Is social emotional awareness hard for your child on the spectrum? Worry that it’ll be hard for him or her to make friends? Our experts love these books – and your child will too!
There are plenty of children’s books out there specifically designed for teaching social emotional awareness and skills. For example, the WorryWoo Monsters series spotlights an emotion per book, with a monster experiencing and problem solving that emotion. The MySELF theme boxed sets come with 6 books each, explaining familiar scenarios that cause big emotions, avoiding abstract terms so that they are more accessible for children with autism who benefit from concrete terminology.
However, it is not necessary to use only books written expressly for the purpose of social emotional learning in order to accomplish the same goal. Many children’s books can be ideal vehicles for teaching social emotional awareness. If they are motivating for your child, they will provide a valuable jumping off point for discussing and practicing problem solving skills.
Here is a roundup of some great children’s books that were not necessarily specifically designed for SEL (social emotional learning) but that fit the bill just the same. This list is by no means exhaustive, but it’s a great starting point – or a collection of fresh ideas to add to your child’s already existing library.
My Many-Colored Days by Dr. Seuss
My Many-Colored Days is a fantastic tool for teaching early foundations of social emotional awareness. The book is written in first person, making it easy to relate to, and it’s relatively short, benefitting children who may have shorter attention spans or are still developing tolerance for longer narratives and books. Each page in this book is a study in a separate emotion. There are colors associated with each emotion, which can be helpful for adults as well as children to foster simple language for talking about how experiences feel. The book touches on some causes of emotions and allows lots of room for parents to elaborate if they would like.
Llama Llama, Mad at Mama
The Llama Llama series is a great option in general for teaching social emotional awareness, as it takes children through many experiences they are likely to share with the titular character. For example, the original book in the series, Llama Llama, Red Pajama, deals with emotions related to the bedtime routine – from not wanting to go to bed, to fear of the dark, to desire for routine. Llama Llama, Mad at Mama, deals more directly with anger as an emotion and helps parents teach effective and appropriate skills for coping with anger, as well as naming it and some of its possible causes.
It’s Okay to Be Different, The Feelings Book, and Other Books by Todd Parr
Todd Parr uses short phrases and sentences along with bright colored, boxy illustrations in all of his children’s books, making them highly accessible and meaningful for a range of readers and not-yet-readers. These books rely on the illustrations just as much as the words in the book to tell about each emotion or situation. Again, the books aren’t dependent on a beginning-to-end narrative to tell their story, so each page in and of itself is a miniature learning tool. The books also have a knack for mixing relatively harmless or funny situations and feelings in with more intense ones. For example, The Feelings Book puts “Sometimes I feel like standing on my head” on the page right after “Sometimes I feel scared.” This helps children who may be easily overwhelmed.
Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon
Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon does not directly use as much concrete language about emotions as some of the other books on this list, but it is a highly relatable story that parents can use to teach valuable SEL skills. In the book, Molly Lou Melon moves with her family to a new house and new school, and experiences emotions like self-doubt and uncertainty. Molly Lou’s facial expressions in the illustrations mirror her emotions fairly realistically, providing several great opportunities to practice emotion identification by pointing to the pictures and asking “how is she feeling?” Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon also deals with bullying in a way that is educational but not too advanced for very young children to understand.
The Daniel Tiger Books
There’s a reason why the Daniel Tiger cartoon has gained so much popularity with parents of very young children, who feel like they can trust the message of the show in any episode. There are numerous Daniel Tiger books which have been adapted from the television series, and do similar work in going the extra mile to describe not only the emotions of Daniel Tiger and his friends relative to many every day experiences but also teaching problem solving skills using simple, relatable language and songs. The books are great as a standalone, or as an accompaniment to the show.
The Curious George Books
The Curious George books have been around for quite awhile, and as a result it is possible to find one dealing with almost any scenario, event, common experience, or emotion. George is also nonverbal, making the stories accessible for a wide range of ages and abilities. George often gets into mischief by trying to emulate the actions of those around him – both children and adults – and then has to deal with the uncomfortable feelings associated with his failures, such as embarrassment. These books are also a great illustration of how it’s not only George who learns from his experiences, but also the people in his life who learn to accommodate according to his needs and abilities. And, George’s feelings are never diminished or ignored.
The Elephant and Piggie Series by Mo Willems
The Elephant and Piggie series became almost instant classics when they were first released in the early 2000s. There are now 25 books available, each describing a surprising event (such as a bird building a nest on one character’s head) that will engage children who want to know how the problem is resolved.
These books are favorites to read again and again, as they are funny and provide entertainment even when you know them by heart. The books are a great way to teach early sequencing skills and narrative understanding to children in a way that’s quick and easy – only a few words or short sentences per page, and sometimes illustrations only without any text – yet they also astutely cover many emotions familiar to young children in early social scenarios, such as envy and intimidation.
Elephant and Piggie often help each other identify how they are feeling, as well as the source of the feeling – or communicate their own feelings with each other. As a result, the books provide a great model of how to practice empathy actions for children with autism who may need extra exposure and opportunities, and benefit from character-based learning before having to demonstrate that type of skill directly with other people.
For example, in My Friend Is Sad, Piggie demonstrates how to identify emotions based on Gerald’s nonverbal cues like sighing and slouching. In Can I Play Too? Gerald and Piggie have to problem solve when a third character wants to play their game, but their game doesn’t necessarily fit the abilities of that friend, without hurting the friend’s feelings.
Courtney Gutierrez, M.Ed., BCBA, LBA Courtney is a behavior analyst, educator, and writer in the Pacific Northwest. She has over fifteen years of experience in the field of autism services, and over ten years of master’s level experience in classroom teaching and ABA therapy. Her areas of expertise include infant and toddler development, parent coaching, ABA clinical leadership and training, P-12 special education, and case consultation for children and young adults with autism and other special needs. Courtney lives in Seattle with her husband and two children.
