We all have a favorite book to use in counseling with students. Children’s literature can be a great, engaging way to open up conversations, address issues, and help students connect with a character who is experiencing the same issues as them. Three Confident Counselors have some great suggestions and companion resources to help you use these favorite books.
What is your favorite book to use in counseling?
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My favorite book to use in counseling is My Secret Bully by Trudy Ludwig. Many of my students come to me for “friendship problems” but their friend is acting more like a bully than a friend. My Secret Bully is a great conversation starter in terms of how friends should treat one another. I really appreciate how the book doesn’t say if the girls will remain friends as this opens the door for my students to decide on how they should handle their toxic friendships. My companion activity pack for My Secret Bully is one of my best sellers on TPT!
– Heather, The Helpful Counselor
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My favorite book to use in counseling is Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes. It’s my go-to book for conflict resolution classroom lessons in grades 3-5 when we’re learning about the “conflict escalator:” Lilly gets angry at her beloved teacher, responds impulsively, and then feels terrible about her big mistake. With the help of her parents, she tries to fix the problem using many of the conflict resolution strategies we want students to learn. There’s a lot of learning packed into this one book!
– Laurie Mendoza, School Counseling Files
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A book I could not live without in my counseling work is Clark The Shark by Bruce Hale. This is a perfect book to teach self-control, especially to younger students. The main character has a hard time controlling himself, even though he tries, just like many of the kiddos I see. In the end, Clark learns to make rhymes to help him use self-control and to remember that there is a time and place for everything! This book companion is a great resource to help students learn how to practice self-control in their own lives!
-Chelsey from Counselor Chelsey
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What are your favorite books to use in counseling?
I always go to My Incredible Talking: Learning to Be Calm when I have a child that is upset, a parent that is needing tools to help their child at home, or for a classroom lesson on how to calm down. It is the basis of my small groups focused on emotions management.