Title: All The World

Authors: Liz Garton Scanlon & Marla Frazee

Themes: Social Skills, Friendship, Developing Perspective

Age Recommendation: Elementary School

All The World is a beautifully illustrated journey through one day in the life of families who share an island. It is short, simple, poetic, and a nice way to start a conversation with young children about their own perspective on family, friends, feelings and life in general. 

Books like this one can be especially useful for engaging children who are reticent to share or lack the skills to verbalize their own thoughts and feelings. By asking how they would react to circumstances illustrated in the book (when it rains at the beach, or when the family goes to dinner together, for instance), an adult can gain insight into what features of a situation the child is most attentive to. Another activity that works well is to have the child create their own version of "All The World" in an art therapy session!