This has been a big recommendation that I’ve been making to friends lately. I love using books in my therapy practice. For today, I’m going to try to keep this short and not go into my full list of recommendations of SEL books for toddlers. It may be overwhelming, so I’ll just start with a few of my favorites!
The links provided are affiliate links that will take you to Amazon. If you choose to purchase books from those links, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!
What is SEL?
I have recently discovered that SEL has become a controversial term and that is shocking to me! My only thought is that the controversy must come from some type of misunderstanding about what SEL truly is. SEL stands for social and emotional learning. It basically encompasses the skills children learn to, what I call “be a human”. They are the basic life skills that include social skills, communication, and identifying, processing, and expressing emotions. Basically, everything that I do for a living.
Why use books to teach skills?
Using books is one of my favorite ways to teach skills, and I can turn most books into an SEL lesson. Kids love to be able to relate to book characters. It’s also easier for them to critically think about skills when the story can be displaced. In other words, it allows them to think about and practice skills without the high levels of emotions they may experience when being in a situation themselves. Books can also normalize emotions, even the ones that we sometimes classify as “bad”. Using SEL books for toddlers helps them to learn that they aren’t the only ones experiencing anger, fear, worry, and sadness.
For toddlers, my main goals are learning very basic social skills and gaining some insight into their emotions. This means learning feelings words and what they mean. This is hugely important (and the earlier the better!) because once children develop this feelings vocabulary, they can use it to appropriately express themselves instead of expressing feelings or needs through disruptive behaviors.
Let’s get to the recommendations!
I originally thoughts I would wait and post these next week, but as a I was looking through the Amazon listing today it looks like several of these are on sale at the moment!
My First Book of Emotions for Toddlers by Orlena Kerek, MD
This book captures a lot of the emotions and scenarios toddlers face, which makes it a fantastic SEL book for toddlers. It has cute pictures with diverse characters, so many different types of people are represented and can “see themselves” within the book. You may also see several different emotions depicted on one page, which creates a great opportunity to talk through the scenarios and emotions with your toddler.
In My Heart by Jo Witek
I find this book to be so cute and creative. I was instantly drawn to it on the shelf when I first found it and have gifted it to friends. It goes through many different emotions and describes how they can all be in your heart at various times. The adorable illustrations and the heart cutouts make this book enticing. It also makes a fun and unique gift, and is one of my favorite SEL books for toddlers!
The Color Monster by Anna Llenas
Again, the illustrations in this book are very unique and well done. It is definitely an eye catcher, and the colorful pages are great at holding toddlers’ attention! This book does a great job of not only identifying feelings words, but also associating behaviors that often accompany the feelings. Connecting thoughts, feelings, and behaviors is a big part of cognitive behavioral therapy, which I often use in my therapy practice. This book also focuses on identifying and labeling emotions to help quiet the chaos that we can sometimes feel when all our emotions are “mixed up”.
Little Critter Books by Mercer Meyer
I’m getting a little more broad for this recommendation, but it’s a good one! Little Critter books have been around since I was a kid, and they remain some of my favorites. These books are typically short and simple, but pack really important lessons for toddlers! Little Critter books explore all kinds of themes, including relationships with family members, becoming an older sibling, building independence, facing bedtime, managing anger, going to the dentist, making mistakes, and having a bad day, among others.
Berenstain Bears by Stan and Jan Berenstain
Another broad one, and one you may recognize from your own childhood! Berenstain Bears book never go out of style and have so many great stories. These are a little longer than the other recommendations, so they may be good for older toddlers or those like my son that just really like to read books! These books also showcase various scenarios, like being thankful, telling the truth, being helpful, having a babysitter, getting along with siblings and friends, and being afraid of the dark.
I hope you can enjoy some of these books with your toddlers! Remember that your local library is a wonderful resource for kids like mine that love to read! also like to use thriftbooks.com to buy gently used books at a discount. Reading with your children is a wonderful way to not only teach some valuable skills, but also to spend quality time together.
What social and emotional skills books do you enjoy at your house?
