heavy read, but it is packed with helpful information about what might be going on inside your child and why they are acting the way that they are. Thank you for writing it!

Such a helpful book! We have 2 kids that both are suspected ADHD. Our pediatrician recommended it when we had a lot of trouble helping our oldest with anxiety and sleeping (both common issues with ADHD) The pictures are cute and really help with visualizing what they are talking about. The information is also very clearly written and helped our daughter find the words to explain how she was feeling. The few tips/tricks made a huge difference for us as well.

Overall, this book was helpful. I'd say it would be better for a child who already knows what ADHD is. It refers to ADHD, but does not explain it at all. I wanted a book to explain the amygdala, but this goes deep into more specifics about ADHD versus anxiety. The way it's presented makes it seem like all children might present the same way, but it's important to clarify that there is a spectrum and various "symptoms" depending on the person. Also, it talks about the child being 2 - 3 years behind in development, which could make them feel bad when they already might have negative self-talk. There are some big words in there that could be modified for a child. Overall, I think it's a helpful book with some parental guidance.

I was so thankful to find this book and it has definitely been useful with my child with extreme behavior! I am mom to 10, previous foster mom for 15 years and previous autism therapist so I was wearing all my hats as I read this book. I'm giving it 5 stars because the concept is fantastic and the way Poppy describes her feelings and perceptions and reactions to things is spot on. The part that misses the mark just a bit is the technical explanation about what is going on in the brain. As I read it to my kids I found I had to do a lot of explaining if I read the text as is so I ended up modifying it for understanding as I read, changing a few words here and there, so I could just read straight through without stopping. It is truly minor and the overall presentation of the book really is great and relatable.Practical use: my 10 year old with extreme behaviors had a melt down with an in home provider. He stormed to his room when the provider suggested playing a quiet game instead of a loud game. His perception was that she didn't want to play with him at all ever because she didn't like him. I grabbed the book and brought it to his room and said, "you just had a Poppy moment!" We found the page that showed how Poppys amygdala misinterpreted what people said to her too. It actually made him feel better and he was able to see that the overreactive amygdala had struck again instead of logging the incident as him being a bad kid.

This book is so helpful. My son was diagnosed with dmdd a couple months ago and I bought this book to help him understand. But if I had read this book when he first started having symptoms, I would have been so much more equipped to handle his rages and evaluate his needs. Thank you for this book!

Someone recommended this book in a parenting group I'm in and I am profoundly grateful for it. My kiddo is only 6 so some of this might still be a bit over his head but it describes him SO well and I want him to understand that his reactions aren't his "fault" but that there are things we can do to help. I'm buying extra copies for his school and daycare and maybe one to just lend out to people who interact with him on a regular basis. Though it's meant for kids it's great for adults too as it's very simple and quick to read but really get a great basic understanding of why he does the things he does. If you have a kiddo or know a kiddo who struggles with reactive behaviours I cannot recommend this book enough.

This is so sensitively written, I repurchased three further copies. We have actually worked into our child's recovery from anxiety and in helping him cope and manage his emotions. We speak of the greedy amygdala and how if he connects his breathing he gets oxygen to 'Peter the pre frontal cortex' so he can make better choices. Thank you to the authors of this book. Really recommend, so good to see an actual helpful book I have purchased so many duds that truly are so obviously people looking for a money grab off parents desperate for solutions. But this along with any peer reviewed actual book written by actual specialists I cannot recommend enough thank you

I found this book excellent to explain what happened in neuro divergente children’s’ brains. I found it highly useful! I don’t believe it’s for children though. I first bought it as I thought I could read it to my almost 4 year old son, which I quickly realized is not age appropriate. However, very good for adults to understand in a simple way and to bring a copy for relatives etc.

This is a concise and constructive guide to help anyone navigating the struggles of living someone with PDA. Sometimes we all need a gentle reminder that empathy and compassion are the best ‘medicine’ when someone is living in the fear part of the brain.

Amazing book for our kiddos with impulse challenges. My boys has ASD and DMDD and this explains him perfectly