Child Mind Institute Releases List of Best Books for Children on Mental Health

The Child Mind Institute has compiled a list of books about mental health and learning challenges for children that has been broken down by topic.

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The Best Kids’ Books on Mental Health of 2024 features 20 books with imaginative and sympathetic takes on emotional issues. The books on the list vary from picture books for young children to a graphic novel for middle schoolers.

Topics in the book include everything from difficult experiences - such as losing a friend or moving to a new place - to demystifying mental health and such developmental disorders as ADHD, anxiety, depression, and autism.

Many of the books tackle how to handle big emotions and examine how to help children to learn to talk about them, cope with them, and feel assured that they will still be loved when they are sad, mad, or cranky. 

This Year’s Selections

The 20 books on the list are broken down by topic. They include:

  • Anxiety
    o   The Worry Monster (Dr. Catherine Cook-Cottone)
    o   What to Do When You Worry Too Much (Dawn Huebner, PhD)
    o   Invisible Isabel (Sally J. Pla)
    o   Unstuck (Barbara Dee)

  • Mindfulness
    o   A Tiny Difference (June Tate)
    o   Today (Gabi Snyder)

  • Feelings
    o   Bea’s Bad Day (Tom Percival)
    o   The Hare-Shaped Hole (John Dougherty)
    o   My Thoughts Have Wings (Maggie Smith)
    o   Cranky (Phuc Tran)
    o   A Terrible Place for a Nest (Sara Levine)

  • Sadness and Depression
    o   The Cat Who Couldn’t Be Bothered (Jack Kurland)
    o   Gray (Laura Dockrill)
    o   A Voice in the Storm (Dawn Huebner)

  • OCD
    o   The Very Best Me (Marin Canaday)
    o   Puzzled (Pan Cooke)

  • ADHD
    o   That Always Happens Sometimes (Kiley Frank)

  • Autism
    o   Henry and the Something New (Jenn Bailey)

  • Eating Disorders
    o   Louder Than Hunger (John Schu)

  • A Parent’s Addiction
    o   Breaking Into Sunlight (John Cochran)

To view the entire list, visit the Child Mind Institute’s website.

Families, News, ProvidersNathan Dukebooks about mental health for children, The Child Mind Institute, The Worry Monster, What to Do When You Worry Too Much, Invisible Isabel, Unstuck, A Tiny Difference, Today, Bea's Bad Day, The Hare-Shaped Hole, My Thoughts Have Wings, Cranky, A Terrible Place for a Nest, The Cat Who Couldn't Be Bothered, Gray, A Voice in the Storm, The Very Best Me, Puzzled, That Always Happens Sometimes, Henry and the Something New, Louder Than Hunger, Breaking Into Sunlight