PICTURE BOOKS TO READ WITH KIDS
Explore my favorite books for parents to use with kids. I've included all of my favorites from babies to around 8. Although kids may still benefit from a picture book at 8 they may start to see these as too young.
Introduction to feelings 0+
I used these board books with my girls to introduce feeling identification. These were some of their first favorites.
Little Monkey Calms Down (Hello Genius)
Michael Dahl
This favorite board book is an introduction to coping skills. We started this one around 6 months with my youngest, and is a favorite I bring to baby showers. Age 0-3
​
The Pout-Pout Fish
This board book is good for babies and toddlers. It takes a negative belief and reframes it. I love that it features flexible thinking. Ages 0+
​
Deborah Diesen
Baby Faces
DK
While not a perfect book this one is emotions primer for 0-2. Babies love looking at faces, and this was a favorite for a long time. I also used Shutterfly to create a similar book featuring me & her making around 25 different faces to pair with emotions in a similar style to this.
​
My Many Colored Days
Dr. Seuss
This is a book for feeling recognition. It can be appropriate for very young kids or older kids. 0 +
​
Toddler Reads - based on readiness
These books engaged us in the next phase. My older daughter wasn't as in to reading, so she started these closer to 2 or 3. My youngest loves to read, so we started these as early as 7 months. However, she is harder on them because of her age. If you get books with paper pages this early you may end up having to replace them. These books are rhythmic and for my baby I often only read one line of the book per page and will increase the content as she ages.
In My Heart: A Book of Feelings
Jo Witek and Christine Rousse
I Am Peace: A Book of Mindfulness (I Am Books)
Susan Verde and Peter H Reynolds
A great example of peaceful meditation and mantras for kids. A bedtime favorite in our house. Ages 1+
​
The Book of Mistakes
Corinna Luyken
I Am Enough
Grace Byers
This is another favorite in our house. One line per page makes this book accessible for even young kids once they get into books. Ages 1+
​
Grumpy Monkey
Suzanne Lang
Grumpy Monkey was my youngest favorite book starting at 7 months. She loves when the monkey is happy and angry. We ended up with the larger picture book and board book. Ages 1+
Amazon Link​
Be Brave Little One
Marianne Richmond
Her Body Can
Katie Crenshaw & Ady Meschke
Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes
James Dean
We like this book for the reframe: I love my ______ shoes. On the last page I do change it to "Because its all how you look at it" Ages 1+
​
Preschoolers (some 2s, 3s, and 4s)
These are building on feeling identification and beginning thought skills like "I am enough". Books are not the only way to build feeling identification, so if you are noticing a much older child needing work in this area consider identifying feelings in songs, feeling charts, or flashcards. All of the books in the category above my 6 year old still enjoys, so you can always grab books from both categories. In this stage most kids are moving into beginning coping skills. You can start these as early as 2, but they may only grasp portions of it as this age.
Angry Ninja: A Children's Book About Fighting and Managing Anger (Ninja Life Hacks)
Mary Nhin
B is for Breathe: The ABCs of Coping with Fussy and Frustrated Feelings ( Kids Health Coping Skills Series)
Dr. Melissa Munro Boyd
This has a coping skill for each letter of the alphabet. We started this one alongside learning letters.
​
That Makes Me Angry (A Sesame Street Growing-Up Book)
Anthony Best
This is one of my absolute favorites, but it is no longer produced. Bert and Ernie have a miscommunication about the park that makes each of them really angry. They resolve it in the end.
​
The Redo Roo
Cindy R Lee, LCSW, LADC
If you child has a lot of energy and lower impulse control this one might be for you. It features a redo which I like for all my parents as a strategy especially for 2s and 3s.
​
​​
Mixed
Arree Chung
A colorful book about accepting our differences with the added bonus of teaching some color mixing.
​​
The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes: A Growth Mindset Book
Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein
This book is about how mistakes are ok. Another one we started for my oldest around 2.5. It was a bit above her head at the time, but we did it more as a thing we hoped she could say to herself. "It is ok to make mistakes."
​
The Magic of Sharing
Ruben Lora & Ksenia Startseva-Lora
​
This book introduces situations in which sharing is useful and problem solves with that information.
​
The Berenstain Bears and the Green-Eyed Monster
Stan & Jan Berenstain
An introduction to jealousy. I introduced this around 2.5 by not reading every line to help my oldest begin to understand and process jealousy.
​
A Bad Case of the Stripes
David Shannon
This book is about being authentic self even when it is a bit different from others.
​
Be Kind
Pat Zietlow Miller
This book discusses what it might mean to be kind and gives examples of kindness in action.
​
Dan Santat
This is one of our absolute favorites. It’s about anxiety, determination, and bravery. It also features some reframing.
​
Kimochis: Books
Cloud's Best Worst Day Ever, Bug Makes a Splash!, Huggtopus makes way for Play, Lovey Dove Learns to Let Go, and Cat's not-so-perfect Sandcastle
These books cover common toddler to preschool issues like controlling play, overcoming fear, learning to apologize after acting out in big feelings, a do over, and not respecting boundaries. We spent tons of time in these books and even have several matching plush characters that come with small emotion pillows.
Early Elementary
Early elementary students in Kindergarten - 2nd are beginning readers, so many of the above resources still work well. Some of these books we started reading much earlier, but I did not expect my kids to get the concepts until later. These books are much more conceptual or rely on understanding of other nursery rhymes to make sense. They have richer emotional issues and may even need to be used with a conversation.
How Full is Your Bucket? For Kids
Tom Rath & Mary Reckmeyer
This is a great book for explaining the importance of being in kind, but I do add that some people are treated so poorly that there bucket can get holes in the bottom. We want to be able to try to be kind, but notice if it isn't received and over time set healthy boundaries.
​
This one discusses an issue between the star belly Sneeches and those without stars, and how one group excludes the other. We also love the empty pants story in this version which discusses being afraid of someone different.
​
Dr. Seuss
The Sneetches and other stories
Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose
Dr. Seuss
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Judith Viorst
This older book is one of my favorites. It validates that we all have bad days, and that we can't avoid what is causing the bad day because we take us wherever we go. It is ok to have a bad day. I like to extend this book by pointing out that Alexander is often the cause of his bad day. Some things are out of his control, but some of it is his choices resulting in a negative thought spiral making the bad day worse. For an additional coping skill we add: "How could Alexander turn his day around?"
​
Tear Soup
Pat Schwiebert & Chuck Deklyen
This book describes grief. It is adaptable for young kids, but deals with content for older kids. If your kid has a major loss this would be a good one to pick up.
​
Listening to My Body
This is for slightly older kids connecting body sensations and feelings. I recommend beginning working on body sensations like tired and hungry as an infant by saying things like "oh your body is really tired, you are rubbing your eyes or your eyes look heavy, you must be tired"
​
Listening with My Heart: A Story of Kindness and Self-Compassion
Gabi Garcia
The Missing Piece
Shel Silverstein
She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World
Chelsea Clinton
Several stories featuring grit. Our favorite it Dr. Apgar. I read it with my almost 3 year old, but modified it heavily by skipping pages and cutting text. It’s meant for older kids.
​
What Do You Do With A Problem?
Kobi Yamada
Visiting Feelings
Lauren J Rubenstein, JD PsyD
Dozy Bear and the Secret of Sleep
Katie Blackburn
This nighttime meditation was a favorite when my older daughter hit a few nightmares. We use this as one guided meditation to help her fall asleep.
​
I Walk with Vanessa: A Story About A Simple Act of Kindness
Kerascoet
This wordless story helps early elementary students visualize bullying and how to support friends. This was a popular pick for my Kindergartner who could not quite read.
​