Don’t Worry, Felix by Yohann Devezy & Katharine Alice, ill. Zoe Bennett

Don’t Worry, Felix by Yohann Devezy & Katharine Alice

Ill. Zoe Bennett

New Frontier Publishing

Guest Author Post at PaperbarkWords blog:

Collaborating on Don’t Worry, Felix by Yohann Devezy and Katharine Alice

It’s funny how a chance conversation in passing can have such a significant impact on the trajectory of ones’ life events. For us this conversation took the form of a small chat, about a large problem, that resulted in the seed of an idea being planted. That initial idea, to write a children’s picture book about anxiety, would eventually grow into Don’t Worry, Felix. 

But the path that brought us together, to that small conversation, has by no means been a linear one.

Yohann: Hello, I’m Yohann. I was born and raised in France, with family roots in two fascinating regions—Bordeaux and Brittany. Brittany, in particular, holds a special place in my heart with its rich Celtic culture, magical folklore, and stories of “Merlin l’enchanteur” and “la fée Morgane”. Growing up I always loved tales with a lot of magic and wonder; I still do.

In 2012, I made the life-changing decision to move to Australia. What started as an adventure to travel and learn English soon took a new direction when I met my now-husband, a proud Noongar man. After spending years working as a chef, a role I loved for its creativity, I reached a point where I needed to make a change. I took a break, and during that time, I found myself turning to writing, which led to my first book, Hugo, the Boy with the Curious Mark. That book was inspired by my childhood experiences and my desire to share a message of hope, strength, and acceptance with children and families. The success of Hugo across Australia and New Zealand, along with the meaningful conversations I had with families, motivated me to pursue a degree in counselling.

It was during my studies and volunteering with various organisations, from children’s hospitals to LGBTQ+ helplines, that I met Katharine at Edith Cowan University. From the beginning, we connected through our shared passion for supporting marginalised communities, and our conversations often revolved around wellbeing and how children experience anxiety and stress.

This is how Don’t Worry, Felix came to life.

Katharine: Hello, I’m Katharine. I was born and raised in Perth, Western Australia.I loved growing up near the river and amazing beaches that Perth has to offer. I have always adored tales that revolved around the water with Alison Lester’s ‘The Magic Beach’ being a particular childhood favourite. In primary school I enjoyed art and reading and had the dream of being a children’s book author and illustrator. I loved the idea of creating beautiful and empowering books for young minds. 

Following high school, I decided to study Occupational Therapy wanting to go on to help others once I graduated. Initially starting my career in mental health and community development I soon decided that I wanted to focus on working with children, particularly those experiencing difficulties in regard to their emotional wellbeing. As an Occupational Therapist I have had the privilege of working in some wonderful places including Perth, the Philippines, rural Western Australia, London, Liverpool and then Perth once more. Using my experience of working in the disability field I then decided to then try my hand at a slightly different role at Edith Cowan University as an Equity Projects Officer. This was where I first met Yohann. From that first conversation its was clear that we had a shared interest in supporting children to process their big emotions. 

Our Collaboration

Writing the book together felt incredibly natural involving numerous cups of tea and coffee. Initially, other than a book about feeling anxious, neither of us had a particularly precise vision of what we wanted the book to be. This created an environment of freedom to brainstorm various approaches we could take. Yohann had the idea for a balloon to represent anxiety. We did know that we wanted the book to be as relatable as possible which led to us selecting starting school as the source of the anxiety. We then thought about other common stressors that many kids (and adults!) experience, such as public speaking, deciding to include them also. In addition to this we wanted Felix’s dad to teach him a simple strategy to help take control of his anxiety. These became the bones of the story.

We would meet, write a little and then go away with each of us having a part of the story to work on or research. In some ways it felt like solving a sudoku puzzle; working out how each of the story elements would slot together, chopping and changing words and ideas until they eventually fell into place. It was very satisfying to see all elements align and a lovely surprise when we realised how much the story resonated with us both—and now with others too!

A big part of the story is Felix’s dad teaching him about emotions, being vulnerable, and sharing his own strategy. To us, this breaks the stereotype of dads usually being portrayed as tough, strong and unemotional figures. In a lot of books, we found that the mums tended to be the ones depicted as the nurturer, automatically tasked with providing the emotional support to their child. Don’t Worry, Felix flips that on its head, showing a dad who is not only open to talking about his feelings but actively helping his child to identify and address his own big emotions. We believe this message is just as important for adults as it is for children. And how cool is the dad’s outfit and tattoos added by our illustrator Zoe Bennett? Likewise, the depiction of the mess and chaos that is getting out of the door in the morning we are sure many parents can relate to. It’s those little details that bring such a touch of reality to the story. 

One thing we were very mindful of during this process was making sure the book was inclusive. We wanted every child to see themselves represented, which is why it was so important for us to work closely with Zoe. Her illustrations beautifully capture the diversity we envisioned, and it was a wonderful moment when Yohann’s friend, who is neurodivergent, pointed out details they related to in the artwork that he hadn’t even noticed. It reassured us that everyone would, in some way, find a connection to Don’t Worry, Felix. 

Experiences and Skills

We both brought different experiences and strengths to the collaboration which absolutely helped the book take shape. 

Yohann: As a child, I experienced a lot of anxiety, especially around sleep, and I often felt overwhelmed without being able to explain why. Adults would ask me why I was anxious, but I could never put it into words. This made me reflect on how sometimes the “why” isn’t always accessible—especially for children. I realised that what’s often more important is finding ways to help manage the symptoms of anxiety, even if the cause is unclear. That’s why Don’t Worry, Felix focuses on offering practical strategies to help children and their parents manage anxiety, without always needing to pinpoint the exact reason behind it.

Katharine: I brought my experience of previously working with children who experienced anxiety. I wanted the book to use simple language that would resonate with children of how stress can feel in the body. I knew we needed the calming strategy to be both simple and practical. I really wanted the book to empower both children and parents alike in approaching these situations of stress and anxiety together. In terms of how the dad responds, to Felix sharing his worries, I believed this needed to involve listening, validating and then modelling the strategy.

Utilising our Counselling and Occupational Therapy backgrounds we both developed the teaching notes (which can be downloaded for free from New Frontier’s website). These have some great activities, for teachers and parents alike, on how to support children to discuss and process the book’s main theme of anxiety. 

How Don’t Worry, Felix will Help

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, anxiety is the second most common mental health diagnosis in Australian children aged 5-14 years. This book provides a simple and hands on strategy to its young readers that can help them calm their body and mind when they are feeling anxious.  More to the point we primarily wanted to create a story that would spark conversations between children and their parents about feeling anxious.  In addressing common anxiety provoking situations such as; starting school, speaking in front of others and joining in on social activities; Don’t Worry, Felix does just that, providing a catalyst to an open dialogue on anxiety. 

We are so thankful for that brief conversation that has led to Don’t Worry, Felix and excited to share this journey with Zoe and the readers. This book will help kids to feel seen and supported along with resonating with the important adults in their lives.  It demonstrates to children that anxiety is a normal emotion, everyone experiences anxiety sometimes and there are strategies that you can implement to feel calmer, more connected and in control. We hope you find it to be a useful resource!

Don’t Worry, Felix at New Frontier Publishing

Bernie Thinks in Boxes by Jess Horn, illustrated by Zoe Bennett at PaperbarkWords blog