As we begin this very weird school year with a lot of unknowns, it is inevitable that many of our kids’ anxieties will spike. Anxiety is not just something experienced by adults. Many children suffer from anxiety but it looks different and is often missed by adults. Being anxious means that you experience worry over something unknown and out of your control. If that doesn’t sum up a lot of childhood, I’m not sure what does. Realistically much of their day is mapped out for them and they don’t even understand when they feel worry over the unknown. I’ve learned that the more opportunities to have control and make decisions, the more kids feel in charge of some aspects of their lives. 

My oldest son has always shown signs of anxiety, and his questions and curiosity are never ending. I realized when he was little that I couldn’t explain everything, so I turned to books. Over the years we have found a lot of books to help us through the topics he brings up. As we transition out of preschool and into kindergarten there is a lot of change already, add COVID to the mix and we are literally surviving day by day over here. We have been reading a lot of books on tough-to-explain topics recently and I wanted to share.

12 Books to Help Kids with Anxiety

Anxious Ninja by Mary Nhin 

• This is an outstanding series of all different ninjas and their “thing.” Positive Ninja, Perfect Ninja, Kind Ninja, Compassionate Ninja; there are so many ninjas and each has an amazing lesson to teach kids. 

Even Superheroes Have Bad Days by Shelley Becker

Glad Monster Sad Monster by Ed Emberly

• Another great book about feelings. This included some masks, so kids can pretend to be the emotion while talking about it. 

What Should Danny Do (The Power to Choose Series) by Adir Levy

• This is an awesome series about making choices and their consequences, both good and bad. 

The Way I Feel by Janan Cain

• Walks you through many different feelings and some of the ways your body can feel while experiencing them. 

Wilma Jean The Worry Machine by Julia Cook 

The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires

• Follow along as this little inventor makes her most magnificent thing and learns along the way about perfectionism and making mistakes. 

Tough Guys (have feelings, too) by Keith Negley

Good Night Yoga by Miriam Gates

• This is a great book to wind down the day, as it teaches kids different yoga poses they can use to regulate themselves. 

Feelings by Aliki

Little Worriers by Holly Brochmann & Leah Bowman

Help You Dragon Deal With Anxiety by Steve Herman

This is just a snapshot of some of the books to help kids with anxiety out there. Take some time and find the kind of characters and stories that speak to your kiddos and go from there. Never underestimate the power that a children’s book can have on a kid. Happy reading!