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As part of national Mental Health Awareness Month, the Child Mind Institute has released a list of the best books of 2024 for children that tackle topics relating to mental health.

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Clinicians at the Child Mind Institute reviewed more than 60 titles while compiling the list and eventually narrowed it down to 20 books. 

The books on the list involved storylines or themes that helped children to understand and handle mental health challenges. The list breaks down the books by topics: anxiety, mindfulness, feelings, sadness and depression, OCD, ADHD, autism, eating disorders, and parental addiction.

The lists included

Anxiety

• The Worry Monster (Dr. Catherine Cook-Cottone)
• What to Do When You Worry Too Much (Dawn Huebner, PhD)
• Invisible Isabel (Sally J. Pla)
• Unstuck (Barbara Dee)

Mindfulness

• A Tiny Difference (June Tate)
• Today (Gabi Snyder)

Feelings

• Bea’s Bad Day (Tom Percival)
• The Hare-Shaped Hole (John Dougherty)
• My Thoughts Have Wings (Maggie Smith)
• Cranky (Phuc Tran)
• A Terrible Place for a Nest (Sara Levine)

Sadness and Depression

• The Cat Who Couldn’t Be Bothered (Jack Kurland)
• Gray (Laura Dockrill)
• A Voice in the Storm (Karl James Mountford)

OCD

• The Very Best Me (Marin Canaday)
• Puzzled (Pan Cooke)

ADHD

• That Always Happens Sometimes (Kiley Frank)

Autism

• Henry and the Something New (Jenn Bailey)

Eating Disorders

• Louder Than Hunger (John Schu)

Parental Addiction

• Breaking Into Sunlight (John Cochran)

For the entire list and the descriptions of the books, visit the Child Mind Institute’s website.