Having a daughter with very strong emotions and that suffers from anxiety, I am always looking for books that send encouraging messages or that can become part of our everyday reading.  As a parent who has been suffering grief for months after losing my father, it's also important to talk to my daughter about deep feelings and sadness to try and normalize the conversation and the importance of mental health. 

Too many times in Latino culture these conversations do not take place and we're forced to internalize and deal with our own feelings on our own.  When our children see that we're open about our emotions, when we seek help, and it's simply a part of our lives, then we can not only have a better relationship with ourselves but a better relationship with our kids as open communication is enforced.  Here are...

Children's Books About Mental Health For Kids in English and Spanish

1. Gordy the Rabbit has ADHD 

Topics Addressed: ADHD

This book touches on the subject of ADHD.  While we do not have this book, it seems to be highly recommended by health professionals and parents.

Concept:

Often when people are given a mental health disorder diagnosis the weaknesses are clear and overwhelmingly emphasized, while the strengths are ignored or forgotten. The mental health children's book series 'What Mental Disorder?' challenges the stigma against therapy and diagnosis. It enlists the reader to view the character as a whole being and not as a mental issue. Although there are aspects that the character will have to learn to cope with in order to function successfully in their life, there are also amazing traits that make them unique and remarkably accomplished.

Gordy the Rabbit has ADHD is a picture book that takes a unique look at the positive and negative characteristics of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Meeting sweet Gordy you get to experience how his day to day routine is, the aspects that he will have to cope with, the amazing personality traits that he has, and how he can learn new skills to be the best rabbit he can be. It is written in such a way that the mental health disorder is explained in a realistic balanced light, while eliciting empathy and understanding from the audience. The book series 'What Mental Disorder?' including Gordy the Rabbit has ADHD is excellent for therapeutic clinicians, those diagnosed with ADHD, or those who would like to gain a better understanding of the disorder.

Type of Books: Kindle, Paperback, Hardcover

Language: English

Reading Ages: 5 to 18 years old

 2. ¿Qué puedo hacer cuando me preocupo demasiado?: Un libro para niños con ansiedad

or  

What to Do When You Worry Too Much: A Kid's Guide to Overcoming Anxiety

Topics Addressed:  Anxiety

If your child is a bit older and needs tools to help them deal with worry and anxiety, this is a very helpful book.  A note to parents.  As with any children's book that touches on mental health topics, make sure that you read it first before introducing it to your child.  There may be areas or pages that you do not agree with and you can modify the wording or rephrase as I do. 

       

Concept:

A Gold NAPPA (National Parenting Publications Awards) winner

Did you know that worries are like tomatoes? No, you can't eat them, but you can make them grow, simply by paying attention to them. If your worries have grown so big that they bother you almost every day, this book is for you.

What to Do When You Worry Too Much guides children and parents through the cognitive-behavioral techniques most often used in the treatment of anxiety. Lively metaphors and humorous illustrations make the concepts and strategies easy to understand, while clear how-to steps and prompts to draw and write help children to master new skills related to reducing anxiety. This interactive self-help book is the complete resource for educating, motivating, and empowering kids to overcoming their overgrown worries.

Engaging, encouraging, and easy to follow, this book educates, motivates, and empowers children to work towards change. Includes a note to parents by psychologist and author Dawn Huebner, PhD.

Page Number: 80 pages

Type of Books: Paperback

Language: Spanish or English

Reading Ages: 6-12years 

3.  Escuchando a Mi Cuerpo: Una guía para ayudar a los niños entender la conexión entre las sensaciones físicas y sus sentimientos

or 

Listening to My Body: A guide to helping kids understand the connection between their sensations and feelings so that they can get better at figuring out what they need.

 Topics Addressed:  Feelings, Emotions

I like this book as it gives kids simple mindfulness activities to do and empowers them to better identify what they are feeling, so important with a child that is experiencing strong emotions.  For me books like this are a must to get your child to open up.

   

Concept:

Listening to my Body is an engaging and interactive book that guides children through the practice of naming their feelings and the physical sensations that accompany them.

From wiggly and squirmy to rested and still, Listening to My Body helps children develop a sensations vocabulary so that they can express what they are experiencing.

 

Includes kid-friendly mindfulness activities woven throughout the book to reinforce the teachings.

 

Page Number: 32 pages

Type of Books: Kindle, Paperback,

Language: Spanish or English

Reading Ages: 4 to 8 years old

4. Así me siento yo

 Topics Addressed:  Feelings, Emotions

Another great book to get a conversation about feelings and emotions going.  I like that this one addresses jealousy (the hardcover and paperback versions) and disappointed.  Having children understand the different names of feelings in English and Spanish is also a great thing.

 

Concept:

Through illustrations, text, color, and font to describe happy, disappointed, angry, jealous, and other feelings that kids experience, this book uses words and situations familiar to children to describe a wide variety of emotions, some seldom attributed to kids. The language is nonjudgmental, and free of bias and slang, and there are whimsical characters that appeal to both boys and girls.

  

Book Info:

Page Number: 32 pages

Type of Books: Hardcover

Language: English or Spanish

Reading Ages: 3 to 8 years old

  

5. El Monstruo de Colores or The Color Monster

 Topics Addressed:  Feelings, Emotions

This is one of my favorite books of all times.  The pop up book is also one that I frequently gift my friends with toddlers.  It is a beautifully crafted book that not only helps children identify feelings in simple terms, it provides them a beautiful 3 D visual of that emotion.  This one is a must and a keeper.

 

Concept:

We teach toddlers to identify colors, numbers, shapes, and letters—but what about their feelings? By illustrating such common emotions as happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and calm, this sensitive book gently encourages young children to open up with parents, teachers, and daycare providers. And kids will LOVE the bright illustrations and amazing 3-D pop-ups on every page!

 

 

Page Number: 44 pages

Type of Books: Hardcover, Loose Leaf

Language: Spanish or English

Reading Ages: 3 to 5 years old

 

 6. Don't Feed The WorryBug

 Topics Addressed:  Anxiety

As a parent with a child that suffers from anxiety, this book is a great one to have.  If you have a child that is dealing with difficult emotions, I encourage you to source different books.  While you may love a book, your child may not resonate with it or the message.  The key is to have a variety of books that touches on the subject and that becomes part of their daily reading to begin to normalize this conversation, whether in English, Spanish, or both.

  

 

Concept:

2019 Child Mind Institute Pick for Best Children's Books About Mental Health

Say hello to Wince, one of the biggest worriers you will ever meet. From cookies to homework to the weather, Wince worries about everything.  And when Wince starts to worry, his WorryBug appears. At first the WorryBug is small and non-threatening, but the more Wince Worries the more his WorryBug grows. Don't Feed The WorryBug is great story to start the conversation on worry and anxiety. We all worry, it happens, but the key is to not let those worries aka the WorryBug grow to the point that it ruins your day.

Soft bound book includes coloring pages and WorryBug note pages to help keep track of when the pesky WorryBug arrives.

Page Number: 72 pages

Type of Books: Kindle, Paperback, Hardcover

Language: English

 

7. The Invisible String or  El Hilo Invisible

 Topics Addressed:  Grief, Loss, Seperation Anxiety

I lost my father to Covid 19 in 2020.  It was my daughter's first experience with death and I was so happy that we had already had this book in our home library.  It became a must read and still is on days when we're both sad.  Now, she'll casually just bring up the "heart string" on her own in conversation.  I love this book.

Concept:

With over half a million copies sold, this accessible, bestselling picture book phenomenon about the unbreakable connections between loved ones has healed a generation of readers--children and adults alike--and has been updated with new illustrations and an afterword from the author. Now available in paperback for the first time!

 

 

       

Parents, educators, therapists, and social workers alike have declared The Invisible String the perfect tool for coping with all kinds of separation anxiety, loss, and grief. In this relatable and reassuring contemporary classic, a mother tells her two children that they're all connected by an invisible string. "That's impossible!" the children insist, but still they want to know more: "What kind of string?" 

 

 

The answer is the simple truth that binds us all: An Invisible String made of love. Even though you can't see it with your eyes, you can feel it deep in your heart, and know that you are always connected to the ones you love. Does everybody have an Invisible String? How far does it reach? Does it ever go away? This heartwarming picture book for all ages explores questions about the intangible yet unbreakable connections between us, and opens up deeper conversations

Page Number: 40 pages

Type of Books: Kindle, Audiobook, Hardcover

Language: English

Reading Ages: 4 to 8 years old

8. ¡No significa no!: Ensenandoles Limites Personales, Respeto y Consentimiento a Los Ninos; Empoderandolos Mediante El Respeto de Sus Decisiones y de Su Derecho de Decir: ' No!'

 Or

No Means No!: Teaching children about personal boundaries, respect and consent; empowering kids by respecting their choices and their right to say, 'No!'

 Topics Addressed:  Abuse, Physical Boundaries

As a woman who was sexually assaulted in my teens I can't tell you enough how important it is to have open conversations about boundaries and limitations with both boys and girls. I love finding books that help me have these conversations, so again, we can normalize them and empower kids to have open conversations and not feel embarrassed or ashamed as I did as a child.

 

Concept:

'No Means No!' is a children's picture book about an empowered little girl who has a very strong and clear voice in all issues, especially those relating to her body and personal boundaries. This book can be read to children from 3 to 9 years. It is a springboard for discussions regarding children's choices and their rights. The 'Note to the Reader' at the beginning of the book and the 'Discussion Questions' on the final pages, guide and enhance this essential discussion.

 

 

It is crucial that our children, from a very young age, are taught to have a clear, strong voice in regards to their rights - especially about their bodies. In this way, they will have the confidence to speak up when they are unhappy or feel uncomfortable in any situation. A strong, confident voice as a young child converts to a strong, confident pre-teen, teenager and adult. With the prevalence today of online and offline bullying and various forms of abuse, such as physical, emotional and sexual abuse; our young people need to learn (from a young age) to always speak up when their rights are not being respected.

 

The aim of this book is to empower young children and to give them a voice so they can grow up into empowered adults. When a child, teenager or adult says, 'No!' to any form of coercion, this should be immediately respected. A world where 'No!' does actually mean 'No!' can be a world with far less violence and increased respect for humankind. By educating our children to have true respect for one another, this world can be a much safer and more positive place. Body Safety Education (aka sexual abuse prevention education) empowers girls and boys through knowledge, and teaches them they have the right to say, 'No' and to respect other's personal boundaries. 

Page Number: 32 pages

Type of Books: Paperback

Language: English or Spanish

Reading Ages: 2 to 9 years old

9.  Am I a Bully?

 Topics Addressed:  Bullying

When my daughter was in pre-school, she had some issues with a "mean girl."  As a concerned parent, I reached out to the school.  I later realized that the young girl had lost her father and I completely empathized with her.  Shortly after the problems began, Covid-19 happened and all the schools closed so we basically didn't return to the school and thus no further issues.  That being said, it did bring up a lot of conversations between my 5 year old and I about kindness, being mean, and how we don't always know why someone says or does the things they do. 

 In this post Covid world, children are left with a lot more complex issues to deal with than I remember growing up.  Heck, I never had to wear a face mask or do shooter drills!  We need to read more, talk more, and have conversations about behaviors, emotions, and what these look like in today's world so that our kids can grow up with emotional stability.

Concept: 

This book was written to bring awareness to bullying with young children. It helps explain the different ways bullying can be displayed. It also helps show that people can change their behavior at anytime.

Page Number: 24 pages

Type of Books: Paperback

Language: English

 

10. A Terrible Thing Happened

 Topics Addressed:  Trauma

This book addresses a traumatic experience without going into detail what that experience is, so it lets the child process in their own way.  It is my hope that your child hasn't suffered a traumatic experience and if they have, my heart goes out to you.  I hope that this book can be of help to your family and you help your child.

    

Description:

Sherman Smith saw the most terrible thing happen. At first he tried to forget about it, but something inside him started to bother him. He felt nervous and had bad dreams. Then he met someone who helped him talk about the terrible thing, and made him feel better.

Page Number: 32 pages

Type of Books: Kindle, Paperback, Hardcover

Language: English

Reading Ages: 4 to 7 years old

 

 I hope these books can help your family normalize mental health conversations, whether in English or Spanish. Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter and never miss a blog post.