To mark Children’s Mental Health Week taking place 1-7 February 2021, ELS librarian Alex selects a range of non-fiction books that can be used with KS2 and KS3 students to discuss mental health and wellbeing.

Now more than ever it’s important to talk to children about mental health and wellbeing. ELS has a perfect range of non-fiction books that can be used to help start open and honest discussions with students. Here are just a few of the books we have available for you to borrow.

Children’s Mental Health Week is a perfect chance to remind ourselves and others that it’s ok not be ok and this is exactly what Perfectly Imperfect Stories by Leo Potion celebrates. From Charles Darwin to Lady Gaga, famous people from all walks of life talk openly and honestly about their struggles with their own mental health. Pop singer Kylie Minogue talks about her struggles with anxiety, author J.K. Rowling opens up about her depression and basketball player Kevin Lowe speaks of  his experiences of panic attacks. An important book highlighting the importance of talking about mental health issues rather than keeping them hidden.

How you look after you body can impact on your mental health. Your Brain and Body by Honor Head explores how eating the right amount and types of food can keep your brain healthy, how not getting enough sleep can make you moody and how exercise releases chemicals into the body that can help relieve physical pain and also help to overcome mild depression, anxiety and stress. It’s full of useful tips on how you can achieve a healthy lifestyle in order to improve your mental health.

From a series of books published by Franklin Watts on developing your growth mindset, Don’t Panic by Alice Harman encourages the reader to turn a can’t into a can. We’re all prone to panic and worry at times, but sometimes it can take over and have a detrimental impact on our mental wellbeing. Harman explores ways in which the reader can manage their worries and take on challenges while maintaining a healthier and happier mindset.

“If you are always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you are” (Dare To Be You, p. 42). From the author of You Are Awesome comes Dare To Be You by Matthew Syed. Sometimes we worry too much about fitting in with the crowd. What would happen if we dared to be ourselves though, embraced our uniqueness and showed the world what we can be? This is exactly what Matthew Syed addresses in his latest book Dare To Be You. He encourages the reader to dare to believe in themselves and love what makes them different by challenging their desire to want to fit in.

What would happen if we believed in ourselves more and became our own champion? Be Amazing by Chris Hoy is inspiring and confidence boosting. It gets the reader away from the mindset of I could never do that to the mindset that with some positive thinking they can dream and achieve big. The book brings together Hoy’s incredible personal story with practical ideas for building confidence, resilience and self-belief, as well as dealing with failure. An essential read for any young person with a big dream, this book shows that with a positive attitude anything is possible.

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If you would like to borrow any of these books or find out what else we have available, please get in touch with us. Staff are always ready and available to make book recommendations that could help with discussions and conversations about this important topic.