Books that Model Resilience
As a follow up to Parshas Chukas: Healing and Resilience, I compiled a booklist of children's books that model resilience and growth through challenges. Please add in your recommended books in the comments! Notes: 1. I tried to divide the books by age, but they are very rough recommendations and may not be categorized correctly for your children. Also, I read many of these aloud to the family and children can enjoy listening to books much more advanced than those they are ready to read themselves. Your younger children may really enjoy listening to you read one intended for older kids. 2. Please pre-read these books and make sure they are appropriate for your children. These are ones that I have shared with my children at various times, but they may not be right for yours! 3. Many of these books are older and may not be available in libraries. I buy many used books affordably on www.abebooks.com. (The older ones are real gems though!) Young Children 1. The Little Engine That Could 2. Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent 3. Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco 4. Farmer Greenfield and the Big City Adventure 5. Wagon Wheels by Barbara Brenner 6. The Bravest Dog Ever: The True Story of Balto 7. What Do You Do with a Problem Elementary/Middle - (Depending on Whether They're Read Aloud or On Their Own) 1. Follow My Leader by James B. Garfield 2. Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher 3. The Sign of the Beaver 4. The Great Turkey Walk 5. Miracles on Maple Hill by Viriginia Sorenson 6. Navigating Early by Claire Vanderpool 7. Moon Over Manifest by Claire Vanderpool 8. The Wednesday Wars, (and others by Gary Schmidt) 9. The Railway Children by Edith Nesbit 10. Gentle Ben by Walt Morey 11. Sensible Kate by Doris Gates 12. Mandy by Julie Edwards 13. A Lion to Guard Us 14. The Courage of Sarah Noble 15. The Journeyman by Elizabeth Yates 16. Carry On, Mr. Bowditch 17. Johnny Tremain 18. Little Britches by Ralph Moody 19. Amos Fortune Free Man 20. Calico Captive 21. Ali and the Golden Eagle 22. Breaking Stalin's Nose 23. Listening for Lions 24. The Breadwinner (and others) by Debora Ellis 25. The House of Sixty Fathers 26. A Single Shard, A Long Walk to Water, The Kite Fighters, and others by Linda Sue Park 27. The Secret Garden Teenagers 1. Historical books, such as those by Avner Gold and Marcus Lehman 2. Go My Son by Chaim Shapiro 3. As Long As I Live: The Life Story of Aharon Margolit 4. To Vanquish the Dragon by Pearl Benisch 5. Fear No Evil by Natan Sharansky 6. Out Of the Depths by Rabbi Lau
1 comment
Syma DavidovichAugust 10, 2022
I only read fear no evil when I was well into my twenties. That book was so impactful that when I read the last page, I turned back to the first and immediately began again. I cannot think of another book that I read twice in a row like that.