Books for younger children: Pre-school to 12 years
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The selection of books and materials below has been put together
on behalf of the Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Faculty based on
recommendations received from child and adolescent mental health
professionals and members of the FOCUS network around the country.
Dr Ian Wilkinson and other colleagues working in the field have
also been instrumental in creating the list.
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Topics
Abandonment by Parent
Flour Babies, Anne
Fine
ISBN 0140361472, Puffin Books
For ages 9-12. Participating in a class assignment that calls for
the students to watch over flour sacks as if they were babies,
Simon learns much about this own family life, including why his
father walked out on him.
ADHD/Hyperactivity
Eukee
the Jumpy, Jumpy Elephant, Clifford L. Corman &
Esther Trevino
ISBN 0962162981, Partners Publishing Group
For ages
4-8. Eukee is a jumpy hyperactive elephant who moves through the
jungle like a tornado, unable to pay attention like the other
elephants. He begins to feel sad, but gets help after a visit to
the doctor.
Jumpin' Johnny get back to
work! A child's guide to ADHD/Hyperactivity, Michael
Gordon
ISBN 0962770116, GSI
Publications
For ages 6-10. An amusing book for children which tells the story
of Johnny and what it is like for him to be impulsive and
inattentive, and how his family and school make life easier for
him.
My brother's a world class
pain. A sibling's guide to ADHD, Michael Gordon
ISBN 092770124, GSI publications
For younger
children up to about 10. This story centers on an older
sister's efforts to deal with her active and impulsive brother. It
sends a message to siblings of an ADHD child that they
can play an important role in a family's quest for change.
Putting on the brakes: A Young
People's Guide to Understanding Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder, Patricia Quinn and Judith Stern
ISBN 1557987955, Magination Press
Putting on the brakes Activity
Book for Young People with ADHD, Patricia Quinn
ISBN 0945354576, Magination Press
For ages 9-12.
The book focuses on the feelings and emotions of children with ADHD
and suggests specific techniques for gaining control of the
situation, becoming better organised, and functioning better at
school, home and with friends. The activity book is a companion to
the above and allows children to put their understanding of ADHD
into action.
Shelley, the Hyperactive
Turtle, Deborah Moss
ISBN 093314931X Woodbine
House
For ages 4-8. The story of a bright young
turtle who's not like other turtles.
Full of Beans, Chris
Wever
Shrink-Rap Press Australia PLC
This book explains ADD clearly in simple words and pictures.
Aggression
I
want my potty, Tony Ross
ISBN 0862641373, Andersen Press
Baby/pre-school level. A little princess, tired of nappies,
learns to use the potty, although it is not always easy.
Where the wild things
are, Maurice Sendak
ISBN 0099408392, Red Fox
For ages 4-8. Max is sent to
bed without supper and imagines sailing away to the land of wild
things, where he is made king.
Reckless Ruby, Hiawyn
Oram & Tony Ross
ISBN 0006640648, Picture Lions
For ages 4-8. Ruby does anything she can - including crossing
canyons on tightropes and dangling from skyscrapers by her
shoelaces - to defy her mother's expectations and forge her own
identity.
Anger/Stroppy Children
Angry Arthur, Hiawyn
Oram
ISBN 0099196611, Red Fox
Arthur's mum won't let him
stay up to watch television, so Arthur gets angry, very, very angry
until his anger blows the universe into little pies.
Don't rant and rave on
Wednesday: the children's anger-control book, Adolph
Moser
ISBN 0933849540 Landmark Editions
Inc
Thorough discussion of anger, describes common and inappropriate
behaviours and suggests ways to control anger and express
feelings.
Autism
The Crowstarver, Dick
King Smith
ISBN 0552546038, Corgi Juvenile
Moving story of a foundling raised by a shepherd in Wiltshire in
the 1920's who turns out to have Autism and learning difficulties
but an idiot savant capacity for mimicking and communicating with
animals.
Anxiety
A Boy and a Bear - The Children's Relaxation Book,
Lori Lite
ISBN 1886941076, Partners Publishing Group
This book for 3-10 year olds teaches young children how to relax
and calm themselves. The book tells the story of a young boy who
encounters a polar bear while they are both climbing a snow-covered
mountain.
Indigo Dreams Audio CD, Lori
Lite
Indigo Dreams is a 60 minute CD/audiobook designed to entertain
your child while introducing them to relaxation/meditation
techniques. Four unique stories introduce breathing,
visualisations, muscular relaxation and affirmations. Children
follow the characters along as they learn to manage their own
stress, anxiety and energy. The narration is accompanied by healing
sounds of nature and an additional music sound track to further
enhance your relaxation experience.
ISBN 0970863349, www.LiteBooks.net
Sweet Dreams and
Monsters, Peter Mayle
ISBN 1556709455 Stewart, Tabori and Chang
A
beginner's guide to dreams and nightmares and things that go bump
under the bed. An extremely fun book for younger children in
discussing dreams and nightmares.
Tim and the blanket
thief, John Prater
ISBN 0689318812, Atheneum
For 4-8 years. In the middle of the night, shy, unadventurous Tim
courageously pursues and does away with the blanket thief.
Triumphantly, he returns home not only with his own security
blanket, but also the beloved blankets and toys of a number of
other children.
Bullying
Bad Girls, Jacqueline
Wilson
ISBN 0440863562, Corgi Juvenile
For 9-12 years. Ten-year-old Mandy is being tormented by her class
mate Kim and her friends.
Death and Dying
Granpa, John
Burningham
ISBN 0099434083, Red Fox
Aimed at baby - pre-school children. Adorable Granpa nurses his
grand-daughter's dolls, mistakes her strawberry-flavoured ice-cream
for chocolate, and falls in with her imaginary plans to captain a
ship to Africa.
Lifetimes: a beautiful
way to explain life and death to children, Bryan Mellonie
and Robert Ingpen
ISBN 0553344021, Bantam Books
All ages reading level. This is a simple, yet moving way of helping
children understand and cope with death.
Badger's parting
gifts, Susan Varley
ISBN 0006643175, Picture Lions
Babies and pre-school children. Badger's friends are sad when he
dies but treasure the memories he left. The animals find the
strength to face the future with hope.
Nana upstairs and Nana
downstairs, Torrie de Paola
ISBN 0698118367, Puffin
Books/Penguin
For 4-8 years.
Tommy is four years old, and he loves visiting the home of his
grandmother, Nana Downstairs, and his great-grandmother, Nana
Upstairs. But one day Tommy's mother tells him Nana Upstairs won't
be there anymore, and Tommy must struggle with saying good-bye to
someone he loves.
Remembering Grandad,
Gianni Padoan
ISBN 0859537544, Child's Play (International) Ltd
For 4-8 years. Uses vocabulary to communicate feelings and promotes
positive role-modeling. Contributes to the child's awareness and
understanding of the world.
Vicky Angel,
Jacqueline Wilson
ISBN 0440864151, Corgi Juvenile
For 9-12 years. The book talks about a tragic and traumatic
experience: the death of a friend.
Fred, Posy
Simmonds
ISBN 0099264129, Red Fox
For 4-8 years. This book explores the death and life of a dear
cat.
Some of the Pieces,
Melissa Madenski
ISBN 0316543241, Little
Brown and Company
Story of a family's experience of
losing Dad. About working through acceptance and separation. A
young boy tells how he deals with his father's death. It describes
the various stages of grieving and the healing process.
Come Back, Grandma,
Sue Limb
ISBN 0099219514, Red Fox
For 3-8 years. Line and watercolor illustrations and a spare text
show the special relationship between a girl and her grandmother.
When Grandma dies, Bessie misses her and can't forget her. But when
Bessie grows up, marries, and has a baby--who looks and acts "just
like Grandma, only a little girl."
Beginnings and Endings with
Lifetimes in Between, Bryan Mellonie
ISBN 1855617609, Belitha Press
For 4-8 years. There is a beginning and an ending to everything
that is alive. In between there is lifetime. It is the same for
people as it is for plants, animals and insects.
When Something Terrible
Happens: Children Can Learn to Cope with Grief, Marge
Heegaard
ISBN 0962050237, Fairview
Press
For 9-12 years. This book helps children
explore feelings in a non-threatening and focused manner.
Another Look at the Rainbow:
Straight from the Siblings, Gloria Murray & Gerald G
Jamplosky
ISBN 0890873410, Celestial
Arts
With drawings and quotes from bereaved brothers and sisters, the
editor creates a memorial to the love between siblings. The book
brings out not only the sadness, but also the difficult feelings,
such as jealousy and guilt that trouble the survivors.
Divorce
Step by Wicked Step, Anne Fine
ISBN 0140366474, Puffin Books
For 9-12 years. Five children gather around a mysterious diary and
share an evening of stories about their lives and trials,
discovering common bonds in adversity. This is a story about the
effects of divorce and remarriage upon children.
Suitcase Kid,
Jacqueline Wilson
ISBN 0440863112, Corgi Juvenile
For 9-12 years. A
hard look at joint-custody life, the book follows Andrea West and
her tiny stuffed rabbit, Radish, through the painful adjustment of
being a kid with divorced parents.
My Parent's Divorce,
Julia Cole
ISBN 0761308695,
Copper Beech Books
For 4-8 years. Discusses why
divorce happens, how to cope with it, and how to deal with
difficult feelings as well as friends whose parents are
divorced.
Families
How do I feel about my
stepfamily?, Julie Johnson
ISBN 0749636297, Franklin
Watts
For 4-8 years. Young people in stepfamilies
describe how they cope with having stepbrothers, stepsisters,
stepparents and offer tips on dealing with change in your
family.
Fears
Goodnight, moon, Margaret Wise and Clement
Hurd.
ISBN 0333961072, Pan
Macmillan
A young bunny rabbit goes through his bedtime routine, bidding
goodnight to all of the familiar objects and characters in his
room. Addresses toddlers fears of the dark/ going to bed.
We're going on a bear
hunt, Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury
ISBN 0744523230, Walker
Books
For 4-8 years. Have you ever gone on a bear hunt? Come along on
this one with a brave young family - four children (including the
baby) and their father.
The bear under the
stairs, Helen Cooper
ISBN 0552548812, Corgi Juvenile
For 3-7 years. This monster-in-a-closet is a daytime fear. He lurks
in corners and under table. William feeds him; with eyes shut
tight, he tosses offerings under the stairs until the smell alerts
his parents and William explains. Then he and Mom clean out the
cupboard.
Can't you sleep, Little
Bear?, Martin Waddell and Barbara Firth
ISBN 0744572940, Walker
Books
For babies and pre-school children. Terrified
of the dark, Little Bear can't sleep. He's frightened of the dark,
even with the Biggest Lantern of Them All at his bedside. But Big
Bear finds an ingenious way to reassure him.
Feelings
Feelings, Aliki
ISBN 068806518X
HarperCollins
For 4-8 years. About children
having difficulty articulating their emotions.
Double Dip Feelings: Stories
to help children understand emotions, Barbara S Cain
ISBN 1557988110, Magination
Press
Explores the sometimes confusing way that we can have two
feelings at the same time.
Feeling Different
Something Else,
Katherine Cave and Chris Riddell
ISBN 1572555637. Mondo
Publishing.
For 4-8 Years. A little creature is ostracized depite his
attempts to fit in, but his experiences enable him to be accepting
of others' differences
The Rainbow Fish,
Marcus Pfister
ISBN 1558588167, North-South Books
For
4-8 years. A book about a beautiful fish who learns to make friends
by sharing what he prizes most, his beautiful scales.
Reading Lights Comic Books
For 4-7 year olds. Series of four comic books which address in
a simple but creative way what it is like to be "different". Each
of the books has an animal as its central character; Little Raja -
the elephant with the troublesome trunk; Peaches - the puppy who
screeches; Streaky - the annoying little piglet; Quackeline - the
duck who wanted to be a swan.
Growing Up and Sex
Into the Great Forest, Irene Wineman
Marcus
ISBN 0945354401, Magination
Press
For 4-8 years. A story for children away from their parents for
the first time, it is a dream adventure in which a young boy
overcomes his fears of the first day at school.
Where did I come
from?, P Mayle
ISBN 0330331132, Pan
Macmillan
This book will help parents share information with their children
about sex and where babies come from.
In Care
The Story of Tracy
Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
ISBN 0440864909, Corgi Juvenile
For 9-12 years.
10-year-old Tracy Beaker has been in foster care since she was a
baby. She is sure that her mother will come for her someday. In the
meantime, she is trying to rope in almost anyone into being her
foster parent.
Life Story
Grandma's Bill,
Martin Waddell
ISBN 0750003073, Macdonald Young Books
For 4-8 years. A story about tracing your family.
Lonely
Aldo, John Burningham
ISBN 0099185016, Red Fox
For 4-8 years. The young story-teller describes her imaginary
rabbit friend, Aldo. Good book for children who feel alone.
A Fairy Tale, Tony
Ross
ISBN 0099917009, Red Fox
For 4-8 years. Young Bessie
hates her life in the dark, dirty mill until she makes friends with
old Mrs Leaf who claims to be a fairy. A story about life-long
friendship.
The Secret Garden,
Frances Hodgson Burnett
ISBN 014036660, Puffin
Books
For 9-12 years. Classic story about the orphaned Mary Lennox,
lonely and sad, who comes to live at her uncle's great house on the
Yorkshire moors, she finds it full of secrets. Outside, she meets
Dickon, a magical boy who can charm and talk to animals. With the
help of a friendly robin, Mary discovers the most mysterious wonder
of all--a secret garden, is everything in the garden dead, or can
Mary bring it back to life?
Lost And Found
Dogger, Shirley Hughes
ISBN 0099267098, Red Fox
For 4-8 years. Story about a boy's stuffed dog who is lost and
found again.
Borka: the adventures of a
goose with no feathers, John Burningham
ISBN 0099400677, Red Fox
For 4-8 years. The parents
of Borka, the goose with no feathers, call the goose doctor and his
mother ends up knitting some feathers. Borka becomes upset and is
teased and ignored by the other geese. The time comes when all the
geese fly away and forget and leave Borka behind.
Sylvester and the Magic
Pebble, William Steig
ISBN 0689804172, Simon
& Schuster
For 4-8 years. Sylvester finds a magic
pebble that can make wishes come true. But when a lion frightens
him on his way home, Sylvester makes a wish that brings unexpected
results. Sylvester is eventually reunited with his loving family
and restored to his true self.
Magical
In the Attic, Hiawyn
Oram
ISBN 0862640741, Andersen Press
For 4- 8 years. Climbing up the rickety ladder of his toy fire
truck, a young boy emerges into a marvelous secret world in the
attic of his house. Anything can happen, he discovers.
Mental Illness in
Parents
The Illustrated Mum,
Jacqueline Wilson
ISBN 0440863686, Corgi Juvenile
Story of Dolphin, a young girl living in the wake of her mother's
depression, and her sister Star, who is on the verge of adulthood.
Both cope with living in a dysfunctional household where the
tattoo-crazy mother has real difficulties in coping too.
The Wise Mouse,
Virginia Ironside
ISBN 0954512308, Young Minds
For 5 to 11 year-olds, aims to help them understand what is
happening to a family member who may be experiencing a mental
illness. Simple story about a girl whose mother has a mental health
problem and a 'wise mouse' who helps the girl. Children will be
encouraged to explore their own feelings about the problem and what
it may mean for their family.
New Baby (Not Coping)
Obsessive-Compulsive
Disorder
The Secret Problem,
Chris Wever
Shrink-Rap Press Australia PLC
A book with clear and simple text
and drawings the bring the symptoms and solutions to
life.
Panic
The Panic Book, Neil
Phillips,
Shrink-Rap Press Australia PLC
The 'Panic Book' will tell you a lot about panic and it will
tell you how it can be treated and beaten. With clear and simple
text and illustrations.
Parents (A Good Read)
N
ot Now Bernard, David McKee
ISBN 0582338956, Longman
For all ages. Bernard's parents are always too busy to understand
that there is a monster in the garden waiting to eat him.
Come away from the water
Shirley, John Burmingham
ISBN 009989940X, Red Fox
For 4-8 years. A look at what goes on in a child's imagination
during a trip to the beach.
The best of Michael
Rosen, Michael Rosen/Quentin Blake
ISBN 1571430466, Rdr Books
For 4-8 years. Wonderful silly poems for children.
Physical Abuse & Learning
Disabilities
Love is Forever, Jean
Ure
ISBN 1860397700, Orchard Books
Thirteen-year-old Tracey knows her love for Paul will last forever.
Then one day Paul disappears, taking with him his little sister,
Lily. Tracey discovers that Lily is handicapped.
Privacy and Avoiding
Abuse
A very touching book … for
little people and big people, Jan Hindman
ISBN 0961103418, AlexAndria Associates
A useful book for children and parents which approaches the topic
of 'secret touching' sensitively.
Self-Esteem
I want your moo: A story for children
about self-esteem, Mark Weiner
ISBN 0945354657, Magination Press
Beautifully written and illustrated tale about self-esteem. It
features Toodles, the turkey, who despises the sound of her
"gobble-gobble".
The Affirmation Web - A Believe in Yourself Adventure
paperback, Lori Lite
ISBN 1886941254, Specialty
Press
Affirmations or positive statements build
self-esteem and empower children to be the best they can. Readers
follow a girl and her animal friends as they weave the Affirmation
Web. They learn to believe in themselves while replacing negative
messages with positive self talk. Children love this feel good
story and the positive effect it has on their lives.
Sibling Rivalry
Angus and the Cat, Marjorie
Flack
ISBN 0374403821, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
For all ages. Angus the dog is jealous of the cat when he
first discovers that he's not an 'only child' anymore.
The Tunnel, Anthony
Browne
ISBN 0744552397, Walker Books
For 4-8 years. A brother and sister who are always fighting,
discover that their affection for each other is stronger than they
thought.
Sleep Problems
The Goodnight
Caterpillar - the Ultimate Bedtime Story, Lori Lite
ISBN 0970863314, www.litebooks.net
Muscular relaxation is essential to a good night's sleep. Children
follow The Goodnight Caterpillar as they learn to unwind, relax and
see things more clearly. This easy, gentle exercise relaxes muscles
throughout the body as anxiety and tension slip away. Children and
parents will fall asleep more easily and experience a deeper
peaceful night's sleep.
A Boy and a Turtle -
The Children's Vizualization Book, Lori Lite
ISBN 0970863306, www.litebooks.net
Vizualization is an effective technique widely used for achieving
sports goals, creating success and attaining wellness. Now children
can follow a boy and a turtle as they fill their bodies with
colours of the rainbow. Colourful imagery quiets the mind and
relaxes the body. Parents as well as children enjoy falling asleep
while playing in the field of colours.
Social Issues
The Bed and Breakfast
Star, Jacqueline Wilson
ISBN 0440863244, Corgi Juvenile
Now that Elsa' stepfather is out of work, the family have to live
in one tiny room at the Royal Hotel. But life starts to look up
when things go wrong at the hotel, and Elsa has the chance to be a
real star.
Tourette Syndrome
Adam and the magic marble, Adam and Carol
Buehrens
ISBN 1878267302, Hope
Press
A fictional story for children about how 3 boys
with disabilities, taunted by peers, find the magical power to cure
their disorders.
Twins - Domination of
Sibling
Double Act,
Jacqueline Wilson
ISBN 0440865034, Corgi Juvenile
For 9-12 years. Identical twins learn to deal with tremendous
change following the death of their mother
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