Even before COVID-19 hit, social-emotional learning was an essential part of the early childhood education experience. High-quality ECE programs have long emphasized guiding children in personal care, emotional well-being, safety, health, social courtesies, moral and character development, and practical life skills.

We are now living through an unprecedented economic and health crisis that our youngest children are navigating along with the rest of us. While we do not know what the long-term effects may be, evidence is already suggesting that the pandemic has damaged children’s social and emotional well-being. The National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University found that the percentage of young children reported to have “high” levels of social and emotional difficulties—such as hyperactivity and conflict with peers—increased during the pandemic, when compared to previous national data on child behavior norms (Barnett & Jung, 2021). A recent report from the Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative’s Early Learning Study at Harvard found that just over half of parents surveyed said they have seen a negative impact on their child’s social-emotional development, and teachers noticed similar trends: 53 percent observed behavioral changes during the pandemic, and of those, 77 percent said these changes have been negative, including more temper tantrums, sadness or crying, and difficulty separating from parents (Hanno et al., 2021). Across the county—and around the world—children are struggling to understand and regulate their emotions in the face of added stress, maintain social relationships in the age of social distancing, and focus on learning in environments that are often disrupted by teacher absences or quarantine requirements.

It is clear that a focus on social-emotional learning is particularly important during this time, as ECE communities work to reconnect with children and families and establish environments that support children in understanding who they are, what they are feeling and what to expect when interacting with others. Fortunately, children can learn these social-emotional skills in a variety of ways; through behaviors they see modeled by the adults in their lives, peer relationships, and explicit classroom activities. The use of children’s literature is a particularly effective way to anchor social-emotional learning experiences, because books can serve as a point of reference for children, as characters model coping strategies, creative problem-solving, and the acceptance of differences.

Reading fictional stories with children allows them to learn from experiences they have never had—including those that involve difficult emotions—within the safety of a world that is not real (Pinto, 2019). Most children’s books feature main characters that are either children themselves,    or animals, (which many children find appealing due to their childlike qualities and personalities), all facing the sorts of challenges that children are learning to work through in their daily lives. Developmentally appropriate literature allows children to identify with the story characters and relate the protagonists’ thoughts, feelings, and actions to their own. The language characters use can model for children how to express themselves, and stories can show—rather than tell—how social problems might be solved. Children can retell stories and role play, which allows them to practice using new problem-solving strategies before applying them in real-life scenarios.  

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Bibliotherapy, the term used to describe this process of utilizing literature to “expand an individual’s level of self-understanding and to expand the understanding of others’ perceptions” (Crothers, 1916 as cited in Heath, Smith, & Young, 2017), has existed since Aesop shared his moral fables in Ancient Greece. In his book, “The Child that Books Built,” Spufford (2003) described the act of reading stories at impressionable times as “lifechanging experiences.” Good stories have the power to change how we think and how we feel. Teachers can use stories to build a strong foundation of social-emotional learning that will positively influence children’s behavior, and can impact their academic, professional, and social outcomes for years to come. 

Early childhood research supports this claim. Across a range of studies, the emotional, social, and behavioral competence of young children—such as higher levels of self-control and lower levels of acting out—predicted their academic performance in first grade, over and above their cognitive skills and family backgrounds (Raver & Knitzer, 2002). In a study that followed a cohort of 1,000 children from birth to age 32, the children who had poor self-control as preschoolers were three times as likely to have problems as young adults (Moffitt et al., 2011). It is highly likely that when future studies examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on young children’s outcomes, those who received explicit social-emotional learning opportunities will fare better overall. 

When choosing books to support social-emotional learning in the classroom, there are important components to consider. Stories should:

• have relatable characters;
• contain age-appropriate content and reading level;
• use familiar language;
• have a storyline that is relatable to children;
• be culturally and ethnically diverse; and
• show realistic and practical solutions to problems.

When selecting a book, consider the quality of writing, the audience(s) for the book, the cultural accuracy and authenticity of the text and illustrations, and what conversations the book might provoke. The titles listed here are examples of children’s books that can be used for social-emotional learning across several different topics:

Self-Identity/Self-Esteem

• You Matter (Christian Robinson)
• All the Ways to be Smart (Davina Bell)
• Alma and How She Got Her Name (Juana Martinez-Neal)
• Where Are You From? (Yamile Saied Méndez)

Kindness and Respect

• Kindness is My Superpower (Alicia Ortego)
• The Invisible Boy (Trudy Ludwig)
• Last Stop on Market Street (Matt de la Pena)
• I Walk With Vanessa (Kerascoëet)

Emotions and Self-Regulation

• Why Do We Cry? (Fran Pintadera)
• The Color Monster: A Story About Emotions (Anna Llenas)
• The Boy with Big, Big Feelings (Britney Winn Lee)
• Crabby Pants (Julie Gassman)

Conflict Resolution

• Poe Won’t Go (Kelly DiPucchio and Zachariah OHora)
• The Fort (Laura Perdew)
• The Peace Rose (Parent Child Press)
• The Recess Queen (Alexis O’Neill)

Empathy

• Chocolate Milk, Por Favor: Celebrating Diversity with Empathy (Maria Dismondy)
• Chrysanthemum (Kevin Henkes)
• In Plain Sight (Richard Jackson)
• Dad and the Dinosaur (Gennifer Choldenko)

Building Friendships

• Otto and Pio (Marianne Dubuc)
• Strictly No Elephants (Lisa Mantchev)
• How to Lose All Your Friends (Nancy Carlson)
• Stick and Stone (Beth Ferry)

Community Service/Helping Others

• Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea (Meena Harris)
• Sofia Valdez, Future Prez (Andrea Beaty)
• Community Soup (Alma Fullerton)
• Red Knit Cap Girl and the Reading Tree (Naoko Stoop)

Responsibility, Independence, and Perseverance

• The Most Magnificent Thing (Ashley Spires)
• The Dark (Lemony Snicket)
• Train Your Dragon To Do Hard Things (Steve Herman)
• Journey (Aaron Becker)

Environmental Stewardship

• Emma and the Whale (Julie Case)
• The Curious Garden (Peter Brown)
• Outside In (Deborah Underwood)
• We Are Water Protectors (Carole Lindstrom)

Embracing Diversity Just Ask! (Sonia Sotomayor)

• All Are Welcome (Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman)
• What If We Were All The Same! (C.M. Harris)
• All Because You Matter (Tami Charles)

There are so many children’s books that touch on these topics; this is by no means an exhaustive list! Each of these books could be a focal point for one week, with accompanying hands-on activities to apply new vocabulary and skills. 

Children are looking to us to make sense of a tumultuous world—not just today, but every day. As early childhood educators, we need to continue to sharpen the tools in our toolbox—or revisit the books on our shelves—to find developmentally-appropriate ways to support their social and emotional well-being and guide them toward a joyful future.

References

Barnett, W.S. and Jung, K. (2021). Seven Impacts of the Pandemic on Young Children and their Parents: Initial Findings from NIEER’s December 2020 Preschool Learning Activities Survey. National Institute for Early Education Research.

Hanno, E.C., Wiklund Hayhurst, E., Fritz, L., Gardner, M., Turco, R.G., Jones, S.M., and Lesaux, N.K. (2021). Persevering through the Pandemic: Key Learnings about Children from Parents and Early Educators. Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative, Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Heath, M. and Smith, Kathryn & Young, Ellie. (2017). Using children’s literature to strengthen social and emotional learning. School Psychology International, 38, 541-561.DOI: 10.1177/0143034317710070

Moffitt, T.E., Arseneault, L., Belsky, D., Dickson, N., Hancox, R.J., Harrington, H., Houts, R., Poulton, R., Roberts, B.W., Ross, S., Sears, M.R., Thomson, W.M., and Avshalom, C.A.(2011). A gradient of childhood self-control predicts health, wealth, and public safety. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108 (7). 2693-2698. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1010076108

Pinto, C. (2019, August 5). Social and emotional learning through children’s literature. Global Partnership for Education. globalpartnership.org

Spufford, F. (2002). The child that books built: A life in reading. Faber and Faber.