Children's Illustrated booklist

All our book recommendations build character. We have even included a categorized booklist based off common emotions that kids often have.

This classroom is especially for parents helping younger kids ages 12 and younger by finding stories that fit with the emotion your child is currently having. Here is a grand truth: Every age benefits from learning from short stories. Short stories speak to my soul because that is how the Savior taught people. He would know better than any human how to teach. He taught through parables. Parables help us understand principles better. Our brains love to hear the story in things. Research has explored the effectiveness of teaching through stories, showing that it removes the embarrassment associated with learning a concept. Here is an example. If you have a child who recently lied, than read to them a story about lying. They will learn the concept, and it is a great way to help them see what they may have done wrong without feeling shame. Shame is dangerous, but guilt helps us want to change.

Shame

• Focuses on who you are

• Core message: “I am bad.”

• It’s the painful belief that you are flawed, unworthy of love, or fundamentally not enough.

• Shame attacks identity and often leads to hiding, silence, perfectionism, or disconnection.

• Shame thrives in secrecy, silence, and judgment.

Guilt

• Focuses on what you did

• Core message: “I did something bad.”

• It’s feeling remorse or responsibility for a specific behavior, not your whole self.

• Guilt can be healthy and constructive—it motivates repair, apology, and changed behavior.

• Guilt is positively correlated with empathy.

There are so many emotions that can cause soft or hard hearts. Sometimes, the best way to process our emotion, is through reading other people's stories. The stories of the past, the stories in libraries, and the stories your great grandma told. This classroom hopes to help you collect and discover short stories.

Here is a "short story" book list to guide your family through many different hard emotions. Just find the emotion someone in your family is having, and discover a book list that goes along with that emotion. We did not take the time to categorize longer chapter books because many people have done a great job with that like here.

We have two book lists. The first one is typed out. The second one includes the book covers. Both lists are equal in quality! It just allowed us to collect more easily. Each book list is categorized by emotions that kids often feel or a value that you may be trying to teach the family.

The Written Booklist:

1- Nobody to play with and nothing to do

 Principle Taught: Growing education, relieve boredom

• Good People Everywhere by Lynea Gillen

• Stay A Girl, A Dog, a Bucket List by Kate Klise

• Shark Lady by Jess Keating

• Jeffs Happy Day

• Play With Me by Marie Hall ETS

2- I Am not good at it so I am going to quit

Principle Taught: Growth mindset

• Jabari Tries by Gaia Cornwall

• The Watcher by Jeanette Winter

• The Crayon Man by Natasha Biebow

3- Need Attention & Love from friends but not sure how to get it

Principle Taught: Building relationships

• Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett

• The Rabbit Listened by Lori Doerrfeld

• Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox

• Plant A Kiss by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

• Stay A Girl, A Dog, A bucket List by Kate Klise

• The Great Big Elephant & The Very Small Elephant

4- I Don’t want to do that because it is hard and not fun

Principle Taught: value of work & teams

• Ming Lo Moves the Mountain by Arnold Lobel

• There Might Be Lobsters by Carolyn Crimi

• Pelle’s New Suit by Elsa Beskow

• Swimmy by Leo Lionni

• Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

• The Country Bunny And The Little Gold Shoes by Du Bose Hayward

5- I want What they have, I don’t want what I have

Principle Taught: Jealousy, Envy, Gratitude

• The Lost Horse by Ed Young

• The Biggest House in the World by Leo Leonni

• Where Happiness Lives by Barry Timms

• On the Same Day In March: A Tour of the Worlds Weather by Manly N Single

6- I Have No reason to be here, insignificant

Principle Taught: Self Worth, Negative inner chatter

• The Cow Who Climbed A Tree

• Music Is a Rainbow

• The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson

• Come With Me by Holly McGhee

• The Adventures of Isabel

• The Little Juggler by Barbara Looney

• Amos And Boris by William Stieg

• The Tale of Despereaux by Kate Dicamillo

• The Last Straw Poems about real kids that have made a difference to save earth

• You’re Here For a Reason by Nancy Tillman

• The 3 Questions by Jon J. Muth

• Kindness Grows by Britta Teckentrup

• The Horse The Mole The Fox & The Boy by Charlie Makasey

• Adventures of Isabel by Ogden Nash

• Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o

7- I want to win & beat everybody else & be the best

 Principle Taught: Pride, Humble winning, Healthy Competitiveness, Meekness

• Stone Soup

• Seven Spools of Thread

• A Life Electric: The Story of Nicola Tesla

8- I don’t want to play with them because they are different & others are watching

 Principle taught: Bullying, standing up for others, charity

• The Big Umbrella by Amy Bates

• Be Kind by Pat Zeitlow Miller

• Same Same But Different by Kosteeki Shaw

• Kindness Grows by Britta Teckentrup

• The Cow Who Climbed A tree

• When Charley Met Emma by Amy Webb

9- This is stupid, I don’t like this

 Principle Taught: Ingratitude, negativity

• The Lost Horse by Ed Young

• Panda Books- 3 Stones

• The Old Woman & the Wave by Shelley Jackson

• It Could Always Be Worst by Margot Zemach

• The Little Brute Family by Russell Hoban

• Try It by Mara Rockliff

10- Feeling hurt by what others said about me, or they made fun of me

 Principle Taught: overcoming embarrassment, grounding yourself through feelings of shame

• Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth

• The Horse The Mole The Fox & The Boy

• The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills

• Seeds And Trees by Brandon Walden

11- I am not sure how to fit in or keep up with everybody, feels hard to follow the crowd

 Principle Taught: Being authentic, peace with who God made you

• The Cow Who Climbed The Tree

• Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors

• Seven Spools of Thread: A Kwanzaa Story by Angela Shelf Medearis

• Chrysanthemum by Kevin Hanks

• Play With Me by Marie Hall ETS

• A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

• Quick As a Cricket by Don & Audrey Wood

• The Mixed Up Chameleon by Eric Carle

• The Sneeches and other stories by Dr. Seuss

• The Saggy Baggy Elephant by K & B Jackson (Golden Book)

• You Matter by Christian Robinson

• Somebody Loves You Mr. Hatch 

12- I am not good at anything, what is good about me

Principle taught: finding your gifts, patience in growth

• Leo The Late Bloomer by Leo Lionni

• Crow Boy by Taro Yashima

• Trying by Kostecki Shaw

• Remarkably You by Pat Zeitlow Miller

• The Magical Yet by Angela Diterlizzi

• Ruby The Copycat by Peggy Rathman

• The Big Orange Split by Daniel Manus Pinkwater

• The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

• You Are Special by Max Lucado

• Beautiful by Stacey McNulty

• I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes

• Frederick by Leo Leonni

• Seven Spools of Thread

• Miss Rumphius by Barbara Looney

• The Butterfly Effect by Andy Andrews

• It Wasn’t My Fault by Helen Lester

13- I want to be at the top and I want others to follow me

 Principle taught: balance between confidence and pride, leadership skills

• The Empty Pot by Demi

• Everyone Gets A Say by Jill Truiss

• Rosie & The Rustlers by Roy Gerrard

• Cookies-Bite Size Lessons by Amy Rosenthal

• Storytime-Character Building Stories for Children

14- I only want to do that if there is a prize

 Principle taught: overcoming reward based motivation, giving service feels good

• Jules vs. The Ocean by Jessie Sima

• The House That Jane Built A story about Jane Adams by Tanya Lee Stone

• Jeff’s Happy Day

• Mozart by Waldo Mayo

15- I made a mistake and I don’t feel good inside

 Principle taught: owning mistakes, being honorable, fresh starts

• Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes

• What Should Darla Do?  Ganit & Adir Levy

• What Should Danny Do by Ganit & Adir levy

• Who Sank The Boat by Pamela Allen

16- I don’t want to do that because it is scary 

Principle taught: Excuses are Fears, overcoming fear and replacing with faith

• There Might Be Lobsters by Carolyn Crimi

• Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors

17- I dream of doing

Fun History Biographies in illustrated book form

• Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors

• A Life Electric The Story of Nikola Tesla

• Shark Lady by Jess Keating

• The Watcher by Jeanette Winter

• Mozart by Ernst Eckker

• Try It by Mara Rockliff

• The Crayon Man by Natasha Biebow

18- I feel sad

Principle taught: process grief in healthy ways

• Tough Boris by Mem Fox

• The Starkeeper by Faith Pray

• Charlotte And The Quiet Place by Deborah Susin

• Grumpy Monkey by Suzanne Lang

19- I want to be a hero

Principle taught: inspiration for life, the hero’s journey

• The Boy And the Sea by Camille Andros

20- The rumor I spread

Principle taught: the negative aspects of gossip

• Mr. Peabody's Apples by Madonna

The Visual Booklist:

Books that can soften emotional hearts:

Books on judging others:

Books on making a difference & standing out:

Books for friendship courage:

Books on feeling jealousy:

Books on saying sorry & growth mindset:

Books that teach gratitude:

Books for when friends are not nice:

Books on overcoming pride:

Books for when you want to quit:

Books on being a hero:

Books on Sharing your gifts:

Books on overcoming sadness:

Books on hating to lose:

Books on controlling our thoughts:

Books on being careful:

Books on bullying:

Books on Feeling Left Out:

Another great resource for character building book lists (that includes filters by age) can be found here on a famous homeschool site:

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If you are interested in building character as a family, join us in this free classroom here.