emotional resilience—the great read-it-before-you-need-it books
Ages 2 to 8
This is a must-read book - it speaks to the anxiety of being separated from family, the strangeness of new worlds, reconciliation with those new worlds, a return to family and familiarity and being able to move between two worlds without betraying either and without loss of love or friendship. It's a book to have, sitting on the shelf, to provide reassurance and peace at the end of a long day.
Ages 4 to 12
Jeremy needs a new pair of shoes and desperately wants those shoes - the ones all the kids want. But Grandma says:
‘There's no room for 'want' around here, just 'need', and what you need are new boots for winter.’
Ages 2 to 10
This book pretty much requires young readers to pick a side. It’s a fabulous, fun introduction to the art of the real Picasso and Matisse—lots of brilliant illustrations and funny lines.
Ages 2 to 8
Learning to navigate the pressures of life and discovering who they want to become is something that all children have to face, and it can be tough. Being You Is Enough is wonderfully empowering book that helps teach essential truths that all children need to hear.
Ages 3 to 8
A Whale of a Mistake is a beautifully relatable journey of hope and courage. With a focus on growth mindset and perspective it is a perfect gift for a child that is struggling with their imperfections and limitation. It’s a must have read-it-before-you-need-it book because, sooner or later, we all make mistakes.
Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes is an upbeat, groovy story that teaches optimism and resilience, making it a wonderful read-it-before-you-need-it book and a fun reminder that being cheerful is a choice.
Power flows from perceived external authority, and freedom flows from claiming personal authority. Sometimes, anyway. Life is complex!
In this story the arbitrary exercise of power is set in clear and absurd relief against obvious freedoms.
Ages 2 - 8
Cyril and Pat is a beautiful, funny action packed story that teaches some important life lessons about friendship and acceptance.
Ages 2 - 8
Brothers Forever is a sweet story about how life changes for two brothers as the older goes to school, told from the perspective of the younger brother.
Ages 2 - 8
Being small is tough. Things that bigger people take for granted are hard work.
I am small’ is a sweet look at perspective and acceptance.
Ages 2 - 8
That’s a major gap in a child’s life and one we tried to fill with elderly friends from church and other grandparents and great-grandparents of friends.
I think that one of the reasons we realised this was so important was that we had both read Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge dozens and dozens of times.
This is a wonderfully circular book. Amelia smiles, her smile is contagious and spreads all around the world and finally finds its way back to her - and she smiles again!
I love a book that shows (but doesn’t preach about) the interconnectedness of people around the world – this book manages exactly that.
And I think the key is the joyfulness of the illustrations. There’s a fuzziness* to them that invites the reader into the edges of the world each character inhabits.
It can happen that, in the midst of crisis, children need explicit words to help them give structure to fears and thoughts and hopes. The Whirlpool is a book for those times.
I’ve seen the power of read-it-before-you-need-it books many times and, with that solid foundation, a book that gives words to feelings can be the next piece in the puzzle that is emotional resilience.
In The Whirlpool, we see ourselves in the everyday life of a sweet polar bear who is full of confidence and brimming with happiness while he is '… a mastermind. A storyteller. A traveller and adventurer.”
ages 2 to 8 years
Feeling lost, unwelcome or out of place is one of childhood’s certainties. They’re feelings that will come to every child in one measure or another. Teens, of course, continue to have those feelings, and so do adults. For displaced people, regardless of age, those feelings are frequently more than an emotional reaction—they can be the cold hard facts of life. Beegu is a displaced alien child who....
ages 2 to 8 years
Most everyone has had almost-perfect days, stupid days, rainy days, peculiar days and uninteresting days. It’s the mix that makes life interesting. Bruno is a cat who tells the story of six very different days in his life.
They’re the sort of days we’ve all had—with surprising, quirky twists. Among those days, there are totally relatable moments, like this one:
“That day, the power went out on my street, At night, so as not to be in the dark, I lit candles. It was very pretty. Since they don’t happen very often, I really like days when the power goes out.”
And totally fantastic days, like when Bruno and his friend Ringo, a horse, find that they can breathe underwater and end up in a backwards swimming race with their new friend Bup, a fish. Bruno muses:
ages 0 to 8 years
Summer is in full swing in Tasmania and everywhere we look trees are laden with fruit. We're closely watching our plum and nectarine trees, eagerly awaiting the first ripe fruit, and I think this is what drew us to Together Always when we saw it in the library. That and the wonderfulness of friendship for the start of a new year.
ages 2 to 8 years
Because we all have our metaphorical caves and wolves—and actual triumphs and fears—this is a tale that will resonate with adults and children. And make both giggle with delighted relief.
It’s the story of a ‘little creature’ who lives in a cave and refuses to come out because there is a wolf who never leaves the entrance.
The wolf cajoles, entices and begs, but ‘the little creature stays home.’
In the end, it’s a doughnut that does the trick
ages 2 to 8 years
Ownership is one of childhood’s most profound experiences. Ownership of treasures found, gifts, emotions, and relationships all contribute to a growing sense of self and a sense of interconnectedness.
Jose Saramago*, Portugese novelist, anarcho-communist and political agitator, wrote “Liking is probably the best form of ownership, and ownership is probably the worst form of liking.” That strikes a familiar chord when thinking about children and
ages 2 to 8 years
Sometimes our own little quirks or difficulties can be a blessing. To us and to others.
In this tremendously fun story a cute little cat with a crick in his back walks through a town, surprising people everywhere and causing them to tilt their heads as he walks past.
That simple act leads to changes in perspective, new lifestyles, decisions and even new architecture.
ages 4 to adult
Having an enemy doesn’t always require a war, but always (always!) requires separate camps! Those camps could be foxholes, but they could also be duct tape lines across a shared bedroom floor, places to sit during lunch at school, or even a divided family.
In this book, 'There’s a war on.', and two soldiers are facing each other from holes in the ground. Just one soldier speaks to us, but we see both
ages 4 to 10 years
Chris Hadfield (astronaut, musician, author, celebrity crush for stem-loving women around the world) has said: "Every single thing that you learn really just gives you more comfort.”
He was talking about taking the opportunity to learn any skill, any idea, at any time—embracing the notion that knowledge is power and that with knowledge comes freedom. And one of the freedoms most everyone seeks for their children is freedom from fear, real or imagined. The Darkest Dark is about just that: overcoming fear. It's also a love story, a promise, an inspiration.
It's the story of a boy, his love for space, and how that love overcomes his deepest fear: fear of the dark.
ages 2 to 8 years
Learning to express anger appropriately is a lifelong process (or at least that’s how it feels for me) and Ivy has been experiencing a lot of the stomp, slam and scream kind lately. I can feel it coming over her in waves—and the fear in her eyes as it picks her up and sweeps her away in a flood of feelings she can’t get under control breaks my heart. (It’s really not easy being 3!)
A book that has been exceptionally helpful for us is Mouse Was Mad.
ages 2—8 years
There’s a scene in Emma (by Jane Austen), where Emma is talking to her friend (or plaything depending on your viewpoint) Harriet about a proposal. Emma says, ‘You must be the judge of your own happiness.’—and then proceeds to tell her how to judge her happiness!
Most of us are spared an Emma in our lives—we mostly judge our own happiness and find our own way. But sometimes we can be so secure in our current happiness that it becomes difficult to envision a different happiness.Children are prone to this too.
ages 3 to 8 years
Henrietta is a ‘great go-getter’ with an ‘adventurous spirit’ and ‘great determination’.
She’s also ‘an explorer of life, and that includes trees, bugs, animals and all mysteries.’ She’s waiting for a new baby—and hoping for a sister. She’s also starting school, making new friends, having her first sleepover and doing all the things that lucky children do at that age.
There are disappointments of course
ages 4 to 12 years
Angela—who gets up before daybreak—waits for a special visitor. As she waits she bakes shortbread cookies, the ‘lovely sweet smell’ reminding her of her childhood. ‘That’s why she makes them so often.’
She becomes anxious as she waits and, with ‘her heart lurching in all directions’, she tries playing along to a quiz game on television. ‘That’s when she hears a small voice behind her
ages 6 years to grownup
Everyone knows what it is to feel different or misunderstood. It's part of modern life—we meet many people in many circumstances and we don’t always ‘click’. And that’s fine, mostly we just do what needs to be done and move on until we come to a place we really do fit. But, for some people, being different or misunderstood is a constant. Ivan is such a child and he tells us that he is, in fact, a crocodile:
Ages 3 - 10
A fun book that teaches mistakes can become a thing of beauty when approached with the right attitude. The perfect gift for any child that struggles with imperfection.