Kiki & Bug

During these unprecedented times it’s incredibly important to help your young kids navigate their emotions and feelings. Here are some amazing books I’ve read to help your children with anything they may be feeling and just some personal favorites of mine. I’ve included discussion questions you can talk with your child about after reading as well!

FYI- These books are not listed in any particular order.

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1 Pass It On by Sophy Henn

This book is one my favorites because it shows children the importance of finding joy in the small things and sharing it with those around them. It provides a powerful positive message, reminding children the value in connecting with others.

Questions You Can Ask Your Child After Reading:

• What did you like about this book?
• What did you notice about the children in the book? Did they look like you or different?
• What are some ways you can pass on joy to others or make others feel good?

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2 When Sophie Gets Angry-Really, Really Angry… by Molly Bang

This is a wonderful book for teaching children how to deal with their emotions. This story specifically addresses the emotion of anger. I used this book in my class last year to hep teach a social-emotional lesson on anger and the children really related to it. It starts out with a little girl named Sophie and it shows several instances (many of which that happen frequently in my classroom) that might provoke the emotion of anger in a child. Like another friend taking a toy from you or not getting what you want the moment you want it. It goes on to show Sophie getting more and more worked up and how she chooses to calm herself down.

Questions You Can Ask Your Child After Reading:

• Can you remember a time when you got really angry?
• How do you feel when you get angry?
• What are some ways you’ve calmed yourself down before?
• Do you think what Sophie does to calm down might work for you? Let’s think of some other ideas together of how we can calm ourselves down when we get super frustrated or angry.

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3 Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola

One of my all=time favorite books as a child is Strega Nona. I remember my mom and grandma reading this to me before bed and how excited I would be to hear it over and over again. I could recite every word without even knowing how to fully read yet. To me, it was magical. In many ways this story tells the classic tale of what happens when you don’t listen to your elders, or to be more general, don’t follow the rules. It tells the story of a boy, Anthony, working for Strega Nona in a small village and she orders him very clearly not to touch her pasta pot… and what does Anthony do? Yep, he can’t resist and the consequence is quite literally hard to stomach. It’s a fun story to read with your kids that possesses wonder and magic but also serves as a reminder the importance of listening and following directions.

Questions You Can Ask Your Child After Reading:

• Have you ever felt “tempted” to do something someone has told you not to? (Explain the word tempted before asking the question)
• What did Anthony do wrong?
• What happened after Anthony didn’t follow the directions given to him from Strega Nona?

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4 Same, Same But Different by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw

This is an amazing book to help you talk with your child about acceptance. Although people may look different than you, live in a different part of the world than you, or grew up with a different culture or religion than you does not mean that you don’t have any similarities as well! This story acts as a beautiful testament to just how interconnected we all really are and how we have far more similarities than we may recognize.

Questions You Can Ask Your Child After Reading:

• What do your friends in class look like? Do they look the same as you? Like the same things as you?
• What makes you different than some of your friends?
• Can you name one thing in the book the two boys did that were the same?
• What was something that was different about the two boys?

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5 Pink Is For Boys by Robb Pearlman

I love this book for teaching children that colors are for EVERYONE regardless of gender. It helps break down those social constructs that teach our girls and boys that they cannot like the same things because of their gender. Saying that the color pink is only for girls and that tractors and trucks are only for boys are examples of this. In this book each page shows different colors and in each picture a girl and boy enjoying that color. Blue–playing baseball, Yellow–they’re making their own crowns, Green–picking flowers and running through the grass, Red–racing cars, etc. It shows that every color and can be for every child. It reminds children that there doesn’t have to be any limitations on what they like. They can like whatever they choose to like!

Questions You Can Ask Your Child After Reading:

• What is your favorite color?
• Why is that your favorite color?
• Do you feel like you can’t like ______ because you are a boy/girl?
• Talk with your child and remind them that whatever they choose to like whether it be color, or a toy, that it’s accepted because their likes are their own and that’s great.

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6 I Need A Hug by Aaron Blabey

This is such a sweet book that shows children the importance of kindness and showing others love. In this story a little porcupine goes up to several other animals asking to cuddle and they all reject him. He begins to feel sad until he sees another animal, a snake, has also been rejected by the others. In the end they find each other and become friends.

Questions You Can Ask Your Child After Reading:

• How would you feel if you someone said “no” to you if you wanted to play or be friends?
• Were those other animals being kind to the porcupine?
• What could the other animals have said that would’ve been nicer than saying “no” and running away from the porcupine?

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7 Odd Dog Out by Rob Biddulph

I LOVE this book so much! It brings up a very important lesson that children need to hear every day… that being themselves is the best thing they can be! Being different and standing out is a strength, not a weakness. It reminds us all that fitting in isn’t the goal, rather being the best version of ourselves and owning it is!

Questions You Can Ask Your Child After Reading:

• What was so different about odd dog?
• Do you ever feel out of place or that you don’t fit in?
• How do you think the odd dog was feeling when she decided to leave her home?
• What did the odd dog realize after moving away from home?
• What did all the other dogs do after odd dog left?

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8 Ruby Finds A Worry by Tom Percival

This is an amazing book for talking with your child about their fears or worries. In this story a little girl named Ruby loves to visit wild and far away places but as she is sitting peacefully in a garden she is visited by a floating ball of yellow scribbles- a Worry. As the story goes on Ruby’s Worry begins to grow and it becomes so distracting to her that she can no longer do the things she loves. She later realizes that others have worries too, not just her. It sets up a beautiful foundation for having a talk with your own child about things that may worry them.

Questions You Can Ask Your Child After Reading:

• What is a worry? (Ask them what they think a worry is and then explain it to them)
• What is something you worry about? How did you feel when you were worried?
• What are some ways to keep a worry from growing too big?
• Maybe talking to your mom, dad or teacher about your worry can help shrink it.

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9 Lacey Walker, Nonstop Talker by Christianne Jones

I used this book in my class this past year to talk about the importance of listening. Children ALWAYS have something to say and share, but they have to learn the importance of waiting their turn and allowing others a chance to share as well. This is something particularly difficult for some children. Lacey Walker, is that child. She talks and talks all day and night but it’s not until she loses her voice that she understands to have good relationships with her friends and family, she must listen.

Questions You Can Ask Your Child After Reading:

• Do you ever feel like you have so much to say you can’t hold it in?
• What are some ways you can show someone you want to talk without interrupting them and still giving them a chance to share?
• Why do you think it’s important to listen?
• Do you want others to listen when you speak?
• What was Lacey doing wrong at the beginning of the book? What did she learn?

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This book is an amazing book to address and celebrate diversity among young children. Children need to understand that others look different than them and may come from different backgrounds. They need to see representations of themselves in books. Seeing children that look like them helps them to connect with the message of a story. This story depicts a young girl talking about how her skin is unique and “one of a kind” and with the turn of each page other children and their skin tones are revealed. Towards the end of the book, the young girl talks about how her friend Shaun has a lighter complexion. This story is meant to not only teach the importance of accepting others, but accepting and loving yourself as well. It teaches children to appreciate and be proud of the skin they’re in. And at the end of the day it’s what is on the inside that counts most!

Questions You Can Ask Your Child After Reading:

• What were some differences you noticed in the kids from the book? Did they all have same hair, skin, and eye colors?
• Do you see a child in the book that has the same skin as you?
• What skin colors do you see around you in class? Do all of your friends have the same color skin?
• What did you learn from this book?
• The message should be that your ethnicity and skin color is part of who you are, and you treat everybody fairly, equally. We’re all different, but no color is better than another.