Health

44 Children’s Books That Help Kids Understand Mental Health

This book helps children understand identity. 40. Red: A Crayon’s Story Identity is something that all kids, not just those who are LGBTQ+, struggle with on… Trista - September 1, 2019

This book helps children understand identity.

40. Red: A Crayon’s Story

Identity is something that all kids, not just those who are LGBTQ+, struggle with on one level. It tells the story of Red, a blue crayon who has a red label. Everyone tries to make him red, as his label suggests, but no matter how many times he tries to draw strawberries, he cannot force himself to be red.

When he encounters a purple crayon, the purple crayon helps him understand that he is actually blue. This book is something that all kids will be able to relate to on some level, especially those who try to conform to what others expect them to be.

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This book helps children understand anxiety and develop strategies to overcome it.

41. How Big Are Your Worries, Little Bear?

Even very young children can struggle with anxiety, just like Little Bear does in this book. He is especially afraid of making mistakes, just like many children are. However, when he talks about his worries with his mother, they get a lot smaller, and he can overcome them.

This book will help even young children understand that their worries are not as big as they think and that sometimes, talking to someone can help them go away. This book can be helpful for very young children, as young as three years old.

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This book helps older children understand bullying.

42. Warp Speed

This novel, which is appropriate for middle-grade children, tells the story of Marley, who is starting another boring school year. However, the school year becomes a lot less boring when the biggest bully in the school targets him.

Bullying can cause severe adverse effects in adolescent children, but helping them to address the issue in an age-appropriate way can lead to strategies for dealing with bullies. It can also help them understand where their own behavior may be considered bullying.

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This book helps children understand grief and loss.

43. When Dinosaurs Die

The wise dinosaurs, who have an entire series on helping kids deal with difficult issues such as divorce, are back in this book to help kids understand the process we go through when loved ones die.

This book, which is appropriate for children as young as preschool, answers many of the questions that children have about death. Parents and caregivers can read it with young children who are learning to navigate a profound loss so that they can begin to heal.

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This book helps children to understand Tourette’s Syndrome.

44. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

This chapter book for middle-grade kids tells the story of Aven, a cactus which was born without any arms. However, instead of admitting that he was born without arms, he likes to invent wild stories about how he lost them.

When his family moves, he makes friends with Connor, a classmate who has Tourette’s Syndrome. The two partner together to solve a mystery. This book will help children understand that the things that make them different give them the abilities to do things that other kids may not be able to do. Most importantly, the two characters discover friendship in the midst of coping with their disabilities.

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