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Helping Children Process Feelings through Reading · Talking FACS

• 0:00
  Hello and welcome to Talking Facts.
• 0:02
  What you need to know about family food,
• 0:04
  finance and fitness.
• 0:05
  I am your host,
• 0:06
  Mindy mccully Extension Specialist for instructional support with Family and Consumer Sciences Extension at the University of Kentucky.
• 0:13
  During the coldest month of the year,
• 0:15
  we are often inside.
• 0:16
  More.
• 0:17
  Parents may be looking for activities to do with their Children or for their Children to do alone.
• 0:22
  One great activity for any time,
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  but especially the colder months of the year is reading a topic that we might not associate with reading is Children and mental health.
• 0:32
  So,
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  Doctor Carrie Ashurst is here today to talk to us about books related to mental health and first responders as she is the Senior Extension specialist for family and relationship development.
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  And joining her is ruth chowing Extension agent for Family and Consumer Sciences in Bullock County.
• 0:49
  Welcome to you both.
• 0:51
  Hello.
• 0:51
  Thank you.
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  Thank you very much.
• 0:54
  I am so glad that you are here and we are.
• 0:58
  Why is it important to talk about our mental health especially in the winter?
• 1:02
  Great question.
• 1:04
  Yeah.
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  Keeping our focus on mental health and on the mental health of our Children.
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  Is absolutely critical.
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  And I think when we think about the colder months of the year,
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  especially,
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  right.
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  It can make it harder,
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  it's harder to be as connected.
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  It's harder to get out and get that sunshine.
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  A lot of those things and uh physical activity can be a little bit more difficult to achieve during the colder months of the year.
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  And all of those are things that are good for our mental health.
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  And so we can help Children need to learn how important it is to take care of our mental health in all kinds of cool ways.
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  But one of the really great ways we can do that,
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  especially during some of those colder times when we are indoors,
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  more is through books.
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  Absolutely.
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  Books are a great way to educate tweens and teens about how important it is to take care of their mental health.
• 1:51
  Um,
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  there's some great books and novels you can read with or even offer to your tweens or teens to read about mental health.
• 2:00
  I'm an avid reader.
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  So I always love to take great suggestions and I have encouraged my Children and now my grandchild to read as well.
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  So what are a few good book examples for younger Children?
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  Well,
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  in general,
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  um,
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  picture books are the best for Children,
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  ages 3 to 8,
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  some great picture books on mental health for this group can include some titles such as a Blue Kind Of Day.
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  The Big Worry day.
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  Brave enough,
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  brave every day.
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  Don't worry,
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  Murray Dragons on the inside.
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  Everybody feels fear everything in its place.
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  Growing pains,
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  Hatty harmony.
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  The worry detective.
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  How to train your pet brain.
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  I want to be mad for a while.
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  I like that one because sometimes I need that in Blue Olivia wrapped in vines out of a jar.
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  A spark in the dark.
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  Stop and smell the cookies.
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  I like that better than Roses Melon cookies.
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  The Tunnel and where's buying a bear?
• 3:15
  Uh These all sound like really interesting titles.
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  Um And I am not familiar with a lot of them,
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  but that How To train your pet brain is one that,
• 3:26
  so what would a few good book examples be for some older Children?
• 3:30
  Oh,
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  yes,
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  good one.
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  I,
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  you know,
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  I just better say to uh we're gonna make sure and have a list of all of these books provided with this podcast.
• 3:39
  So please don't feel like you need to hurry and write all of these down saying these to our listeners.
• 3:45
  So that's an excellent point because I don't.
• 3:49
  Yes,
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  that's right.
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  That is exactly right.
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  Yes,
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  we'll,
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  we'll provide the list in the show notes so that we'll be easy to access for our listeners.
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  And so I wanted to share a few good examples of books and I want to divide them up by middle childhood and then some for the between and teen age.
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  So with a few good examples from middle childhood and some great books for about ages 8 to 12 dear students.
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  A wall which stands for absence without leave A W O L.
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  Honestly Elliott Valli explains it all.
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  Moon flower,
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  rain,
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  rising,
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  summer of June and smaller sister.
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  So those are a few of the ones for the 8 to 12 age range that I really like and recommend.
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  And then some great books on mental health for about the uh Tween to teen age would include exactly where you need to be,
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  how to live without you improve,
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  how I discovered improv and conquered social anxiety.
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  I love that one.
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  I've used it myself some,
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  it looks like us.
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  Long story short,
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  Nowhere Girl Operation Final Notice.
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  Queen of the Tiles Scouts honor her slip.
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  This is why they hate us.
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  The silence that binds us and the words we keep,
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  oh my goodness.
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  Just the titles are evoking so many thoughts in my brain that I'm sure that these are gonna be great books for teens and preteens and,
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  and their parents alike.
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  I think.
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  So,
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  where would we suggest that we find some of these books?
• 5:44
  Well,
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  obviously,
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  we want to encourage you.
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  Um you can,
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  you can find them at your public library and that would be a way to check them out and not have any expense or your child may be able to borrow them from a school library.
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  There may be some there and then definitely these books would be available free.
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  And at low cost,
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  um you can buy them used at bookstores,
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  even look them up for Amazon and other places.
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  So there are a lot of resources out there.
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  Um And a lot of free places that you can access them.
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  I always encourage people if your library doesn't have a book and you want to go through the library,
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  ask them because oftentimes they can do an inter library exchange or will get them and put them on,
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  on their shelves if it's a good book.
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  So,
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  and these are all definitely great books and those are great tips because I know lots of times people think if they can't find it at the library,
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  then they're just out of luck.
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  But if they try some of those other opportunities to encourage the the library to get those as well,
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  then that'll be good for everybody.
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  Right.
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  Yes.
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  The things we experience as we grow and develop during childhood can feel overwhelming.
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  It is ok to talk openly and say we are overwhelmed and ask for help.
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  Our mental health is just as high of a priority as our physical health.
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  So I thank you both for sharing some great books that can help Children in need,
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  prioritize their mental health.
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  Thank you.
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  Thank you very much.
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  And if you are just joining us,
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  you are listening to Talking Facts and we are available on all major podcast providers.