I'll Know What to Do: A Kid’s Guide to Natural Disasters

Author/Authors: Bonnie S. Mark, Aviva Layton

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: NATURAL DISASTERS

Year of Publication: 1997

Publisher & Location: Magination Press, Washington, DC

ISBN #: 1-55798-459-X

Target Age Level: Upper elementary

# of Pages: 57

Quality of Illustrations: Black and white illustrations and a few photos.

Brief Summary: This book is for a child who has gone through a natural disaster. It talks about different kinds of disasters such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and fire. It gives some tips of what you can do to protect yourself in the various disasters. It then talks about feelings after a disaster and that they are normal. There is also a chapter on sleep problems that may happen after a disaster. It then gives ideas of what you can do to gain control over some of the feelings and some activities the child can do. The forward in the book states that the ideas given in the book have had extensive research and are a result of the authors working with children, parents and teachers.

Post reading activity:
Talk about the information from the book. Depending on the type of natural disaster a child has been through, look at the facts and make a plan of action for in case something happens again. Complete the activities that are listed in the book.

Fly Away Home

Author/Authors: Eve Bunting

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: FAMILY FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES

Year of Publication: 1993

Publisher & Location: Sandpiper

ISBN #: 0395664152

Target Age Level: Upper elementary

# of Pages: 32

Quality of Illustrations: Full color watercolor illustrations. There is a lot of gray and blue to help denote a touch of sadness.

Brief Summary:This story is about a boy and his father who are homeless. They are living in an airport which is better than living in the street. It is told from the boy’s perspective. He talks about the things they have to do to go unnoticed so that they can keep living there. His father tries to go out and get a job and find a place for them to live but he returns unsuccessful. One day the boy finds a bird that he watches. One day the doors open and the bird files out which becomes a sign of hope for the boy that one day he will get to fly out as well. This is a serious story which does not have a resolution to the boy’s problem but does have hope. This book would be better for upper elementary as they learn about homelessness.

Post reading activity:

Talk about what it would be like to be homeless. What would the students do if they found themselves without a home? What would they be able to take? Lead a discussion about the fact that homelessness is not just the stereotypical “hobo” but can include children as well. Discuss some of the frustrations that a child in a homeless family may have. Discuss that a child that is homeless will still want friends and people who care about him or her. This may be a great activity if you know that you are going to have a child who is homeless come into a class.

Snake, His Story

Author/Authors: James Marshall

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Year of Publication: 1975

Publisher & Location: Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston

ISBN #: 0-618-07320-5

Target Age Level: Lower elementary# of Pages: 32

Quality of Illustrations: Simple illustrations with color. Same author/illustrator who does Miss Nelson is Missing.

Brief Summary:This story is about a snake who is different than other snakes. He has the ability to hear which no other snake can do. When he starts school the other snakes are not nice to him and he feels very uncomfortable about being different. However, one day his ability to hear comes in handy as he overhears bank robbers talking about robbing the bank. Thanks to his hearing, their plan is foiled and he is given a medal of honor. In the end, Snake no longer worries about being different.

Post reading activity:
Talk about what makes us the same. Make a list of all of the things that everyone in the group has. For example, hair, eyes, a mouth, need to breath, are in school, etc. Then talk about what makes us different. Make a list of differences. For example, good at math, plays piano, brown hair, blue, has a hard time writing or riding a bike, etc. Ask the following questions.
Has anyone ever made you feel especially good or bad about one of these differences? Who and why?
What do you like the most about your differences? What do you like the least?
Do you have to do things differently because of this difference?
Do you know anyone else who has the same difference?

Sad Days, Glad Days

Author/Authors: DeWitt Hamilton

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: MENTAL ILLNESS

Year of Publication: 1995

Publisher & Location: Albert Whitman & Company, Morton Grove, IL

ISBN #: 0-8075-72004-4

Target Age Level: Lower elementary, Upper elementary

# of Pages: 29

Quality of Illustrations: Good illustrations that depict the feeling of depression

Brief Summary:
Amanda is the only child of a family. The mom suffers from depression. This story is about her learning to cope and understand her mom’s depression and how some days are glad days and some days are sad days. She learns that it is not her fault and that her mom does still love her. In the end of the story Amanda’s mom lets her keep a cat that she has been taking care of when he brings her a mouse. Amanda’s dad comes up with a game to describe her mom’s mood by color. This seems to help Amanda better understand the depression.

Post reading activity:
If working with a child who is trying to understand his or her parent’s depression, have them come up with a description of different days based on colors. Have the child describe how the parent acts on those days. Have the child list what kinds of things he or she could do on the different days. For black or blue days have the child think of some things he or she could do to keep from getting sad as well. For example, maybe that would be a good day to go to a friend’s house to play.

Feeling Down: The Way Back Up

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Author/Authors: Roxane Brown Kunz and Judy Harris Swenson

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

Year of Publication: 1986

Publisher & Location: Dillon Press, Inc Minneapolis, MN

ISBN#: 0-87518-326-3

Target Age Level: Upper elementary

# of Pages: 37

Quality of Illustrations: There are minimal illustrations which are drawings.

Brief Summary:
This book is from a siblings point of view about his sister’s attempted suicide. It portrays his questions, anger and confusion about what his sister did. The family talks to a therapist who helps them learn how to communicate better. There are signs that are listed for suicide. This book may be a good resource to use when helping siblings cope with a family member who has attempted suicide.

Post reading activity:

1. Try different activities that can help reduce stress. Have the individuals write down which things they like doing. Some examples can be to paint, color, work with clay, listen to music, dancing, bike riding, swimming, sports, yoga or other relaxation techniques. Have each individual keep a list of the activities so that they can use it as a reminder of things to try when they are stressed.
2. If working with several individuals, try working on communication by doing a compliment circle. Everyone sits in the circle and thinks of one nice thing to say about someone else in the circle. However, everyone has to receive a compliment so only each person can receive one compliment. The individual who receives the compliment needs to listen carefully and say thank you. If working with a family, have them try doing this each night around the dinner table or before bed.

Ugly Fish

Author: Kara LaReau

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

Year of Publication: 2006

Publisher & Location: Harcourt Children's Books

ISBN#: 978-0152-05082-5

Target Age Level: Lower elementary

# of Pages: 40

Quality of Illustrations: Illustrations are good

Brief Summary:
Ugly Fish lives in his own aquarium. However, he is ugly, big and mean. Whenever a new fish comes, Ugly Fish will not share his driftwood tunnel or his special briny flakes. After chasing the new fish around he then eats the fish. After a while, no more new fish come and Ugly Fish becomes lonely. He then wishes that he hadn’t been so mean to the other fish. Then, a big fish joins his aquarium and Ugly Fish tries to be nice. However, this fish is a shark and ends up eating Ugly Fish.

Post reading activity:

1. While reading the book talk point out how the little fish feels about Ugly Fish being mean. Discuss how Ugly Fish eventually feels when he doesn’t share and is a bully (lonely). Ask, “At the end of the story, did Ugly Fish like being bullied back?”
2. Go to http://urbanext.illinois.edu/conflict/index.html and complete the activities to learn about 3 choices you can make when you are being bullied and which one is the best. It also contains a teacher section with activities and worksheets you can use.
3. Using large pieces of butcher paper, break up the children into pairs. Have the children trace each other’s bodies. Then they can color each other’s papers. Then have the children write nice things about the other person inside the drawn bodies.

When Sophie Gets Angry-Really, Really Angry…

Type of emotional/crisis issues addressed: ANGER

Author/Authors: Molly Bang

Year of publication: 1999

Publisher & Location: Scholastic, Inc

Book title: When Sophie Gets Angry-Really, Really Angry…

ISBN #: 0-439-59845-1

Age Level: Lower Elementary

# of pages: 33

Quality of illustrations: bright and attractive

Brief Summary: Sophie is playing with her pet gorilla when her sister comes and takes it. Sophie becomes very upset so she kicks and screams. The book continues to describe how she feels when she is angry. Sophie then runs into the woods and begins to calm down until she is no longer mad. Once she feels better she returns home and she isn’t angry anymore.

Post reading activity:

1. While reading the story have the children use musical instruments to be loud while Sophie is angry. As Sophie begins to calm down, have the children use their instruments quieter and quieter for each page until Sophie is calm. After the story talk about the difference in how angry sounded versus calm.
2. Talk about what makes kids angry and how do they act when they are angry. Talk about what calms them down and makes them feel better.
3. Refer to the page where Sophie feels like a volcano. Brainstorm different ways anger can be described (a sunny day turning into a storm, turning into the Incredible Hulk, a comet falling from the sky and hitting the earth, etc). Give each child a piece of paper with a thermometer on it with 5 sections. In each section starting with the bottom, draw a picture of the visual of building towards anger. For example, if anger is like a storm, the first section would have a sunny day. The second one would have a sun partially covered in a cloud. The third one would only be dark clouds. The fourth section would have dark clouds with rain and the final section would have dark clouds with rain and lightning. Then have each child draw or write things they can do when their thermometer is getting higher.