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Adding new resources to your existing library is probably one of the easiest ways to update your counselling agenda. As a school counsellor in an elementary setting, books are your go-to weapon for making your students smile, recount, and learn from the characters within. We have tried listing some books in this blog which will enhance your counselling skills which you can employ to guide your learners in coping with various social and emotional circumstances that may appear overwhelming to them.
 

It is a well-known fact that school counsellors provide invaluable support to learners through lessons, counselling, and other methods learned through counselling courses for teachers. Sometimes, it may happen that a funny character in the book becomes more relatable than a lesson. Moreover, these literary gems can often make jobs easier for school counsellors. This is the main reason behind listing some of the must-have books for school counsellors in an elementary setting, with a hope that you’ll find something to add to your counselling strategy and provide your learners with something interesting and informative.
 

Mentioned below are some books listed by experts with focus on the following aspects:
 

1. Feelings and emotions

2. Empathy

3. Characters easily relatable by children

4. Morals and ethics

5. Lessons learned from the journey of a character
 

The mentioned topics are extremely crucial in a school counsellor’s agenda and he/she needs to look for ways to incorporate these into their strategies. Books come to rescue here.
 

Let’s begin with the old ones and will end on a new note to freshen up your library
 

It might be that you already have these in your office, but if not, they are highly recommended:
 

• Enemy Pie by Derek Munson: Teaches the learners about kindness and friendship.
• The Juice Box Bully by Bob Sornson: Guides learners with the ways to respond to bullying in a more positive way by standing up for others.
• Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg: Demonstrates young learners that it’s ok to make a mistake by training them to see the bright side of any ‘oops’.

Julia Cook’s books for elementary school counsellors are quite popular and loved for her approach to storybook writing for toddlers. She knows how exactly to make students laugh along with teaching valuable problem-solving skills. All of her books are highly recommended, but, for your convenience, here are some staples from a counsellor’s library:

• My Mouth is a Volcano: Teaches children to wait their turn and not interrupt others in an empathetic and humorous manner. A book that talks about respect and listening skills.
• That Rule Doesn’t Apply to Me: Another relevant, smile inducing book from Julia Cook that takes learners through a journey of understanding, where they learn that rules are, in reality, important.
• Lying up a Storm: This book is all about teaching learners the costs of lying and how it can affect the health of their relations.

New releases to freshen up your library:

• Zen Hen by Keri Powers-Pye: A rather fanciful book featuring a hen looking for peace in the midst of chaos created by her peers. It teaches students about mindfulness.
• Anxious Ninja by Mary Nhin: This book is new in the market with full potential to become a classic. It focuses on teaching normalising anxiety for kids and teaches them the ways to cope with it.
• Marie’s Big Adieu by Tamara Rittershaus: The book deals with accepting change which is, most of the times, really hard for kids. The positive message in the book provides hope for new & beautiful beginnings.
• Me and My Feelings by Vanessa Green Allen, M.Ed.: A book about social and emotional learning that aids students in acknowledging their feelings and develop comfort with addressing them to remain calm and at peace.
• Even Superheroes Have Bad Days by Shelly Becker: Helps young learners with emotional turbulence by showing that even their favourite heroes can have bad days and that no one is perfect.
• A Little Spot of Anger by Diane Alber: Diane’s Little Spot books are loved by counsellors but this one, in particular, is very useful for teaching toddlers how to calm down when they get hyper.
• The No More Bullying Book by Vanessa Green Allen, M.Ed.: It provides students with real tools they can use right away to deal with bullies.

Each of the mentioned books are relatable, educational, and most significantly, entertaining for the little learners. Think of these as new classics that can help in our efforts to develop students with social-emotional strengths. Expectantly, those strengths will reveal in the classroom setting and beyond that as well.
 

Hopefully, this list has provided some new dimension and addition to your agenda and gotten your wheels rolling with some new student counselling techniques.