May is Mental Health Month:145 Picture & Chapter Books for elementary/middle school

Bibliotherapy is defined as "the use of literature to help people cope with emotional problems, mental illness, or changes in their lives (Pardeck, 1994), or to produce effective change and promote personality growth and development (Lenkowsky, 1987; Adderholdt-Elliott & Eller, 1989)." Books provide a neutral space to discuss these sensitive issues that students face and providing students with these opportunities to listen to, read, and talk about stories where characters are facing difficulties, it will help them in their own struggles and shows them how to support others who face these issues.  In gathering books for my teachers in my school, I came upon a website that listed the various branches of mental health issues.

These sub-categories helped me narrow down books to offer :

Of course there are many more excellent books that fit these categories. These were what we had available in our school library that I offered to the teachers.  If you have suggestions for additional titles please add them in the comments below!

If you'd like more resources on Mental Health Month, check out the Learning for Justice site.