Therapeutic Children’s Book Options:
Anxiety:
- Ages 3-8
- Helps: describes anxiety and how it can grow, teaches how to take charge of anxiety
- Ages 4-8
- Helps: illustrates how worry can impact daily life function and how to change this “little by little”
- Ages 3-6
- Helps: identify a worry and where it might come from, as well as provides them with helpful tools to reduce and cope with worries.
- Ages 6-10
- Helps: “cognitive behavioral techniques most often used in the treatment of anxiety. A resource for educating, motivating and empowering kids to overcome their overgrown worries”
Autism:
- Ages 6-10
- Helps: Describes day-to-day experience of high-functioning children with ASD
- Ages 8-12
- Helps: Per Child Mind Institute-not a book that is obviously about autism.
Bullying:
- Ages 6-9
- Helps: distinguish between teasing and bullying
- Ages 5-10
- Helps: distinguish between teasing and bullying and teach strategies for responding to both good-natured teasing and bullying.
- Ages 8-12
- Helps: Discusses bullying, relatable story for kids who feel like outsider
Consent/Body Autonomy:
- Ages 5-10
- Comic book style book about consent and holding/respecting boundaries
- Ages 4-8
- Helps: understand boundaries, uses “red flag” and “green flag” language
Dyslexia:
- Ages 4-8
- Helps: explains dyslexia and models how to ask for help
- Ages 8-12
- Helps: explains dyslexia, models how to ask for help and captures how can impact self-esteem
Feelings:
- Ages 3-6
- Helps: describes each emotion
- Ages 4-8
- Book about overcoming fears, how does Humpty Dumpty get back up again?
- Ages 3-8
- Book to help explore feelings
Friendship:
- Ages 8+
- Helps: describe changes in friendship, bullying, childhood anxiety
Grief and Loss:
- Ages 4-8
- Helps: explains why people die and how hard it can be to say goodbye
- Ages 4-8
- Helps: show change from struggling to recovery and emphasizes using support networks
- Ages 3-5
- Helps: describe feelings around loss, does not describe death
Identity:
- Ages 5-10
- Helps: describes labeling
- Ages 4-8
- Picture book for children about non-binary gender identities
- Ages 4-8
- Short, subtle but lovely and sweet picture book about a child who is non-gender conforming
- Ages 4-8
- Picture book about diversity and difference
Mindfulness:
- Helps: explains simple mindfulness techniques
Neglect:
- Ages 6-12
- Helps: explain how neglect can feel and describes how social worker and therapist may intervene
-“You Weren’t With Me” by Chandra Ghosh Ippen
- Ages 3-12
- Helps parents and children talk about difficult separations to help them reconnect and how they can find their way back to each other.
OCD:
- Ages 9-14
- Helps: describe OCD tendencies and how support could be provided
- Ages 7-12
- Helps: describe OCD tendencies and how support could be provided
Puberty/Development:
- Ages 8-11,
- Body positive, empowering book for girls that informs about puberty, emotions and relationships
Responsibility:
- Ages 5-8
- Helps: accepting responsibility for own behavior
Self-Esteem:
- Ages 3-7
- Helps: describe diversity and differences
- Helps: describe differences, compassion and supporting those with differences
Selective Mutism:
- Ages 5-8
- Helps: describes how kids can be verbal at home but not in public
Sensory Processing:
- Ages 8-12
- Helps: explain how sensory sensitivities and anxiety can impact daily life function
Tourette’s Syndrome:
- Ages 8-12
- Helps: explains tourette’s syndrome and how it can impact self esteem
- Ages 12+
- Helps: give insight into living with disability, discusses syndrome and types of treatments
Trauma:
- Ages 5-9
- Helps: discusses trauma and the importance of talking about traumatic things

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