Age range: Preschool through 2nd grade.

Recommended for: A sweet book to read with a child who is afraid of loud thunderclaps. It teaches children to count the seconds between a lightning flash and a thunderbolt as the storm approaches, and it reminds children that they can be scared and still be brave. Do not read this book with a child if you aren’t open to baking a cake with a frightened child during the next thunderstorm. It’s just about non-optional.

Age range: Kindergarten through 3rd grade.

Recommended for: Introduces the concept of a Worry Monster to help children start to identify their worries and recognize that they probably aren’t the truth. Helps a child to start challenging their worries with self-affirmations and engagement in feared activities. The Worry Monster intervention is widely used by therapists to help children to address worries. Children who have some insight into their worries (and can put them into words) will likely benefit from reading this book.

Age range: Kindergarten through 3rd grade.

Recommended for: Children who are burdened by self-criticism after they make mistakes will likely benefit from this story’s description of shame and the reminder that mistakes don’t define their self-worth. It provides a lovely model of a mother joining her child in his emotional pain and then helping him to gently challenge his shaming self-talk.

Age range: 1st grade through 4th grade.

Recommended for: This is a funny, touching book that portrays a creative way for children to mourn and make peace with having a family that spans multiple homes. This book is best read with children after divorce has already been explained and a separation initiated. This book is also a good fit for therapists who want to engage their clients with divorced parents in a relevant therapeutic art project–either related to a “blue period” or a collage.

Age range: 1st grade through 4th grade.

Recommended for: Great to read with a child who has a lot of negative self-talk who will benefit from learning to challenge these thoughts. This book pulls for kids to draw their own versions of the Awfulizer and to start thinking about what lies their Awfulizer is telling them about themselves.

Age range: Preschool through 2nd grade.

Recommended for: This book is the only one that I’ve found that specifically addresses intrusive thoughts, which some children experience as their primary symptom of OCD (as in “Pure O” OCD). Using a visual metaphor of thoughts as different colored balloons, it validates how ineffective it is to try avoid an unwanted thought, and it encourages children to look directly at a thought in order to recognize that perhaps it’s not as big as a child feared. It veers from there to encouraging a child to “catch” other types of thoughts instead (lovely thoughts, calm thoughts, true thoughts). I have a few reservations about the way that the book talks about these thoughts (they’re labeled “good thoughts”), but with a thoughtful discussion, this book presents a helpful exercise to take the fear out of intrusive thoughts and to help a child to practice a mindfulness exercise of choosing which thoughts to catch and which to let go.

Age range: Preschool through Kindergarten

Recommended for: This story is simple and soothing and provides a positive yet realistic example of what it might be like for a child to have two homes. This book would be best read with a child after a separation or divorce has already been explained and a move to two homes is imminent. This book could also help to normalize having two homes for a child whose parents have already separated or who have never lived together.

Age range: Kindergarten through 3rd grade.

Age range: Preschool through 2nd grade.

Recommended for: Young children who lose their temper when something goes wrong will connect with this book and benefit from the anger-management strategies it teaches. The story normalizes and destigmatizes the feeling of anger, and it teaches several child-friendly skills to safely manage anger. Dinosaur lovers will particularly like this story.

Age range: Preschool through 1st grade.

Recommended for: This book might prevent or reduce children’s fear of the doctor and/or shots by walking children through the typical components of a well-child doctor’s appointment so they feel prepared and by teaching them a visualization strategy to reduce anxiety (and pain) during a vaccination. It’s fairly cute and also quite informative. It’s great for caregivers to read with children prior to a check-up and could be an entry for therapists into a conversation about a child’s fear of shots.

Age range: Preschool through 1st grade.

Age range: Preschool through 3rd grade.

Recommended for: This fun rhyming story that’s a joy to read aloud helps children learn two anger management strategies to deal with a bad day: taking deep breaths and sharing about one’s feelings. It’s ideal for a child who needs a light touch when talking about these strategies (e.g., who might feel defensive or criticized with a more serious book).

Age range: Kindergarten through 3rd grade.

Recommended for: This is a fun, joyful celebration of Indian cooking that works well as an introduction to mindful eating and the potential anxiety-management benefits of the technique. Kalamata is anxious about a first day at a new school, but the book is relevant to any child feeling worried about something in the future who could benefit from some pleasurable, present-moment grounding.

Age range: Preschool through 2nd grade.

Recommended for: This book is an emotionally resonant story about a little boy whose two moms are getting divorced. One of his moms seems to have full custody (he sleeps at her house), and Frankie visits his other mom on Saturdays a.k.a. Pattydays. The story normalizes parental separation, validates feelings, and provides hope that children will stay close with both parents after a divorce, even if the custody arrangement is not 50/50.

Age range: 1st through 4th grade.

Recommended for: This book is excellent to read with a child who is already able to label their feelings at least some of the time, and who will enjoy thinking more deeply about their emotions. It teaches children that anger is often the “crust” on top of a pie filled with other feelings that need to be noticed and expressed so that they don’t bubble up and explode. After talking with her Tia, Amaya realizes that she’s been getting angry a lot lately because she’s been feeling jealous of the attention her baby sister has been getting, so it’s particularly relevant for kids in a similar situation, but it’s certainly not limited to this scenario. The book also provides a convincing rationale for taking deep breaths and provides a nice visual for practicing this skill. It’s available in English and Spanish.

Age range: Kindergarten through 3rd grade.

Recommended for: In child-friendly language, this book provides an explanation of anxiety and how it is often a false alarm, and it teaches children five mindfulness strategies to reconnect with their sense of safety and calm. This is a good fit for children who are often nervous and who have some insight into their thoughts and feelings. The strategies articulated in this book are applicable to older children and adults as well. Grown-ups with anxiety, you might like this book as much as your child (or perhaps more!).

Age range: Preschool through 1st grade.

Recommended for: This book showcases a family in which a little girl’s mom and dad get divorced, and both the mom and dad start dating women. It celebrates this family constellation and provides upbeat reassurance that mommies can date mommies and daddies can date daddies. This book is best for parents who have an amicable co-parenting relationship and would feel comfortable referring to their ex-spouse as a friend.

Age range: Kindergarten through 3rd grade.

Age range: Kindergarten through 3rd grade.

Recommended for: For a child who gets stuck in worries about unknowns or unlikely bad outcomes, this book is a fun, silly way to start a conversation about what is “most likely” going to happen tomorrow and how delightful that can be.