Bibliotherapy Books You Should Invest in!

Bibliotherapy books for those who do not know, are books that are used for expressive therapy to assist students in the healing process. They tackle a host of subjects that effect most of our students- self-esteem, anxiety, depression, diversity, bullying, deployment, honestly, the list could go on and on. Since there are literally scads of books out there, it can seem daunting and extremely overwhelming to choose. In an effort to help, I thought I'd share a few with you that I've found to be extremely effective with the elementary student population.

Have You Filled a Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids by Carol McCloud

This book is a wonderful little read that can be used for spreading kindness in the classroom and other settings. I've also heard of teachers using this book to establish a "bucket filling" positive classroom climate at the beginning of the year. One of the things I love most about this book is that it not only explains how to fill someone's bucket, but also explains what it feels like to emotionally harm another through "bucket dipping." It address what it feels like when a classmate fills or dips from your bucket, and also explains that adults themselves have buckets too. All too often, children don't realize their negative behavior can impact their teachers, administration, or families.

Reading this book gives children a prime opportunity to learn to fill other's buckets with positive affirmations and compliments. Use it in classroom guidance by standard blending with SOL's to create letters to classmates or even teacher's that will fill their bucket right on up! While it's always great to learn- have students actually apply what they learn in a way that makes it real for them.

If you'd like to view or even use my guidance lesson I used for "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?" please visit my lesson planning page!

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

Okay, I'm going to be completely honest here- I loved the binding off this book as a kid and absolutely nothing has changed. Many years ago I had no idea it had therapeutic merit. My mom probably didn't even realize how brilliant she was for purchasing this book for me....being she named me Bobbi Jo, and all. I relate to Chrysanthemum on a deeply spiritual level. When my parents moved out of their apartment last year and brought some of my childhood stuff over I came across it again and was floored to learn I could definitely use it in individual counseling and classroom guidance lessons. This delightful little book tells the story of a mouse named Chrysanthemum starting school for the first time. Upon arriving her first day she realized that other students did not like her unique name and it made her hate school something fierce. Until, of course, a wise teacher explained being unique was something we should all strive for!

This book can be used with students who are struggling with self-esteem because they're unique, or used in the classroom to teach students about appreciating the differences of others. While I was at Barron, I read the book to students before exploring what made each student unique and making "I'm a unique snowflake because.." snowflakes. In collaboration with the PTA these snowflakes were displayed in the cafeteria for the Polar Express Saturday Brunch and other holiday activities. The students LOVED the book, and I'll be honest, all the teachers did too.

The Colors of the Rainbow by Jennifer Moore-Mallinos

This is a fantastic book to read to elementary-age students as you explore the topic of diversity. Sometimes diversity can be a really tough subject to teach young students, mainly because they do not understand yet how it comes to effect every facet of our lives. This book however eloquently explains how diverse every single person on this planet is. It discusses ethnicity, culture, physical ableness, gender, weight, and a host of other topics that make us all unique. While reading the book to classes, I noticed they asked a lot of fun questions and they all seemed to learn more about the culture of students around them.

While at Barron I did a fun activity with students that they seemed to really enjoy. Before the lesson I would cut out 1 inch thick strips of paper in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet (Yes, I just repeated ROYGBIV in my head. Yes, I know I missed indigo, but Crayola does not market an indigo construction paper). After reading the story, I asked students to choose one of the color strips and write their names on it. While they worked on a short individual activity where they explored, what it would be like if the world only had one color, I stapled all their pieces of paper into a chain. Once done, I presented the chain to students and explained that together they all make a beautiful rainbow. Teachers LOVED that there was a visual representation of the lesson that they could keep in their classroom as a reminder. I warn you tho, YOU MUST WALK AROUND THE ROOM AND LET THEM ALL SEE IT AND FIND THEIR NAMES IN THE CHAIN. IF NOT THEY WILL SPAZZ.

Don't Forget, God Bless Our Troops by Jill Biden

Being a resident of Hampton, Virginia we have a HUGE military population in our area. No bibliotherapy collection would be complete without a healthy amount of books addressing deployment. This book explores the experience of a young girl named Natalie whose father is deployed. While she is proud of her father and his commitment to his country, she also misses him greatly and never stops wishing he was home. It's a well-written book, and isn't emotionally exploitative to the point where it draws out extreme reactions from students.

I worked with a student individually whose mother was on her first deployment and everyone feared this would make the student's positive behavioral gains backslide. He loved this book, and at least once a week wanted to hear me read it to him. When I'd read the parts about soldiers' sacrifice and loyalty to their country, he'd get this look of contentment like he was filled to the brim with pride for his mother. I would certainly suggest this book to anyone with students who are struggling with deployment.

I was saddened to learn that there are not many books addressing mothers leaving for deployment. For obvious reasons, this is bothersome. As the world strives for equality in all avenues of life- I hope that changes soon.

My Mouth is a Volcano by Julia Cook

My mouth is a Volcano is a wonderful book that explores the childhood habit of interrupting those around them. Louis, the main character describes how when he has a thought that he cannot verbalize that his tongue begins to wiggle, and his teeth begin to jiggle and then BOOM, his words erupt like a volcano! The book takes an empathetic approach to teaching students skills to hold on to their thoughts and express them at an appropriate time.

This book works really well in those one-off counseling scenarios where a student is removed from the classroom. You know what I'm talking about. Maybe you're eating lunch (2 hours late I may add), or you're catching up on a paper work, when all of a sudden your phone rings, or your radio sounds and you've been asked to watch a disruptive student for a bit while the teacher gets a break. All too often you'll find that these students were disrupting their teachers and interrupting their classmates. When that's the case, read the story to them and help them process coping skills to be less disruptive in the classroom. It'll work. I promise.

While there are so many more I could name, these are just a few of my favorites! If you're lucky like I was, my school district supplies counselors with a new bibliotherapy book each month. Read them, become familiar with them. Know which students they work best with! They can act as a fantastic jumping off point to assist students in moments of need!