PESI Celebrates Children’s Book Day!: Top 5 Books for Children’s Social-Emotional Learning
PESI Team
These books can also be extremely helpful for raising resilient children; therapists and parents can use children’s books to help explain more intensive emotional concepts about a child’s body, feelings, thoughts, worries, and the world around them. By being cognizant of these topics at a young age, children will strengthen their ability to navigate challenges through childhood and into adulthood.
On International Children’s Book Day, April 2, 2022, grab a comfy spot for reading as PESI recognizes some of its favorite children’s titles:
Some Days I Breathe on Purpose: Learning to Be a Calm, Cool Kid
Kellie Doyle Bailey, MA, CCC-SLP, MMT/SEL | Hannah G. Bailey, BASome Days I Breathe On Purpose follows Maysie as she learns to become more calm, steady, and self-aware by breathing on purpose. In this delightful rhyming story, kids can discover how to use their own mindful breath to help them stay centered, regulated and ready to handle any emotion that comes their way.
Download free worksheets to help kids harness the power of breath here.
Fear Not: How to Face Your Fear and Anxiety Head-On
Christina Furnival, MS, LPCCChristina Furnival, a licensed mental health therapist and mom, teaches children to confront their fears in this empowering and uplifting rhyming story about a young boy who successfully faces his anxiety and fear head-on. Fear Not! provides a practical three-step lesson to manage children’s worries, regain their cool, and strip fear of its power once and for all.
Work with kids who are anxious about relationships with their peers? Download Christina's free worksheets on defining friendship and healthy boundaries.
When Someone Dies: A Children’s Mindful How-To Guide on Grief and Loss
Andrea Dorn, MSW, LISW-CPWritten and illustrated by a therapist (and mother), Andrea Dorn, MSW, When Someone Dies walks children through the bereavement process in a simple, concrete, and developmentally appropriate way. Through the lens of mindfulness, children will learn how to say goodbye, make space for any emotions that arise, and work through their grief.
New to the concept of mindfulness? Andrea shares eight ways to help children grow a mindfulness practice in this blog.
Thank You Mind: Understanding My Big Feelings on Tricky Days
Jennifer Cohen Harper, MA, E-RYT, RCYTChildren experience so many feelings every day that they can become overwhelmed. In this inviting exploration of a wide range of emotions, children will discover how their mind can help them make sense of their experiences. Thank You Mind includes meaningful tips for caregivers to help their children learn awareness, self-compassion, and positive self-talk.
Check out this fun read-along with the author!
Amazing Me: A Growth Mindset Activity Journal for Kids
Tina WilliamsonAmazing Me is a one-of-a-kind activity journal that takes kids on a journey of self-discovery as they learn the social-emotional skills needed to tackle everything that can (and will) come up in life. Filled with colorful illustrations and engaging content, Amazing Me explains social-emotional concepts in a child-friendly way by inviting children to become special agents working their way through 10 personal growth missions.
Topic: Book Club | Children & Adolescents
Tags: Breath | Children | Grief | Happiness | Kids | Self-Esteem | Success | Therapy Tools
