Authors Dr. Nancy Bo Flood and Ann Jacobus have been curating a list of traditionally published, exceptional children’s literature that tackles mental illness for over a decade.
They also include good fiction for younger readers about grief.
They read picture books, early readers, middle-grade and young adult novels.
You will find a guide to these lists, along with helpful resources, in Bookology.
Here’s what they look for in children’s fiction:
- main characters dealing with mental illness themselves or in a friend or loved one.
- accurate nomenclature and diagnoses
- stories that avoid tropes and ablism
- stories that are honest and accurate, but optimistic
- stories that model support coming from at least one quarter — family, community, and/or professionals
- stories that model effective coping with lifestyle and/or medication
- stories in which a character’s mental health is only one of their many attributes (that may or may not be problematic)
Books are categorized by the disorders they depict including severe mental illness such as schizophrenias and bipolar disorders, as well as depression, suicidality, anxiety, substance abuse and addiction, OCD, self-harm, the effects of trauma and abuse, and the challenges for LGBT kids. They also include good stories that deal with grief especially for the very young.
“Stigma surrounding mental illness has diminished since we first started tracking these books,” says Ann, a former suicide crisis line counselor, “but it’s still a formidable opponent.”
Nancy says, “We love to speak to educators, writers, and other professionals, in person or virtually, about great literature that can help a young reader recognize themselves or a loved one, help them see positive possibilities for living with mental illness, and that encourages them to speak up about mental health and to reach out for support.”
They’ll be presenting next in Boston at the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) conference on November 23, 2024.