Children's Books
The Chocolate-Covered-Cookie Tantrum
Deborah Blumenthal & Harvey Stevenson
This is a story about Sophie, who goes to the park with her mother
and sees another child eating a cookie. Sophie wants one too but her
mother didn't bring one for her. Sophie gets very upset and angry
about not getting a cookie and her mother waits while she has her
feelings before going home. This is a well-written book with bright,
colorful pictures. I particularly like the message of the book which
is that adults don't have to give children whatever they want or try
and reason with them. They simply need to let children have their
feelings about not getting what they want.
Who's In A Family?
Robert Skutch & Laura Nienhaus
This is a beautiful book showing a wide variety of different kinds
of families--nuclear family with siblings, family with one child, single
parent family, gay and lesbian families, family with a mother and grandmother,
divorced family, biracial family, even a family with no children, but two pets.
I like this book because it helps young children identify their own particular
family and develop a tolerance and appreciation for different family structures.
It is also a good anti-bias book, since the pictures represent a wide range
of races and cultures.
Owl Babies
Martin Waddell & Patrick Benson
A wonderful book about separation. Three baby owls wake up one night and find that
their mother is gone. They decide to wait for her. The two older ones know she'll
come back and figure she just went to get food for them, but all the youngest one
can say is "I want my mommy." The pictures and words in this book so clearly and
simply express the feelings inherent in the separation process. I've found that
young children love this book ask for it again and again.
Proud Of Our Feelings
Lindsay Leghorn
Corny title but great book. In this story, Priscilla introduces her friends,
each of whom is feeling and expressing a different emotion. The book is designed
to encourage discussion about feelings between children and their caregivers
with the goal being that children can know and trust their own feelings.
There are questions on each page of the story, allowing children to relate
times when they have felt these different feelings. I like the examples given
for the friends' different feelings because they are ones that most children
can identify with, such as feeling shy when meeting new people, feeling sad
when friends don't listen, feeling happy about getting a puppy, etc.
Great multi-cultural pictures too!
Your Body Belongs To You
Cornelia Spelman & Teri Wiedner
This book, in very simple, straight-forward language, teaches children that being
touched is their own choice, not another's. With clear illustrations, the book
seeks to empower children by teaching them that their own response to touch counts,
and by giving examples of how to let someone know if you don't want to be touched.
An excellent and well-written book with an important message.
Nobody's Perfect, Not Even My Mother
Norma Simon and Dora Leder
Children discover that nobody is perfect, but that it's okay.
I Was So Mad!
Norma Simon and Dora Leder
"Lots of things make me mad -- when somebody breaks my best toy, when it rains
and I can't go swimming, when the kids tease me... But my mother says "it's not so bad to get mad."