I loved seeing this girl immersed in her library book, oblivious to all that was going on around her, stress-free. There is growing evidence that books and reading can play a valuable role in supporting children’s wellbeing. I was delighted to give a course about this recently. We explored the links between reading and mental health and identified ways to use books to build children’s self-esteem, self-awareness, mindfulness, resilience, empathy and understanding. The discussions were inspiring. (Details of this new area of training are now on my website.)
I thought it might be useful to share links to organisations, reports, articles and a video that I have found particularly illuminating and helpful, some of them about children’s mental health, others specifically about books and reading.
- Can picture books meet the crisis in children’s mental health?
- Empathy Lab
- Fifteen books to support children’s mental health
- Healthy Books
- How reading supports mental wellbeing
- IBBY UK
- Kidscape
- Letterbox Library
- Lost for words? How reading can teach children empathy
- Mental wellbeing, reading and writing
- Mentally Healthy Schools
- MindEd
- Place2Be
- The Children’s Society
- Wellbeing, reading and writing resources
- Young Minds