Books to Help Kids Cope

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Books to Help Kids Cope

• Maryann Williams, M Ed
• Resource
• Homemade Books to Help Kids Cope
• By Robert Ziegler, MD

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Basic Story Types

• Books to Describe a Situation
• Books to Define and Deal with Feelings
• Books to Make an Empathic Statement
• Books to Show Cause and Effect

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Books to Describe a Situation

• Natural way to prepare for change
• It helps the child understand a new situation
• Children often need repetition to absorb new
  information
• Similar to How To books
• Decorate rooms
• Get through a divorce

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Situation Book Examples

• A new baby joining the family
• This is my family right now.
• My mommy is going to have a baby soon.
• I will have a little sister.
• She will cry sometimes.
• My mommy will have to help her a lot.
• My mommy and daddy will still love me.
• Sometimes families change.
• My Mom Has Cancer, Divorce is Not Fun

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Books to Define Deal With Feelings

• Helps in identification and acceptance of
  feelings
• Helps describe behavior in a nonjudgmental way by
  labeling feelings
• Provides an opportunity to facilitate change
• Gives the child a chance to see the bigger
  picture
• Offers outcomes to deal with feelings
• Helps to express through words rather than acting
  out

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Example of Feelings Book

• The (Feeling) Book
• Alternating pages between feelings and solutions
• The Sad Book, The Mad Book, The Worry Book
• The (Feelings) Bunny
• Use an imaginary animal as a character with
  feelings that need to be addressed
• The Mad Bunny, Bunny Gets Sad, Bunnies Worry

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Sometimes Its Sad

• Pg 1 My grandma got sick and died. She is in
  heaven.
• Pg 2 My dad got sick from drinking too much. He
  had to go to the hospital.
• Pg 3 My mom and dad dont live together any more.
• Pg 4 Sometimes I miss my dad and I feel sad.
  Sometimes I miss my grandma and feel sad. Its
  okay to feel sad when you miss your dad and
  grandma.
• Pg 5 Sometimes I feel mad that my dad is gone.
  Its okay to be mad sometimes.
• Pg 6 My mom and dad still love me even though
  they dont live together.
• Pg 7 Sometimes I get to go to the movies with my
  dad and have fun.
• Pg 8 Sometimes sad things happen, but not all the
  time.

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Books to Make an Empathic Statement

• Natural way to gain perspective
• Tangible sense that someone cares
• Through dialogue and interactions
• Opportunity to recall without embarrassment
• Provides a tool to further dialogue
• Children reach an empathic conclusion, using the
  word sometimes

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Empathic Book ExampleMabel the Babysitter

• Pg 1 Every Tuesday and Thursday we have a baby
  sitter. Her name is Mabel.
• Pg 2 She always makes us play in our room. I
  would rather watch TV.
• Pg 3 Sometimes my brother stays up later than
  me. Its not fair.
• Pg 4 On my birthday Mabel let me stay up late,
  and she brought me a present. That was nice.
• Pg 5 Sometimes its hard having a babysitter,
  but not every time.

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Books to Show Cause and Effect

• Help children understand the consequences of
  their behavior
• Example When I Lie, There is Trouble
• Pg 1 Sometimes I lie because I think I wont get
  in trouble.
• Pg 2 But I usually get caught.
• Pg 3 When I lie, my parents dont trust me.
• Pg 4 When I lie, my teacher doesnt trust me.
• Pg 5 When I lie, my friends dont trust me.
• Pg 6 I want everyone to trust me, so I will tell
  the truth even when I do something wrong.
• Pg 7 Im proud when everyone trusts me.

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Techniques

• Drawing
• Child draws the pictures
• Counselor draws the pictures
• Do it together
• Use coloring book pictures as templates
• Scrapbooking
• Cut and paste from magazines
• Use photographs
• Stamping
• Digital Photographing

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• Computers
• Use to make power point projects
• Use for writing text
• Use a drawing or painting program
• Use digital pictures and text messages
• Use clip art and text messages
• Make a power point presentation to help others
  going through the same situation

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Books about illness and death

• Straight forward, but gentle
• Start with the body and how it works
• May include a glossary
• Blood pressure, stethoscope, needles, IVs, etc.
• Book and stuffed animal approach
• Write book from animals point of view
• Child helps the animal

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Kittys Bad Cells

• Pg 1 Kitty lives with her mama.
• Pg 2 She likes to chase her tail and eat tuna.
• Pg 3 One day Kitty didnt feel good and she told
  her mama cat.
• Pg 4 Her mama took her to the doctor cat.
• Pg 5 Dr. Cat said, Oh no, I see bad cells. We
  will have to get rid of them.
• Pg 6 Kitty had to go to the hospital to make her
  bad cells go away.
• Pg 7 Kitty had to take medicine to make her bad
  cells go away. The medicine made Kitty feel
  tired.
• Pg 8 Everyone helped make the bad cells go away.

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My Brother Died and I Am Sad!

• Pg 1 This is my brother Sam, he died and I am
  sad.
• Pg 2 My mom, dad, Grandma and Grandpa are sad
  too.
• Pg 3 I have fun memories with Sam, like when we
  went to the beach.
• Pg 4 Sometimes I get mad at Sam because he died.
  My mom and dad arent much fun now.
• P5 My counselor said its hard for everyone
  right now, but I have a lot of people who will
  help me.
• P6 When I get sad, I can
• Talk to my counselor
• Talk to my teacher
• Ask my friend to play
• Play with my dog
• Pg 7 Ill always miss Sam, but I still can
  have fun.

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Extras

• Make a folder book with hidden envelopes
• Make a pattern book
• Using colors
• Using the same lines
• Using the same shape for pages (butterfly, bunny,
  child)
• Alphabet book
• Make a book mark to go with your theme

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More Extras

• Zigzag books
• Pop-up books
• Flaps
• Poetry books
• Pattern poetry
• Haiku
• Rhyming
• Free form

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Books to Make books

• Pattern books
• Picture books
• Story books
• Joke books
• Character expansion
• Brave Bart