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- Description
- Table of Contents
- About the authors
In this valuable collection, librarians, educators, parents, counselors, and caregivers will find practical guidance on leveraging quality children's literature to support the mental health needs of students, families, and communities.
Generation Z and Alpha youth are facing mental health crises that many adults are unprepared to address. There have been dramatic rises in the numbers of young people reporting feelings of hopelessness, suicidal thoughts, and anxiety. The global COVID-19 pandemic brought such a devastating impact on mental health of young people that it sparked national and global conversations, but experts say that the pandemic only exacerbated problematic trends already well underway. One small silver lining is the proliferation of new fiction and nonfiction geared towards children who are struggling, including books with themes related to social and emotional learning, psychological wellbeing, and specific mental health challenges. Edited by former public and school librarians, this important resource explores the exciting landscape of recent children’s literature and provides helpful frameworks and strategies for adults to think about the evaluation, curation, and use of these books with young people. Readers will discover
- books for children dealing with the cancer diagnosis of a relative, illnesses, death, loss, and grief, with suggested activities that can be paired with these titles to further assist young readers in the grieving and healing process;
- fantasy bibliotherapy to help children understand, process, and cope with anxiety-provoking situations in their lives;
- graphic novels that promote mental and emotional wellbeing, including those that depict common childhood mental health conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder;
- guidance on reaching historically underserved population groups such as Black girls, Muslim children, and young Latin American migrants; and
- using children’s literature to support the unique needs of autistic mental health.
Introduction
Chapter 1 Coping with Anxiety: Fantasy Bibliotherapy for Children
Pauline Dewan
Chapter 2 Visualizing Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Using Graphic Novels to Support Middle Grade Readers
Stephanie E. Mahar and Xuejiao Li
Chapter 3 Finding Hope in Death, Loss, and Grief
Deanna Day, Barbara Ward, and Terrell Young
Chapter 4 Bibliotherapy for Children with Relatives Experiencing Cancer
Sara Churchill, Cynthia Stogdill, and Christine Chasek
Chapter 5 Learning to Soar: Overcoming Challenges in Black Girlhood Literature
Janaka B. Lewis
Chapter 6 Muslim Children’s Mental Health: Understanding Religious Practices and the Challenges of Muslim Students
Sadaf Siddique
Chapter 7 Relax. Breathe. Read a Graphic Novel: Graphic Novels as a Format to Promote Mental and Emotional Well-Being
Soline Holmes and Alicia Schwarzenbach
Chapter 8 No Missing Piece: Using Children’s Literature to Support the Unique Needs of Autistic Mental Health
Chelsey Roos
Chapter 9 Navigating Unseen Borders: Understanding the Mental Health Challenges of Young Latin American Migrants
Yoo Kyung Sung
About the Contributors
Index