Who's Afraid? Books to Help

There’s a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer is just one of many books that can help children talk about and overcome some of their fears. A favorite in my classroom is The Big Green Monster.

After reading a story, I like to encourage the children to talk about their fears. If my focus is monsters, we usually spend time creating monsters in the art center. I find the children especially like to make monster puppets. It gives them even more opportunities to play with monsters and in doing so they can feel more comfortable and less afraid. We often expand this activity and make up stories about our monsters. We tell what they like to eat and where they like to hide and what scares our monsters. Sometimes we make individual stories and other times we make class stories, depending upon the needs of the class. If appropriate, it would add to the learning by having the children act out the stories.

When talking about general fears, you might want to involve the parents. Send home a note asking parents to fill in the blanks. "When I was little I used to be afraid of__________, but now I____. " You can read these to the class. Think how comforting it could be to know that when Tommy’s police officer dad was a little boy, he was afraid of spiders, but now he loves to look at their webs in the morning dew. I think the best part about sharing general fears is the words of wisdom and actions that can come from the other children.. When classmates see petite Beth picking up worms, they begin to see that worms might not be as tough as they originally thought. Take time to learn about children’s fears and then you can find ways to lessen them.

Other books to help with fears:

Bump in the Night by Edward Hemingway (2008) Story of a little boy who, at bedtime hears a noise in the closet.He imagines the worst, but it is only his puppy.

Francis the Scaredy Cat by Ed Boxall (2002) Francis the cat, is afraid of the dark and what must be out there in the night. One night, Francis becomes worried that a monster in the dark has captured his friend Ben. Francis overcomes his fear to go rescue Ben.

The Scaredy Cats by Barbara Bottner, illustrated by Victoria Chess (2003)
This family of cats is scared of everything, so they do nothing. Read the story to find out what Baby Scaredy Cat has to say.

Shadows Are About by Ann Whitford Paul, illustrated by Mark Graham (1992) A simple look at how shadows are everywhere, but only when there is light. A good story to help children understand the same thing that may scare them at night is there in the daytime also.