Using Picture Books to Enhance Children's Social and Emotional Literacy

Children can struggle to engage with and articulate certain emotions, which can have a profound impact on their behaviour, confidence and ability to form relationships, follow instructions and perform tasks. This resource for teachers, therapists, counsellors and parents uses children’s literature and some of its well-known characters, such as the Rainbow Fish and Stanley Yelnats IV from Holes, as a basis for practical activities that enable children to express and manage these emotions.

Social-emotional literacy training assists students in developing important life skills such as the ability to develop good relationships and empathy skills, as well as being able to understand, manage and communicate their own emotions. This book offers an introduction to social-emotional literacy, followed by activities related to emotions such as empathy, friendship, grief and self-esteem, aiming to embed this literacy training into daily school and home activities to increase children’s chances of future success.