Our New Book, "Sunshine and the Fear Alarm, Becoming the Guardian of Your Own Fear Alarm," Teaches Children About the Emotion of Fear
Posted by Kristin Guardino, J.D. on Sep 20th 2025
Halloween is a time of year when the world's people, en masse, present children with a paradox that creates an avalanche of emotion: fear and candy.
Parents are conflicted when it comes to Halloween: should they engage the Halloween theater of fright in exchange for candy - or - celebrate a form of early Thanksgiving by calling Halloween a Harvest celebration instead, only to have that devolve into the "us versus them" paradigm. It never ends.
Keeping children safe during Halloween - or Harvest - is the primary concern. After you tackle the logistics of the safety issue - by participating in one or the other versions of the holiday or ignoring it altogether, however popular or not that decision - it's time to tackle the whole issue of this emotion we call "fear" and help children understand and manage this feeling when they are not inside the bubble their loving parents and caregivers create for them.
Halloween can actually be a great holiday for families and children because it provides a perfect opportunity for parents to create a safe environment for their children to explore and practice their management of the emotion of fear. This vital emotion is very important because it keeps us safe.
Fear is an alarm that tells us "Hey, get out of this situation right now!" But it can also be abused by never-do-wells who want to manipulate us or our children or friends. So Halloween - a time when everyone is focused on spooky things - is a great time to set aside precious moments with your children to up their ante and sophistication when it comes to understanding this important aspect of being human.
During Halloween, parents can readily access fear-related themes to spark conversation with their children - because those themes are literally all over the place. Reading Sunshine and the Fear Alarm, Becoming the Guardian of Your Own Fear Alarm with your children before Halloween is a great way to set them up for a great experience however you incorporate Halloween into your October.
Sunshine and the Fear Alarm, Becoming the Guardian of Your Own Fear Alarm will give your children something fresh to recall all week as they gear up for their Halloween/Harvest week at school. As the crescendo of the holiday starts in earnest as soon as they get up in the morning on October 31st and dress up, or dress "regular," for school, arrive, and somehow get through their school day, they will remember the lesson of Sunshine, the gentle giant that protects. After shool they come home with a sense of urgency that builds as a forte getting louder as they prepare for the fun part of collecting candy - or whatever is planned for the rest of the day and evening - until the fortississimo foreshadows the coming end . . . of the evening when parents give the final decision on what and how much candy their children can eat in one night! As they get ready for sleep, they recall again that different kinds of experiences evoke fear, and Sunshine helps manage their alarm until they become the guardian of their own fear alarm.
Helping your charges manage themselves, and fear, is a livelong gift that promotes their growth into responsibile adults who consider their own wellbeing and contemplate their actions before taking them. Fear is a multidemensional emotion that can overwhelm and create a sense of anxiety and vulnerabilty to people who take advantage of others. Managing the emotion is a lifelong challenge that ebbs and flows so getting started early, and gently, is very important. That's why we've written a precious new children's book about the emotion of fear. It's called Sunshine and the Fear Alarm, Becoming the Guardian of Your Own Fear Alarm, where Sunshine, a Great Pyrenees, helps Emma understand real and "fake" fear; fear that keeps us safe and fear that trys but fails to control us.
Help your children put fear into its proper perspective so from a young age they will learn the difference between fear that keeps them safe and fear that is engineered - with the gentle guidance found in Sunshine and the Fear Alarm, Becoming the Guardian of Your Own Fear Alarm!
Sunshine and the Fear Alarm, Becoming the Guardian of Your Own Fear Alarm is a great book for pre-Halloween and any day of the year! We will keep this book on offer year-round. The Ebook version is available now. Softbound book is coming in November 2025.
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