Mental Health: Books for Kids

A small boy creates a shelter for his sadness so that he can visit it whenever he needs to, and the two of them can cry, talk, or just sit. The boy knows that one day his sadness may come out of the shelter, and together they will look out at the world and see how beautiful it is.

A young girl's sense of adventure and exploration vanishes when she discovers a Worry that grows and grows until she learns how to get rid of it.

How do you create happiness? In this story, one child finds a way. She mixes the smell of warm biscuits and the seaside with the taste of chocolate ice cream, apple juice and the warmth of sunshine. She fills the jar and visits her loved ones to share her invention. But one day her jar goes missing. She searches everywhere but cannot find it. As she retraces her footsteps she discovers there are many different ways to share happiness.

A moving and universal picture book about empathy and kindness, sure to soothe heartaches big and small. With its spare, poignant text and irresistibly sweet illustration, The Rabbit Listened is about how to comfort and heal the people in your life, by taking the time to carefully, lovingly, gently listen.

A young child experiences sadness as if it were a visitor, acknowledging the emotion and suggesting activities to do with it.

Join a young child and their dog as they experience every minute of the day to its fullest--from the second they wake up to the moment they fall asleep. Readers will love barking, wagging, and sniffing along with the gentle cues in the book.

As they walk to his new school, a frightened Levi and his father learn that it is okay for big boys to cry.

In The Worry Balloon, a thoughtful and reassuring picture book, Monica Mancillas's text and Betty C. Tang's illustrations show how one child experiences anxiety and worry, providing different tools to practice mindfulness and strengthen one's mental health.

Izzy the Mouse has grumpy thought bubbles hanging over her head, so when she sees a bear blowing bubbles and realizes a deep breath helps them float away, she tries a breathing exercise which helps her get rid of her negative thoughts for good.

A kit assembled by Vernon Area Public Library District librarians to encourage children to explore big emotions using a variety of resources in different mediums.

In this guide for helping young children boost their self-confidence, canine best friends Hucky and Buzz share some tips on staying present and positive as they share thoughts, emotions, and feelings with each other.

Coen is having a sniffling, sighing, sobbing kind of day. His family thinks they know how to cheer him up. His dad wants to go outside and play, Mom tells her funniest joke, and his little sister shares her favorite teddy. Nothing helps. But one by one, they get quiet and begin to listen. After some time, space, and reassurance, Coen is able to show them what he needs.

It's dog-yoga day at the green space next to the animal shelter and Jeet, Fudge, and their friends are eager to join in to help manage their nerves about summer ending and school starting. Hilarity ensues when Fudge finds multiple ways to interrupt the practice. But that won't stop the friends from finding their calm!

Whenever Goose is feeling down, his best friend Phoenix finds ways to cheer him up!

Having a friend makes going to school easier, but anxiety and fear creep back in when a little fish finds too good a hiding place during a game.

Roar and Sparkles is a sweet story about the anxieties children may feel about attending school for the first time, as well as a comforting tale about the bond between siblings.

At first Camila is thrilled to be chosen to represent her class in the school spelling bee, but than she becomes anxious about performing in front of an audience and considers withdrawing.

Sometimes days are hard. We can feel angry, sad, or even worried. Big feelings happen to everyone. When you notice difficult feelings, you can be kind to yourself. Just like a good friend, being kind to yourself can help you feel better even when things are the hardest! Children can practice along with this story that teaches them how to be self-compassionate with proven skills to support resiliency and emotional wellbeing.

Children who struggle with negative thoughts may wonder how to make them go away. In this guided, illustrated meditation for kids, author Louise Bladen offers a simple mindfulness practice, not to banish bad thoughts, but to feel calm in the midst of thoughts that come and go. Children will learn how to breathe and center themselves in their bodies, find different ways to think about their positive and negative thoughts, and ultimately learn that they have the ability to feel calm and at peace no matter what kinds of thoughts happen to be in their mind at any particular moment.

Shares mindfulness activities that teach children how to focus their thoughts and pay attention, with care, to one moment at a time, including breathing exercises, moving the body to unwind stress, and taking a walk in the woods.

A meditation guide for teens offers specific mindfulness exercises to help deal with day-to-day challenges and includes tips to lead a happier, healthier, and more connected life.

Imbued with a sense of humor, understanding, and hope, Your Brain Needs a Hug is a judgment-free guide for living well with your mind.

In this collection of personal stories and essays, award-winning and best-selling authors show that hope can live anywhere, even during the darkest of times.

Middle schoolers learn how to identify, manage, and self regulate their emotions and moods.

An illustrated flowchart guides kids to the right calming activity for every kind of anxiety.

This title makes social-emotional learning approachable and easy! The book profiles the emotional dimension of wellness. Informative, thought-provoking text examines the core elements and the practices that support emotional wellness, including emoji pins, glitter emotion jars, and more. Woven throughout the main text are activities and projects encouraging readers to explore wellness in a creative way.

Portico Reeves' secret identity as Stuntboy allows him to use his superpower keep everybody safe, but when his superhero parents start fighting a lot he feels the responsibility to save them.

The story of a monster who desperately wants to be seen and the reluctant boy who wishes he weren’t the only one who could, this exploration of found family, fear and mental health, and intergenerational trauma begs the question: What if the monsters that haunt us aren’t monsters at all?

After an entire summer trying to figure out how to go back to being the person she was before her depression and anxiety diagnosis, twelve-year-old Pluto finds out--with the help of the Hayden Planetarium hotline, a new tutor, and a new friend--that there is no old or new Pluto, there's just Pluto, growing up.

Sasha has been bullied at his middle school and his anxiety, which he calls the Gray, is growing, so his parents and therapist suggest a summer in the country with his aunt might help him.

Natty copes with her parents splitting up, moving in with her grandparents, and starting a new school by maintaining and spreading a positive attitude, but she soon realizes it is more important to feel her feelings than it is to be eternally peppy.

No one can figure out what Gwendolyn Rogers's problem is--not her mom, or her teachers, or any of the many therapists she's seen. But Gwendolyn knows she doesn't have just one thing wrong with her: she has fifty-four. Gwendolyn is hopeless until she remembers the one thing that helped her mother when her own life was out of control.