"Bibliotherapy" means that books can help people in specific situations. Yeah, it is an academic term. It has legitimate uses, though. In this case, I want to talk about a book that helped my daughter when she was being bullied. Some of the big kids ("school-agers") were saying mean things to her and calling her a "loser." She said that it hurt her heart. How horrible is it for a mama to hear this! Of course, I talked with the daycare director about the situation. Luckily, we also stumbled into a wonderful book for dealing with the issue.
I found a copy of The Cow That Went Oink by Bernard Most. In it, farm animals laugh at a cow who says "oink" and at a pig who says "moo." However, these two animals decide to teach each other the sounds that they know. With much hard work and perseverance, they become the only "bilingual" animals on the entire farm! I love the empowering message this has. My daughter, though, took it one step further. She kept telling the story where all the animals then started learning how to make different sounds.
We also read Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. She had read with her Pre-K class, too. It is a classic for a reason. The title character's long, floral name-- while deemed perfect by her parents-- earns taunts from several classmates. Luckily, the awesome art teacher, Delphinium, restores Chrysanthemum's pride. It is amazing what the positive effect of a mentor can be! My daughter beams when she says how her name is also the name of a flower.
One of the Every Child Ready to Read 2 skills is "talking." I like that these books give a springboard for important conversations.
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