After disaster or loss, children may find talking about their feelings or exploring their feelings really hard and scary. Books are a safe way for children to explore their own feelings by relating to the characters or situations in the story. Not only are stories a great tool to help understand feelings, but they can also offer hope in times of disaster or loss. We have picked out some of our favorite stories that talk about disasters, difficult times, and hard feelings. Click a category and/or age group below to explore our book lists.
Tips for Storytelling
Reading together helps children feel safe, comforted and cared for. Sit close with children next to you or with them on your lap. Have your child hold something that makes them feel comfortable, like a favorite stuffed animal.
It is okay to only read a few pages of a story at a time. If they seem uninterested in reading the story at that time or uncomfortable with the story, put the book to the side until they are ready to come back to it.
Ask open-ended questions related to the story. These are questions where the answers are more than just “yes” and “no.” Some questions you could ask include:
Why do you think they feel that way?
When you feel that way, does it look like theirs or different?
What would you do?
Leave a book in a place where your child can find it and look at it on their own when they want to. It gives them some control and they get to ask questions and explore the story whenever they want.
Keep coming back to stories that mean a lot to your family. Revisiting stories many different times can bring new points of view, new questions and new understanding. If a question comes up that you don’t know the answer to, be honest and say, “I don’t know, but let’s see what we can find out together.”
You can read storybooks with teenagers too! It’s important to approach it by saying you know it’s a story intended for younger children, but you want to hear their opinion on the story. You can invite your teenager to read the book to you like you are a child. Afterwards, ask your teenager their opinion on the story, asking if the story would have been helpful to them when they were younger.

Elmo and his Sesame Street friends help teach toddlers and the adults in their lives that everyone is the same...

Delsie loves tracking the weather--lately, though, it seems the squalls are in her own life. She's always lived with her...

Something Happened in Our Town follows two families — one White, one Black — as they discuss a police shooting...

Little wombat spends a day doing favorite things--what could they be? Are they your favorites, too? Let's look and see!...

When thunder shakes his house and rain pounds the windows, Bear is frightened. But comforting his Mama, Papa, and Floppy...

Sun Kisses, Moon Hugs is a beautiful picture book with a simple but powerful message: love lasts forever. Lyrical writing...

A boy must leave his home and find another. He brings with him a teacup full of earth from the...

If you are going to buy only one book on grief, this is the one to get! It will validate...

This magical story begins on an island far away where an imaginary friend is born. He patiently waits his turn...

Are you sad and feeling blue? Do you have a black cloud following you? I know I do! I don't...