Illustrate Your Own Story Book Agent Pensby and His Little Troubles: A Tale About Separation Anxiety Note regarding Copyright: This story is intended for use by therapists, teachers, parents and children. You may freely use and distribute this story, so long as proper attribution is made. Please do not make changes to the text or remove the source information included in the footer.
1 Agent Pensby and His Little Troubles: A Tale About Separation Anxiety Written by Carey Emmerson Illustrated by:
2 This book is dedicated to:
3 The London Zoo looked like any other zoo. The workers rubbed their sleepy eyes as they rushed to open the animals pens before day s visitors arrived. Nearby, cool and cozy in their igloo, Pensby the penguin and his much smaller friend, Little, had just sat down to their breakfast of Guppy Puffs.
4 Pensby crunched his cereal as Little searched the box for the toy. Suddenly a letter slid under the doorway. The words TOP SECRET were stamped across the front. Pensby snatched up the envelope and tore it open.
5 The letter read Report for duty at the usual location. Destroy this letter immediately. Pensby crumpled up the paper and quickly swallowed it, washing it down with the milk from his cereal. Little gave him a funny look, Why d you do that? Uh... because paper is an excellent source of vitamins, Pensby replied. He grabbed his pack from the closet. I better get going.
6 You have to leave again? But I don t want you to go, Little s bottom lip trembled. Big blobs of water began to form in his eyes. They need me at work, Little. And you have to go for penguin training anyway, Pensby said But who will help me with my homework? And who will tuck me in to bed tonight? Who will walk me to class? What if I get sick and you re not there? The questions poured out of Little s mouth.
7 Pensby interrupted him. Whoa, Little, slow down. That s a whole lot to be worried about. He patted Little on the shoulder, Why don t you get your bag and I ll walk with you to the corner. On the way I can teach you a few of my tricks for beating anxiety. What s anxiety? Little asked. He swung his backpack over his shoulders and he and Pensby left the igloo.
8 Anxiety is something that lots of little ones get when they have to be away from the penguins they love. They feel tight in their chests, and get lumps in their throats, and sometimes feel sick in their bellies. Sometimes it even feels hard to breathe. That s what I have! Little said It s very scary. Am I going to be okay?
9 Anxiety can t hurt you, Pensby replied. And it s okay to feel nervous when I m away. It means that you love me a whole lot and feel safe with me. But, you know, if I don t go, I can t do my job. And if you don t go to training, you won t learn how to perform like a proper zoo penguin. I do want to learn how to do flips in the water like you do, Little said. But I m still scared.
10 Right, well the thing about anxiety is that it goes away when you do the thing you are afraid of. But you have to be very brave and face your fear first. Can you be brave, Little? Pensby asked. I can be brave, Little said. Like the first time I dove underwater by myself. My legs were shaking and my flippers were sweating. But then I did it. Little s chest puffed out with pride. Can you think about that on your way to training? Pensby asked. Can you think I m brave and I can handle this when you feel afraid? Yes. I think that will help me. Do you know any other tricks?
11 Pensby reached up and untied his bowtie. He handed it to Little. Here, now you can take a part of me with you to training, Pensby said. Whenever you start to feel scared, you can pull it out. You can look at it and touch it and remember that I love you and will be back soon. Then if you just take some great big belly breaths, you will start to feel better.
12 Little and Pensby got to the corner. They stopped beside the sign pointing the way to animal training. Here we are, Little. Pensby checked his watch. You know, I still have a few minutes, if you are scared and want me to walk with you some more. It s okay, Pensby. I am brave, Little said. He gave Pensby a hug, took a deep breath, and headed toward the training centre.
13 Pensby waited by the sign just long enough to see Little turn and wave. Then as Little looked away, Pensby wriggled under the fence, out of the zoo, and on to the streets of London for his next top-secret mission.
14 Now Available: If you enjoyed this story, you may also enjoy our recently released, fully-illustrated children s book: Agent Pensby and the Golden Fish: A Tale About Anxiety This book teaches children about all about how to cope with anxiety. Look for Agent Pensby on Amazon.