There's No Such Thing As A Dragon

Author: Jack Kent

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Addressing and facing problems

Year of Publication: 1975 (original), lots of reprints Sept 2009, most recent.

Publisher & Location: Dragonfly Books

ISBN-10: 0375851372

Target Age Level: Age 6 - adult.

# of Pages:

Quality of Illustrations: Good

Brief Summary: A little boy wakes up to find a dragon in his room. He tells his mom who informs him that there is no such thing as a dragon. The dragon continues to grow as it is ignored and eventually becomes as big as the house. Once acknowledged, the dragon shrinks to a manageable size.

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children: It is a kids book originally, but I use it with adolescents. I use it as an introduction to therapy a lot as a introduction for facing and dealing with problems.

Sunny: the death of a pet

Author: Judith E. Greenberg and Helen H. Carey

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Death

Year of Publication: 1986

Publisher & Location: Franklin Watts New York

ISBN#:0-531-10102-9

Target Age Level: Elementary

# of Pages: 32

Quality of Illustrations: Old Black and white pictures

Brief Summary:

Bill is scared when his dog Sunny gets sick, but after her death a new puppy helps him stop grieving.

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children:

The book is not adequate for a school curriculum on death. It does not enlighten children about the joys of pets, nor does it help to deal with death. It just notes death as a sad event. The book is simplistic, cool, and poorly written, reading like a "Dick and Jane" reader. It just basicly tells kids to move on and get a new dog.

Activity:

Have kids draw picture of their favorite things they liked to do with their pets.

On Divorce: An Open Family Book for Parents and Children Together

Author: Sara Bonnett Stein
Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Divorce
Year of Publication: 1979
Publisher & Location: Walker and Company New york
ISBN#:0-8027-7226-9
Target Age Level: Elementary
# of Pages: 47
Quality of Illustrations: Old Photographs
Brief Summary: This book has two stories in one. a more adult one for parent to read about what they should tell their children and a younger geared story that explains how the children feel.
Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children:
This is very old and out of print, alot of the information is still relevent however and can be of some use even today.

Activity:
This book is designed to be read with the parent not a teacher so I might have the child read this book with the parents at home and then we could do a reaction session at the school to see how they felt.

Twister

Author:Darleen Bailey Beard

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Natural Disaster

Year of Publication:1999

Publisher & Location: Douglas & McIntyre Ltd. : CAN

ISBN#:0-374-37977-7

Target Age Level: elementary

# of Pages:32 pages

Quality of Illustrations: blury

Brief Summary:

A rural family and its neighbor face potential disaster as a tornado heads for their homes in this suspenseful though ultimately reassuring picture book. Natt and Lucille enjoy a sultry summer day eating Popsicles and pretending to be royalty. As they dart through the yard, a serious storm kicks up and brings them indoors. When Mama spots an ominous funnel cloud in the distance, she sends Natt and Lucille racing out toward the storm cellar built into the yard while she heads next door to help Mr. Lyle take shelter. During the next several minutes, Natt and Lucille hunker alone in the dark, waiting for the storm to pass and afraid for Mama and Mr. Lyle's safety. Happily, the twister moves on, having caused minimal damage, and Natt and Lucille are quickly reunited with Mama.

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children:

Beard gets all the details right: the sky turning the color of Mama's guacamole, an ominous silence followed by the "monstrous howling" of wind. The kids are really apealing and the book is a realistic look at what a tornado is like.

Activity:

I might read this book after a tornado drill to give the children a real sense of what they are prepairing for.

No-no the little seal

Author: Sherri Patterson

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Sexual Abuse

Year of Publication: 1986

Publisher & Location: Random House: New York

ISBN#: 978-0394880549

Target Age Level: preschool- elementary

# of Pages: 32

Quality of Illustrations: very realistic looking seals, in new editions the seals are more cartoon looking

Brief Summary: A young seal is upset when his uncle starts touching his body in private places, until he finds the courage to tell Wise Whale.

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children:

It's a little wierd to hear about seals molesting eachother but the book has some good advice, asuming the child has a wise whale in their life.

Activity:

Stop the book after the sad song and ask the child what they would do and then read on to see how that compares to what No-No did.

Twelve is too old

Author: Peggy Mann

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed:Problems with parents and family

Year of Publication: 1980

Publisher & Location: Doubleday & company, inc: NY

ISBN#: 978-0385050999

Target Age Level: middle school

# of Pages:140 pages

Quality of Illustrations: NA

Brief Summary: Eleven-year-old Jody, living with her divorced mother and pot-smoking older sister, dreads her twelfth birthday and the adolescent problems it may bring. It tells about how she deals with her problems from a first person bases

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children:

Deals with some adult issues but in a good way.

Activity:

Have a child keep a journal and compair their experiances with Jody's.