Best kids books that help build resilience – age 6-8 years old

Beatrice Bottomwell is a nine-year-old girl who has never (not once!) made a mistake. She never forgets her math homework, she never wears mismatched socks, and she ALWAYS wins the yearly talent show at school. In fact, Beatrice holds the record of perfection in her hometown, where she is known as ‘The Girl Who Never Makes Mistakes’. Life for Beatrice is sailing along pretty smoothly until she does the unthinkable – she makes her first mistake. And in a very public way!

The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes is a must read for any young (or old!) perfectionist –  about learning from mistakes and trying again! In short, building resilience.

Henry Brown doesn’t know how old he is. Nobody keeps records of slaves’ birthdays. As a boy, separated from his mother, he goes to work in his new master’s tobacco factory and eventually meets and marries another slave, with whom he has three children. But he is again devastated when his family is sold at the slave market. Then one day, as he lifts a crate at the warehouse, he knows exactly what he must do: He will mail himself “to a place where there are no slaves!” After an arduous journey in the crate, Henry finally has a birthday – his first day of freedom.

A stirring and dramatic true story by a Jane Addams Peace Award-winning author and a Coretta Scott King Award-winning artist. Readers will feel as if they can experience Henry’s thoughts and feelings as he matures through unthinkable adversity – through sheer resilience.

Do you know you have an invisible bucket which is filled with all of your good thoughts and feelings? Using the metaphor of a bucket filled with good feelings to show how easy and rewarding it is to express kindness, appreciation, and love on a daily basis. With easy-to-read chapters, colorful illustrations, and daily questions to help readers become better bucket fillers and give them the tools to live a life filled with happiness. If you’re new to the concepts of bucket filling and bucket dipping, then this award-winning book is for you. One of the keys to building resilience is self-belief… and this kids book offers wonderful real-life examples of how to go about this process. A great reminder for parents too!

A little girl sees a shiny new bicycle in the shop window. She hurries home to see if she has enough money in her piggy bank, but when she comes up short, she knocks on the doors of her neighbours, hoping to do their yard work. They all turn her away except for a kindly old woman. The woman and the girl work through the seasons, side by side. They form a tender friendship. When the weather warms, the girl finally has enough money for the bicycle. She runs back to the store, but the bicycle is gone! What happens next shows the reward of hard work and the true meaning of generosity. Wordless, timeless, and classic, The Girl and the Bicycle carries a message of selflessness and sweet surprises and makes an ideal example of how resilience pays off.

Stanley Birdbaum couldn’t be more excited. He has rolled and wrapped and dyed his hair. He has dipped it and sprayed it and made it, well, perfect. He is ready to celebrate Crazy Hair Day at school. But when Stanley saunters up to the classroom, he learns, to his horror, that Crazy Hair Day is . . . next week. To make matters worse, today is School Picture Day, and everyone is expected to line up for the class photo! What’s Stanley to do?

Stanley is the very essence of resilience and problem solving.

When Emily asks her big sister what the word empathy means, Emily has no idea that knowing the answer will change how she looks at people. But does it really matter to others if Emily notices how they’re feeling? Stand in My Shoes shows kids how easy it is to develop empathy toward those around them. Empathy is the ability to notice what other people feel. Empathy leads to the social skills and personal relationships which make our lives rich and beautiful, and it is something we can help our children learn.

And while empathy and resilience are different traits, they are thoroughly complimentary and beneficial to our school aged kids.