Mental Health: Character Mental Health: Middle Grade

Dad's Girlfriend and Other Anxieties
Middle grade readers will find windows and mirrors in these novels whose characters experience anxiety, phobias, depression, therapy, OCD, ADHD, or grief. This list, developed by Ann Jacobus and Nancy Bo Flood, provides good recommendations.

Mental Health: Picture Books

Michael Rosen's Sad Book
For a child experiencing anxiety, phobias, depression, or grief, a picture book is a good conversation starter. This list, developed by Ann Jacobus and Nancy Bo Flood, is essential.

Two Books about Grief

Walking Grandma Home
Take these books to heart: two books that will help adults and children find paths into discussions about this part of life, Sitting Shiva and Walking Grandma Home. 

Finding Peace While Grieving

The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota's Garden
Some days are tough. During this COVID-19 pandemic, our children face plenty of challenges. Loss of playground time. Loss of playdates. Changes in school routines. Changes in home routines. These days, children may need more time alone on a “peace blanket” to grieve their former lives. The rest of us may need the same.

Laughter and Grief

Reading Ahead bubble
by Vic­ki Palmquist There are books we remem­ber all of our lives, even if we can’t remem­ber the details. Some­times we can’t even remem­ber the sto­ry, but we remem­ber the char­ac­ters and how they made us feel. We recall being trans­port­ed into the pages of the book, see­ing what the char­ac­ters see, hear­ing what they hear, and under­stand­ing the time and spaces and breath­ing in and out of the char­ac­ters.… more