Sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the day is about awareness of emotional and mental health in children in normally developing kids, as well as kids that have suffered a traumatic experience and/or who have a diagnosed mental health issue.
This day can be a great reminder to check in on the emotional well-being of the kiddos in your life! Below is a list of great books about feelings for kids. These books can help give your child words to describe how they feel so that you as their caregiver can better meet their needs!
- Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
- Andrew's Angry Words by Dorothea Lachner
- The Berenstain Bears and the Bad Dream by Stan and Jan Berenstain
- The Berenstain Bears in the Dark by Stan and Jan Berenstain
- Feelings by Aliki
- The Feelings Book by Todd Parr
- The Grouchies by Debbie Wagenbach
- The Invisible String by Patrice Karst
- I Was So Mad by Mercer Mayer
- My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss
- The Pigeon Has Feelings, Too by Mo Willems
- Sometimes I'm Scared by Jane Annunziata and Marc Nemiroff, Ph.D.
- A Terrible Thing Happened by Margaret M. Holmes and Sasha J. Mudlaff
- Today I Feel Silly by Jamie Lee Curtis
- Understanding Myself by Mary C. Lamia, Ph.D.
- Walter Was Worried by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
- The Way I Feel by Janan Cain
- What Are You So Grumpy About? by Tom Lichtenheld
- When Sophie Gets Angry, Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang
- When You're Happy and You Know It by Elizabeth Crary
This is list is by no means exhaustive, I could (and plan to) write whole blog posts just on books for kids in foster care, dealing with divorce, abuse, etc. These books can hopefully provide a good jumping off point though, especially for normally developing kids, to help them have the words to describe their emotions, feelings and fears. Sometimes just having the words can help immensely!
