Title: Wilfrid Gordon MacDonald Partridge

Author: Mem Fox

Themes: Anxiety, Communication, Developing Empathy, Developing Perspective, Friendship, Gratitude, Grief, Humor, Individuation, Self-Esteem, Social Skills

Age Recommendation: Elementary through Junior High School

Summary: Wilfrid Gordon MacDonald Partridge is the story of Wilfrid and his friends at the old persons home next door. Wlifrid's favorite friend there is Miss Nancy, who has "lost her memory." Wilfrid doesn't know what a memory is, but in discovering the meaning of the word, he helps Miss Nancy recover some of hers. This is a sweet story of friendship, creativity, and generativity. 

Ideas / Interventions: This is a great story to use with kids who are developing social skills and learning to enjoy reciprocal friendships. Before reading the story together, review basic social skills like making eye contact, asking questions about what others are interested in, not interrupting others, etc. Then, as you read the story, point out the social skills demonstrated by Wilfrid and Nancy. 

Title: The Language of Letting Go: Daily Meditations on Codependency

Author: Melody Beattie

Themes: Anxiety, Communication, Coping Skills, Developing Empathy, Developing Perspective, Gratitude, Grief, Individuation, Mindfulness, Parenting, Self-Esteem

Age Recommendation: Adult Reference

Title: Harry Potter Series

Author: J.K. Rowling

Themes: Anxiety, Bullying, Blended Families, Coping Skills, Depression, Developing Empathy, Developing Perspective, Friendship, Gratitude, Grief, Humor, Individuation, Self-Esteem

Age Recommendation: Elementary through High School

Summary: The Harry Potter series is very well-known among adolescents and preteens, but I am finding that many kids under the age of 10 aren't as familiar with it. Chances are, however, if you're reading this post, you are familiar with this series and it's fantastic array of characters and themes! As with most stories, the books are definitely better than the movies, so pick them up and read them if you haven't already! 

Ideas / Interventions: There really are endless ways to use the Harry Potter series for bibliotherapy. My favorite way to reference Harry Potter in a session is to draw similarities between client's fears of ____________ and everyone's fear of Voldemort in the stories. By overcoming the dread of saying Voldemort's, or even Tom Riddle's, name out loud, characters in the story realize a previously untapped power within themselves. The same is true of our own fears and anxieties. When children avoid talking about difficult or frightening topics,their feelings of powerlessness over that event/thought/emotion is increased. When they are coached in talking about the topic in a safe setting, they are empowered - just like saying "Voldemort" empowered characters in the Harry Potter series. Clinically, this process falls under the category of exposure/response prevention techniques.  

Title: The New Codependency: Help and Guidance for Today's Generation

Author: Melody Beattie

Themes: Anxiety, Communication, Coping Skills, Developing Empathy, Developing Perspective, Gratitude, Grief, Individuation, Self-Esteem, Validation

Age Recommendation: Adult Reference

Title: Because of Winn Dixie

Author: Kate DiCamillo

Themes: Anxiety, Coping Skills, Developing Empathy, Developing Perspective, Divorce, Friendship, Gratitude, Grief, Individuation, Self-Esteem, Social Skills

Age Recommendation: Elementary though Junior High School

Summary: Because of Winn-Dixie is a sweet story about a girl and her dog. She feels like a stray kid when she rescues this stray dog, who becomes the catalyst for change in her life. Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal is able to create new friendships, strengthen her relationship with her dad, and begin to make peace with her mom. 

Ideas / Interventions: This is a great book to read in small portions during sessions or groups. Have kids draw pictures of their family, friends, and other important people in their life and discuss the hard and easy things about those relationships. Ask them to make a list of qualities they look for in a friend and see which of those qualities they see in characters in the book. Then have them make a list of their own qualities and talk about how to strengthen them. 

Another idea is to have your client read the book outside of sessions and choose one character they feel they can relate to. Ask them to make a list of the character's strengths and challenges, and then guide them through the process of deconstructing the challenges to determine how to moderate them with their strengths. After they have done this for the character in the book, help them do a similar exercise related to their own personal strengths and challenges. 

Title: Raising Resilient Children: Fostering Strength, Hope and Optimism in Your Child

Authors: Robert Brooks, PhD & Sam Goldstein, PhD

Themes: Anxiety, Communication, Coping Skills, DBT, Depression, Gratitude, Individuation, Mindfulness, Self-Esteem

Age Recommendation: Adult Reference

Title: The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook

Authors: Edmund Bourne, PhD

Themes: Anxiety, Autism, Communication, Coping Skills, Parenting, Depression, Developing Perspective, Gratitude, Individuation, Mindfulness, Self-Esteem, Validation

Age Recommendation: Adult Reference

Title: The North Star

Authors: Peter H. Reynolds

Themes: Anxiety, Coping Skills, Depression, Developing Empathy, Developing Perspective, Gratitude, Individuation, Mindfulness, Parenting, Self-Esteem, Validation

Age Recommendation: Elementary through High School

Summary: The North Star is a sweet story that follows a boy from infancy through adolescence as he follows his own path to becoming his best self.

Ideas / Interventions: Adolescents secretly love this book; some of them might not want to admit it, but they can relate to the main character in the story and are asking some of the same questions about life that that he is. When working with teens, I use the same tactic as I do with any other picture book, which is to ask them to just listen and watch for the underlying message, even though it might seem "too little kid" for them.

If I have time, I like to use this book in conjunction with art therapy.  Encourage clients to identify what the specific points on their stars are; some choose to list coping skills, some list values, others point out internal qualities. If you are using this book for group therapy or in a classroom setting, invite kids to share details about their star with others and utilize it as an opportunity to appreciate individual differences. 

Title: What Are You So Grumpy About?

Authors: Tom Lichtenheld

Themes: Anxiety, Communication, Coping Skills, Depression, Developing Perspective, Gratitude, Parenting, Self-Esteem, Social Skills, Humor

Age Recommendation:  Elementary through Junior High School

Summary: What Are You So Grumpy About? is essentially a list of common kid complaints, accompanied by illustrations that highlight the difficulties they perceive in their circumstances. When you read this with children, plan to spend quite a bit of time examining the illustrations together; they are the key to having fun with this book! The author's humor is spot on for gently introducing the concepts of cognitive distortions, thinking errors, and negative automatic thoughts.

Ideas / Ideation: This is a great book to use with clients who suffer from anxiety or depression and present with symptoms of irritability. Helping children and their parents understand that when a kid is being "grumpy" there is typically an underlying cause that needs to be addressed is important; doing so helps parents develop perspective into the nature of their child's (oftentimes difficult) behaviors, and supports children as they develop self-awareness and learn communication skills to appropriately express their feelings.

As mentioned above, this is also a book that could be used when introducing the concept of cognitive distortions and helping clients develop skills to challenge negative automatic thoughts. Read this together in a session and ask your client to identify the name of the thinking error used on each page, and then help them create an alternative realistic yet positive response to the events depicted. 

Title: Hound Dog True

Authors: Linda Urban

Themes: Anxiety, Blended Families, Bullying, Communication, Coping Skills, Depression, Developing Perspective, Developing Empathy, Friendship, Gratitude, Self Esteem, Social Skills, Validation

Age Recommendation:  Elementary through Junior High School

Summary: Hound Dog True is the story of Mattie, a little girl with a sensitive temperament and clinical levels of anxiety who changes schools frequently; the story opens as Mattie starts at yet another new school, dreading what she assumes will be another awful year. Mattie has been the victim of bullying in the past, which reinforces her natural tendency to isolate herself from her peers. Mattie is an avid writer and the book is essentially her journal. There are some painful, yet realistic, depictions of bullying and it's effects on self esteem in this book, but overall it is a sweet, hopeful story.

Ideas / Interventions:  Read this story with clients who struggle with self esteem, have been the victims of bullying, are dealing with adjustment issues, or who spend much of their energy each day just managing their anxiety. Because this is written as a personal narrative, cognitive distortions are expressed regularly. Have your client or child identify these negative automatic thoughts and suggest replacement thoughts for Mattie. 

Title: Dead End In Norvelt

Authors: Jack Gantos

Themes: Bullying, Coping Skills, Developing Empathy, Developing Perspective, Friendship, Gratitude, Individuation, Parenting, Self-Esteem, Social Skills

Age Recommendation: Junior High through High School

Summary: Dead End In Norvelt is an autobiographical coming of age story. After getting in an argument with his parents, the young Jack Gantos is "grounded for life" one summer and ends up being given the task of helping the town's elderly medical examiner with her duties, which include writing obituaries. Over the course of the summer, Jack learns invaluable lessons about the importance of hard work, the hard work of relationships, and the rewards inherent in devoting himself to a cause larger than himself.

Ideas / Interventions: This is another book that 'readers' will enjoy. Gantos's sense of humor will appeal to younger teens especially. There are endless themes to pursue; have your client diagram relationships in the book and then diagram relationships in their own lives, or ask them to complete a values ranking activity for one of the characters and compare that to their own values. 

Title: The Reluctant Journal of Henry K Larsen: (Who Is Only Writing This Because His Therapist Said He Had To, Which Stinks)

Authors: Susin Nielsen

Themes: Anxiety, Bullying, Communication Skills, Coping Skills, Depression, Developing Perspective, Developing Empathy, Friendship, Gratitude, Junior High through High School, Self-Esteem, Social Skills, Validation, Grief

Age Recommendation: Junior High through High School

Summary: The Reluctant Journal of Henry K Larsen: (Who Is Only Writing This Because His Therapist Said He Had To, Which Stinks) is a remarkable book, though a little bit graphic. Henry's older brother is a victim of relentless, cruel bullying, who snaps one day and takes their dad's hunting rifle to school and kills two students. The story takes place after Henry's family has relocated to a new city where no one knows their past. This book is Henry's therapy journal. It is honest, witty, and sad in turns and poignantly captures the feelings of a vulnerable but resilient boy. 

Title: Okay For Now

Author: Gary D. Schmidt

Themes: Communication, Parenting, Developing Empathy, Validation, Self-Esteem, Social Skills, Developing Perspective, Grief, Individuation, Coping Skills, Bullying, Gratitude, DBT, Depression

Age Recommendation: Junior High through High School 

Summary: Okay for Now is another beautiful coming of age story by Gary D. Schmidt. The main character, Doug, is an adolescent with all the odds stacked against him. Doug develops courage and compassion as he discovers the art of Audubon, finds solace in a library, and creates deep but unlikely friendships. 

Ideas / Interventions: Like The Wednesday Wars, this is a good book to use with kids who enjoy reading. It is a story that pulls readers in quickly and keeps their attention. Okay For Now is a fun book to use for bibliotherapy. Doug's circumstances align well with the DBT assumption that: "I did not cause all my problems, and I need to deal with them anyway." One of the ways Doug deals with his problems is through his dry sense of humor, which resonates with a lot of adolescents. 

Use this book in conjunction with education about common thinking errors. Have clients choose a character from the book that they would like to track cognitive distortions for. As they learn to notice these negative automatic thoughts expressed by that character in the book, discuss examples from their own lives of times they have employed specific thinking errors. 

Title: The Wednesday Wars

Author: Gary D. Schmidt

Themes: Communication, Parenting, Developing Empathy, Validation, Self-Esteem, Social Skills, Developing Perspective, Grief, Individuation, Coping Skills, Bullying, Gratitude

Age Recommendation: Junior High through High School 

Summary: The Wednesday Wars is a coming of age story set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War. Holling Hoodhood is a seventh grader in the late 60's, living in suburban Long Island. Holling is required to spend his Wednesday afternoons at school, alone with his English teacher Mrs. Baker, while all of the other students attend mass or synagogue. Over the course of the school year, Holling not only acquires a love for Shakespeare but also learns important truths about himself, the world beyond his small town, and life in general. 

Ideas / Interventions: This is a good book to use with kids who enjoy reading. It is a compelling story, and an excellent tool for bibliotherapy in the classic sense. Holling is an easy character to relate to, and the struggles he faces are fairly universal in nature. 

With books like this, I like to have clients choose a character and list their strengths, their challenges, and decide how they can use their strengths to moderate challenges. Once they have completed this exercise for a character in the book, clients should complete the same exercise for themselves and process that experience in session. 

Title: Grandad's Prayers of the Earth

Author: Douglas Wood

Themes: Mindfulness, Grief, Individuation, Coping Skills, Developing Perspective, Gratitude

Age Recommendation: Elementary through High School 

Summary: Grandad's Prayers of the Earth is the beautifully illustrated story of a boy's relationship with his grandfather, his grandfather's relationship with nature, and nature's relationship with spirituality. The story follows the boy's life from childhood to young adulthood and describes his feelings about life, death, and his place in the universe. 

Ideas / Interventions: This is a great book to read with kids who are dealing with either the anticipated death or recent passing of a loved one. It can also be used to introduce a conversation about how thoughts, feelings, and spirituality can change over the life span. 

When utilizing this book as a way to discuss grief, I like to bring donuts or bagels to the session. Talk about what a "whole" bagel or donut is, and discuss how it can be "whole" even though there is a "hole" missing from the middle. This is a good introduction to the concept that even though grief feels like we have a "hole" in our heart, we can still be "whole." This book can also be used as a segue into the discussion about stages of grief and how they aren't linear in nature. Incorporating an activity related to gratitude, in combination with processing grief, is another great way to utilize this book for bibliotherapy.