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The Fearless One

By: Anna Svetchnikov

Features a young girl who’s afraid of the dark. Her grandmother has a chat with her about the importance of facing her fears. While there grandma decides it’s time to let her in on a little secret about a magical secret door that exists in her room and then gives her the key to take care of. It’s not long before a little fairy visits in the night and explains how the key works and how to enter this tiny little world. Curious she decides to enter the little doorway and see what’s on the other side. While there she makes some friends and encounters the one they call “The Meanie”. She sees the fear in all her friends and decides it’s time for them to face their fears. When “The Meanie” came back angry and threatening they stood up and told her they aren’t afraid of her and offered her their friendship instead. This change of attitude worked and “The Meanie” stopped being so mean. At that point the girl realized that after teaching them to be brave there was no reason or her to be afraid of the dark either. I love the message about being brave and there are some great words of wisdom sprinkled across this story. In the hands of the right parent or teacher this can be a very useful book to help children deal with fear and have more emotional awareness.

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Hey Warrior

By: Karen Young

This book introduces children to anxiety through the metaphor of the amygdala as a “fierce warrior” in the brain. This warrior works to protect the individual by activating the body’s fight-or-flight response, even when there’s no real danger. The book explains how this process leads to the physical sensations associated with anxiety, such as a racing heart, sweaty palms, and shallow breathing. Through gentle language and relatable analogies, the book empowers children to manage their anxiety with tools like deep breathing and positive self-talk, helping them to reassure their “warrior” that everything is okay. The descriptions of physical symptoms are clear, relatable, and informative, offering young readers an “aha” moment as they recognize their own experiences. I especially appreciate how the book validates anxiety as a natural response while providing practical tools, such as controlled breathing and positive self-talk, to regain control. The idea that courage and anxiety coexist gives children a powerful reframe, helping them see anxiety not as a barrier, but as a signal of bravery. I love educational books, I’ve always supported teaching emotional awareness from an early age. This book is definitely a must have in any classroom or home library.

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Anger Is My Monster

By: Clara Harper

All about anger management, the story follows Yoshi, a little boy who often finds himself overwhelmed by his anger. His frustration manifests into a monster he names Murphy, who grows larger and more destructive each time Yoshi’s anger takes over. Murphy wreaks havoc on Yoshi’s house and everything gets messy and things get broken. Yoshi’s mother steps in with words of wisdom and teaches him to breathe deeply and visualize Murphy shrinking in size. By using these techniques, Yoshi gradually learns to manage his feelings and prevent Murphy from taking over. Over time, Yoshi gains control over his emotions, and Murphy the Mad Monster becomes smaller and less threatening. I love the use of deep breathing and visualization techniques, these are based on well-established methods used to help children deal with intense emotions like anger. The book reinforces that negative emotions are natural but can be controlled through practice and patience. Murphy the Monster is a great addition, he really makes the book entertaining and easy to process for the kids. By externalizing the anger into a “monster,” it gives children a different way to relate to their emotions and potentially a new way to gain control. The first grade and second grade classes both enjoyed this book. We talked about having our own monsters and that everyone’s monster was different, they totally get it. This book is really well done! The illustrations are great, the story is easy to follow, the message is clear and the content provides useful techniques with real world applications. Absolute MUST HAVE , especially if you have a child in your life who struggles with anger. Two thumbs WAY up! 👍👍

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Ellie the Crocodile goes to gymnastics

By: Emily Bardwell

Here’s an excellent book about being brave and trying new things. About a crocodile named Ellie, who on a rainy day, decides to join her friends for a gymnastics class. Initially, she felt quite nervous about going, but she decides to be brave. Facing her fears she tries some new activities like walking on the balance beam, jumping on the trampoline, and swinging across the monkey bars. It’s not easy and sometimes she falls, but she learns to enjoy these challenges and ends up having a great time. Before she knows it the class is over, and Ellie is left eagerly looking forward to her next gymnastics class. I love the message in this book, it was perfect for my second graders. Stories like this can be very effective at addressing common childhood anxieties about trying new activities. I believe encouraging children to face their fears in a supportive environment is an essential part of developing overall confidence. At this developmental stage they’re trying a lot of things for the first time, and often balancing between seeking independence and needing reassurance. Also, I should add that this story provides valuable modeling for positive self talk, as Eli repeats “I think I can” and “I know I can”. The use of positive mantras is a wonderfully effective tool for dealing with anxiety and instilling a positive mindset. Bottom line… This is an excellent choice for your next book purchase. I’m happy I found this one, we all need more books like this!

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Good Thing You're Not An Octopus

By: Julie Markes

Here’s a crowd pleaser 🐙 great illustrations, the perfect amount of silliness and a smart message! Featuring various scenarios that the child doesn’t like followed by the idea that if you were an animal it would be much worse. Although it’s quite silly to imagine an octopus putting on pants or a caterpillar putting on 16 pairs of shoes, the message is loud and clear. Definitely a fun book and guaranteed to get some laughs. Our attitude towards life is hugely important and I’m happy to see books like this making a good point in a way that’s easy to understand.

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Leighton Learns Patience

By: Jessica Hansen

Follows a little girl as she learns about having patience. She finds herself in everyday situations and of course doesn’t want to wait. As she soon discovers we can’t always have everything immediately. In fact some things take time and require patience whether we like it or not. She wants dinner right now but it isn’t cooked yet, so dried pasta is what she gets. The received a new piggy bank as a gift and put a quarter in it, then she couldn’t wait to break it open and smashed it… only to have the same quarter again and no more piggy bank 🙁 Eventually her father explains to her about patience and offers some sound advice along with some tips to help her. I read this with my first graders and they really enjoyed it. We had a cute conversation afterwards about patience and we all named different situations that we’ve been in where we had to have patience. It was really cute and I’m happy how receptive they were to the concept of patience and it’s importance in everyday life. I love this subject, it’s such an important virtue to have and learning it early is a must!! Also there’s a tiny little ladybug 🐞 on each page, which is super fun. The first time we read it the kids didn’t really notice them but once I pointed it out we went back through the book and found them all 😃. Definitely check this book out, it’s a great book with a great message and an absolutely perfect addition to your children’s bookshelf 👍👍

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Simon's Sadness

By: Emily Martin

About depression, friendship and the power of music. Simon is normally a very outgoing guy who loves to dance more than anything. He starts to notice that he doesn’t feel the same and begins to retreat into a dark place. He doesn’t want to see anyone despite feeling lonely and sad. He stops dancing and the people around him notice the change. They try to help but get nowhere. One day Simon’s best friend’s in a shop looking for something to cheer him up. The lady in the shop offers a gift to Simon’s friend that’s sure to cheer up Simon. He brings it over to Simon’s place and Simon initially isn’t interested until the gift begins playing music. The song reminds him of happier times and for the first time in a while he feels happy. Soon the next song plays and the same thing happens… eventually he starts to dance. With the help of some nostalgic songs Simon is able to pull himself out of his funk and be happy again! Such a great book!! I love this topic, so many people struggle with some level of depression. A very realistic depiction of depression and also a happy ending. I’m very happy to be able to recommend this one to my audience and will most certainly give this book a permanent place on my Children’s Bookshelf!

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Henry Wondered

By: Hazel Pacheco

Had a great time reading this with the second graders. The story is cute, the illustrations are fabulous and it features a good amount of new vocab for the kids (featured in the back glossary). I was able to use that vocabulary to create several activities for afterwards, which turned out really well. About Henry the quail who has a crush on Gloria. He doesn’t have the confidence to tell her how he feels though. Then one day a new single guy named Federico came around showing off some pretty fancy dance moves. This caught Gloria’s attention and Henry wasn’t liking that. Henry really wanted to impress Gloria … but how? He spends many hours trying to think of ways to impress Gloria but in the end, love and life have a way of working out one way or another. Such a great book! Fun characters and illustrations, and does a great job of capturing the awkwardness of adolescent romance. Also the vocabulary helps turn a storybook into a whole lesson (which I ❤️) Definitely go check this book out!

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Ana's Anxiety

By: Emily Martin

Each book in the series tackles something different. This book features Ana, a young girl struggling with anxiety issues. Ana feels a lot of pressure to do well in school and make her friends and family proud. She’s never fully satisfied with herself and frequently suffers from panic attacks. She removes herself from situations that trigger her anxiety and retreats into the school utility closet to calm herself down. This becomes a regular thing until one day she’s shopping for a birthday gift for her mother. The sales clerk notices she’s feeling anxious and suggests Ana get herself a gift as well. The clerk suggests a mood ring and teaches her how it works, offering some valuable advice along with it. Anna loves the idea and gets the ring. Pretty soon Ana finds that the ring actually helps her a lot ☺️ Definitely a great book for any child dealing with panic attacks or other anxiety issues. It’s a wonderful opener for conversations about the subject. Teachers, counselors and parents will find this a helpful resource and I’m very happy to give this book and series two thumbs WAY!! As they say at Friend Tales … “If you can change your thoughts, you can change your world”

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2 Crows and a Pea

By: Anthony Luke Hyslop

I'm always on the lookout for books that not only captivate young minds but also impart meaningful lessons. Here’s a delightful story that does exactly that. Titus and Judah, are locked in a classic sibling quarrel over the last cookie. Their father steps in to resolve the conflict by telling them a story about the two crows and the pea. One day, the crows spot a pea, leading to a squabble over who should eat the pea first (echoing the conflict between Titus and Judah). In their tussle, the crows fail to notice a seagull that swoops in and snatches the pea away. The moral becomes clear that their inability to share or reach an agreement leads to mutual loss. The father uses this story to teach his sons about the importance of sharing and the consequences of selfishness. The language is simple, relatable and accompanied by fantastic illustrations, perfect for my kindergarteners. I like how the father recognises a teachable moment and steps in to teach the kids an important life lesson. It’s fair to say that this book can also serve as a gentle reminder to the parent/teacher reading it out-loud… that sometimes, in the rush of our lives, it can be easy to overlook the simple everyday interactions that are potentially profound opportunities to shape our children's future. I actively search out books like this that have morals or build character. This one is a valuable resource for teachers or parents looking to encourage social and emotional learning. I’m happy to say, it held the group’s attention all the way through, and they totally loved it! Also after we finished reading it we had a super cute discussion about conflict resolution, empathy, and the importance of sharing. Highly recommend checking this book out and adding it to your own Children’s Bookshelf!

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Are You Nervuz?

By: M. Atta

Here’s a great book about feeling nervous on the first day of school. A feeling every child can relate to! About a young boy named Mousa, who’s just moved to a new town and now has to start his first day at school. Mousa tells his mom he’s feeling “weird” and can’t go to school. His mother explains the“weird“ feeling is just nervousness, It’s perfectly normal to feel that way when you’re about to try something new. After a reassuring talk with his mother, Mousa agrees to go to school. Once at school, he meets his happy and welcoming teacher, Ms. Rosemary, and befriends Mei Lin who shares her own experience of moving. By the end of the day, Mousa is not only happy but excited to return to school. Now he realizes that it’s OK to try new things and feeling a little bit nervous as totally normal. This book went really well in class with the third graders. I love this topic, it’s very relatable to children. Also, I like the realistic text and conversation throughout the book, it made for excellent reading material in class… we used the book for our daily “Reading Relay”. Books about emotional awareness are super important and can be amazing tools in the hands of the right person. I’d definitely recommend this to the teachers out there, having this in the classroom collection is a no-brainer. Would be great to read this on the first day of school and have it around for those students who might need some reassurance. Sometimes they just need to know they aren’t the only ones feeling this way. The final slide has information about the author and her website. This is the first book in a series, so keep your eyes for the next book coming soon!

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Adventures of Jake: a skydiving adventure

By: Aimee Greene

Here’s a wonderful book about the power of imagination and trusting in yourself 🪂 Mom drops her excited son Jake off at school which he knows is always an adventure. As he opens the doors his imagination takes over and his adventure begins. Jake learns all about skydiving and goes up in the plane. While up there he feels scared and unsure of himself but receives some very important wisdom that really helps! Simple storyline, great illustrations and lovely message. Definitely worth checking out

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Angry Me

By: Sandra V. Feder

I’ve found over the years that in the right hands, books about emotions and emotional awareness have been enormously helpful in the classroom. Kids will be kids and they’re still learning how to properly handle these emotions. Outbursts and behavioral problems are common, especially within the first 3 or 4 years of school. This book is about anger and recognizing that it’s temporary, it looks at potential causes and also the best way to deal with it. This young girl is having troubles controlling her anger but is very self-aware and looks at what’s making her mad. She sees that her attitude needs to change and with some patience, she tries a different approach and it works! I love that this book doesn’t magically cure her of her frustrations or anger. It’s realistic in the sense that even though the anger still comes, it’s just about how you deal with it. This book will be very useful for parents or teachers dealing with this kind of situation. Definitely an excellent addition to any children’s bookshelf, go check it out!

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