An adult authority figure tells Penny, the main character, that something is “our little secret”. Here it is meant to be a kind gesture about a candy jar, but this is obviously a very dangerous concept to introduce to a child. This is a good reminder to talk with your children about anyone guiding them to not tell you something, especially other adults.
Penny is a hyper-worried child. All throughout the book she jumps to worst case scenarios. While the book feels light, there are a few times when we read her worries and they include a few things like “what if my mom has been kidnapped”, wondering if her mom has “fallen in love with a man in prison and is visiting him there” (mentions the term “love affair”) and worrying her parents are getting divorced. In one unfortunate comment related to divorce, Penny flippantly says that “ugh, two Christmas’ would stress me out”, which drastically underplays just how devastating divorce is on a child and family.
At one point when Penny is worried what will happen at a sleepover she imagines the girls wanting to drink coffee and watch R-rated movies (seems to imply she would cave and do it too). They do end up playing truth-or-dare, which Penny doesn’t want to at all, but does anyway.
Penny lies somewhat frequently, almost always to avoid telling her mom something she doesn’t want to share. Towards the end when the group of new friends is supposed to be visiting the Feelings Teacher they end up meeting somewhere else and hanging out (never shown as wrong). There are other examples, such as drinking a soda even though she knows she is not allowed.
A big part of this story revolves around Penny and her eventual friends going to see a “feelings teacher”. At first we weren’t sure what to make of it, but it ended up being a helpful guidance counselor. Obviously we would want our children relying on us primarily, not something that happens in this book, so that is a good reminder on something to speak to your kiddo about..
Other potentially concerning content:
Mentions “dancing like famous TikTokers” and later YouTube is referenced a few times.
A girl is shown saying, “whatever”.
Penny says that a lot of kids want a phone to “play Roblox” and “look up bad words”. Penny herself ends up with a phone at a very young age (meant to comfort her in times of worry).
Halloween is referenced a couple times in a positive light. A couple references to “werewolf” and a haunted house. A hamster is said to have ‘devil eyes’. A truck is said to look like a zombie. A friend’s brother scares them by telling them there is a ghost in the house. One child shares that “There’s a creature in my woods. It howls at night”.
Some gossiping is shown.
On seeing a picture of a leopard we hear the comment, “that thing could rip your guts out”.
Penny asks her dog if something is “better than getting your butt scratched”. Later we hear about her dog smelling other dogs' butts a couple times. We also hear a reference to “a mysterious fart smell”. Multiple references to “throwing up”. The term “boogers” is used.