Bibliotherapy

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.

Showing 131-140 of 181 Books
The Heart and the Bottle The Heart and the Bottle

There is a wonder and magic to childhood. We don’t realize it at the time, of course . . ....

Grief & Loss Oliver Jeffers
The Highway Inside of Me: A Resiliency Workbook for Children, Youth, and Caregivers The Highway Inside of Me: A Resiliency Workbook for Children,...

The Highway Inside of Me is a trauma sensitive, and resiliency focused workbook for children, youth and caregivers. This workbook...

Feelings/Coping Julian Cate CCLS
The Invisible Leash The Invisible Leash

"When our pets aren't with us anymore, an Invisible Leash connects our hearts to each other. Forever." That's what Zack's...

Grief & Loss Patrice Karst
The Invisible String The Invisible String

The Invisible String the perfect tool for coping with all kinds of separation anxiety, loss, and grief. In this relatable...

Grief & Loss Patrice Karst
The Invisible String The Invisible String

Parents, educators, therapists, and social workers alike have declared The Invisible String the perfect tool for coping with all kinds...

Feelings/Coping, Loneliness/Need for connection Patrice Karst
The Journey The Journey

With haunting echoes of the current refugee crisis this beautifully illustrated book explores the unimaginable decisions made as a family...

Disasters (Natural & Manmade), War/Refugee Francesca Sanna
The Koala Who Could The Koala Who Could

Meet Kevin. A koala who likes to keep things the same. Exactly the same. But sometimes change comes along whether...

Changes Rachel Bright
The List of Things That Will Not Change The List of Things That Will Not Change

After her parents' divorce, Bea's life became different in many ways. But she can always look back at the list...

Changes Rebecca Stead
The Magic School Bus Presents: Wild Weather The Magic School Bus Presents: Wild Weather

The Magic School Bus Presents: Wild Weather is a photographic nonfiction companion book to the original bestselling title, The Magic...

Disasters (Natural & Manmade), Hurricanes Sean Callery
The Memory Box The Memory Box

"From the perspective of a young child, Joanna Rowland artfully describes what it is like to remember and grieve a...

Grief & Loss Joanna Rowland