Title: Leo The Late Bloomer

Authors: Robert Kraus

Themes: Anxiety, Communication, Coping Skills, Developing Perspective, Parenting, Self-Esteem, Social Skills, Validation

Age Recommendation: Pre-K through Elementary School 

Summary: Leo The Late Bloomer is the story of a little lion who develops at a slower pace than his peers. His dad is very worried about it, and his mom believes that he will simply grow into himself. Leo does attain all of the skills his father was so worried about by the end of the story and expresses pride in himself by exclaiming "I made it!"

Ideas / Interventions: This is a great, short book to read with young children and their parents. Oftentimes in a clinical setting, it is tempting to pathologize any delayed trait development. Not all aberrant behaviors have a trauma based etiology, however, and Leo is a great example of a kid who is just learning how to be himself. Leo's awareness of his differences from his peers is distressful to him and his parents help him manage those feelings well. 

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. 

Title: Big Ben

Author: Sarah Ellis

Themes: Communication, Parenting, Developing Empathy, Validation, Self-Esteem, Social Skills

Age Recommendation: Pre-K through Elementary School 

Summary: Big Ben actually feels more like little Ben in this book. Ben is a preschooler who wishes he had more responsibility and status because his older siblings seem to enjoy school more than he does. Ben expresses his feelings to his parents and siblings, who validate him and find ways to include him in all the "big kid" activities. 

Ideas / Interventions:  like to use this book with kids who are struggling to develop empathy for others, whether within a family or in other social settings. The ways that Ben's family meet his needs are simple but meaningful. After reading this book and identifying ways that Ben's family helped him, and then talking about how much their efforts impacted his self esteem, have your client talk about things others do that help them feel good about themselves. Then help them set specific goals of what they can do for certain people between sessions. Start very small with this exercise. Kids who struggle to be kind to others are often victims of unkindness themselves, so being sensitive to that fact is important. 

Title: Half Magic

Author: Edward Eager

Themes: Autism, Blended Families, Communication, Coping Skills, Developing Perspective, Humor, Friendship, Individuation, Social Skills

Age Recommendation: Elementary through Junior High School

Summary: Half Magic is a fun read! The story follows Jane, Mark and Katharine through their adventures with a magic coin, that grants half-wishes. As the siblings figure out how to use the coin, they also figure out a lot of life lessons related to families, friendship, and themselves. 

Ideas / Interventions: This is a great book to read with kids who are very concrete and literal, which is why I included it in the "autism" category. There is an excellent audio book version of this story that you could use if you are working with kids who have limited attention span or who struggle with the language usage in the book, which is a little old fashioned for some. Half Magic has an Amelia Bedelia feel to it; when the kids wish on their coin, they literally get half of what they are asking for, which can take some hilarious turns. These moments in the book are a great time to pause and discuss the difference between literal and figurative meanings. Try to engage kids who are especially concrete thinkers in activities focused on broadening their ability to express themselves in more nuanced ways. One example is to help them create a matching game for phrases and their meanings; another is to have them illustrate a phrase in two ways - the first if it were taken literally and the second if it were taken figuratively. Learning to understand non-literal meanings is an important social skill as kids get older and communication becomes more complex.