Stocking Stuffer Ideas: Wonderful Books for Young Children

Working with couples with young children, my clients and I frequently talk about how they can use self-awareness, self-regulation, and communication skills with each other and also with their kids. I love this because it taps into one of parents' strongest motivators: to make our children's lives better. I have yet to meet a client who didn't want to equip their children with the skills they are acquiring!

I have conferred with the wonderful counselors who work with families and small children at Bethesda Counseling Services, and together we've pulled together a list of some of the very best books for the youngest readers which tap into the concepts we teach our clients at Bethesda Counseling Services. Here they are for you:

The Color Monster series by Anna Llenas. These wonderful books explore emotions and help provide children understanding of their emotions and start building language to talk about them. These books can also give parents and children shared vocabulary and open beautiful conversations.

A Little SPOT of Feelings eight-book series by Diane Alber. These books are similar to the Color Monster, with books for Empathy, Frustration, Calm, Belonging, Worry, and Boredom, and two additional books introduce the ideas of Flexible Thinking & Feelings Detective.

Big Rabbit's Bad Mood by Ramona Badescu (Author) and Delphine Durand (Illustrator). A favorite of my own children when they were little, this delightfully illustrated book track's Big Rabbit as he copes with a beast of a mood… as we all do sometimes!

One by Kathryn Otoshi integrates many concepts young children are learning, including colors and counting, and adds in the concept of feeling included or excluded, introducing compassion and valuable social skills.

We hope these help you in your holiday shopping!