Recommended Reads: Children's Mental Health Week [Part Two]

Jan 22

2 min read

In 2025, Place2Be's Children's Mental Health Week, will take place from the 3rd-9th February. The theme this year is Know Yourself, Grow Yourself.

As Children's Mental Health Week is quickly approaching, we thought we would share some of our recommended reads. These two picture books are about sadness, what it is, why it is okay to sometimes feel sad. The book Blue helps children to understand how they can help others who are feeling sad.

A Shelter for Sadness by Anne Booth and David Litchfield

Reading age: 5+

A Shelter for Sadness by David Litchfield and Anne Booth.

This book explains how sadness has a place within us. It isn't something we should be afraid of or to hide away from but it is something that should be protected. It should be given space. This book acknowledges that there are times when we will be sad and others when we are not but the 'shelter for sadness' should always be there to visit.

We really love the message of this book, that sadness is an important emotion to feel. The illustrations and the endpapers of this book, add to and compliment the words within.

Blue by Britta Teckentrup

Reading age from 3-5 years

Blue is a story about a little bird in the forest who has forgotten how to fly. He lives in a deep and dark part of the forest and isn't visited by other birds. That is until Yellow comes along. It takes Blue a while to notice but as he does his life becomes better again.

We think this story is great because it not only explains what sadness is but also how you can support others who are feeling sad. Britta Teckentrup's illustrations are also stunning.

If you enjoyed these recommendations why not take a look about some of our other lists:

Pageticker is an online reading record, which supports teachers with collecting rich data, saves teachers time and lots more. Find out more here.