Most of us are going through a lot of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re dealing with anxiety, procrastination, and worriedness. It is quite understandable—our previous routines have collapsed, and the world feels very unstable. We need some time to adjust to the new reality and create new patterns of behavior to replace our previous ones. Now image how much harder all of this is to handle if you’re just a child. Here’s where Steven Joseph can make things easier for you. He recommends embracing your crankiness and using it to make yourself more productive. Steven is the author of The Last Surviving Dinosaur: The TyrantoCrankaTsuris, the book for kids that shows them how to let their crankiness out. He bases his book on personal experiences of how he learned to manage his crankiness as a child. The tale provides a character that readers can learn from and use as an example to manage their own set of emotions.
Steven is an attorney, comedian, and Zen master. He lives in Hoboken, New York, and knows how it feels to raise a child—he is the proud father of a grown-up daughter, Vita. He is also the son of a Holocaust survivor, and his writings lean on the concepts of survival, which was ever-present growing up, and acknowledgment, which he has learned through his Zen practice.
“Many people grew up believing that dinosaurs became extinct when the Dark Ages arrived, but that’s only partly true. Yes, the Dark Ages did come, but one cranky dinosaur survived and became mankind’s oldest ancestor: the TyrantoCrankaTsuris.” In this playful, imaginative tale that draws inspiration from Jewish culture, Steven reminds children and adults alike that we all have a little TyrantoCrankaTsuris in us. He encourages readers to balance their woes with the positive things in pursuit of a happier life.This book teaches children that it’s perfectly normal to be a bit different, and that we have to embrace those differences. Frankly, it’s comforting to find practical advice on our crankiness.
Steven is releasing his second book soon, this time for adults: The CrankaTsuris Method: A Grownup Guide to Effective Crankiness. It tells us how we can let our crankiness out in a way that is productive and beneficial for us. This version for adults takes a more hands-on approach but still explains the same techniques.
An expert on this topic, Steven Joseph was recently invited to the LA BookFest, where he shared his Guide to Effective Crankiness During COVID-19. He gave a basic account of the method and shared tips on how to make your time in self-isolation pass more easily and comfortably. If you want to know more about his method but don’t want to wait for the release of his new book, watch the video interview with him.
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