Personal Discovery Books for Children

[SarahWaggoner]

Little Monkey Calms Down by Michael Dahl and Oriol Vidal (2014) is a self-regulation book about managing hurt, sad, and frustrated feelings in a healthy way.  Little Monkey is having a bad day in the book, and after having a melt down, he goes into his room and does some little things to calm himself down, like singing a song, cuddling his blanket, and deep breathing.  This book focuses on ages 1-3, toddlers-preschoolers due to the colorful pictures designed to keep their attention and the simple sentences.  

The Kid's Guide to Staying Awesome and In Control by Lauren Brukner (2014) is a book full of pointers that address the negative emotions head on.  It teaches children how to label their feelings and how to tackle it in a positive way.  It reminds the targeted audience -ages 7 through 14- that it is okay to feel these things and that they are not alone in these emotions.  The book also gives parents and teachers helpful tips on how to help their children and it provides handy visual charts and checklists to track their learning of their own emotions and progress. 

Adrian Simcox Does NOT Have a Horse by Marcy Campbell (2018) is a heartwarming story that teaches the value of empathy and patience with others and with ourselves.  Adrian is talking to his classmates about having a big, beautiful horse but his friend just isn't buying it based on Adrian's appearance.  It caters to many ages, specifically 6-11, because of it's lessons of more kindness and patience and less judgement based on superficial things about a person.