(Part 2) Best health books for children according to redditors
We found 759 Reddit comments discussing the best health books for children. We ranked the 230 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
damn its real
It might be painful, or it might be the last little bit of control he has over "poop". I would look into adding in Miralax, which should just add water to his poop, not bulk it or stimulate his colon. That will make it easier for him to "squeeze it out" and simultaneously harder for him to hold it in. I would also recommend this book by a leading pediatric urologist in the field.
I think getting him a book on puberty is a really good idea. You can't just shut this away and expect him not to be curious. I found porn at a pretty young age -- I think I was 9 or so. As far as I can tell, I've turned out to be a healthy individual when it comes to sex. My mom did talk to me about it, basically she said that she understood why I was curious but that I was too young to be visiting those kinds of sites, that they were for adults and not realistic, etc. She also got me a couple different books on puberty and I remember spending a good amount of time on sites for adolescents that explained things like puberty.
It's unfortunate that you're the one who's going to end up dealing with this, but someone needs to talk to him and it doesn't sound like your mother will. 7 is really young to be processing the nuances of porn and sexuality. Ideally, you'll continue to have conversations with him as he grows older and you can broach more complicated or serious topics like healthy sexual relationships and STDs.
For now, here are some resources:
Scarleteen -- Really good sex education website for adolescents
What's Happening To My Body? -- I had a girl's version of this book when I was younger, and it's really good, very detailed. There's also a companion book, My Body My Self, that's designed to be more interactive, kids are supposed to journal or answer questions or write about themselves in it, but it's also got a ton of information.
Good luck!
What To Do When You Worry Too Much is a great book for her to read together with you. There's another one in that series that focuses on anger as well.
I came here to say this, and I have a cautionary tale about it. Our 6 yr old became constipated slowly over many months, and we knew nothing about it because she continued to poop normally. Our first symptom was that she began having wetting accidents after having been toilet trained for more than a year, but the pediatrician pooh-poohed it and said it was normal for a 5 year old. Then the poop accidents began, and the doctor gave us a referral to a psychologist, but insisted there was nothing physically wrong. We asked about constipation, but he felt around the abdomen and said he couldn't feel any masses.
Then she wound up in the ER with severe abdominal pain, and the x-ray showed her little abdomen was completely stuffed with poop. Because it had become so severe for so long, she has now completely lost the ability to control her bowels and has lost most bladder control as well. Her long-term prognosis is excellent, but the doctor says we still have 6-12 months of treatment ahead before we can reasonably expect to get her back to normal.
TLDR- OP, talk to your doctor about constipation. Know that the only way to know for sure whether or not it's constipation is to get an x-ray. If you don't want to do that, you can try preemptively treating with Miralax to see if that helps the situation. For more information, including instructions on using Miralax to "clean out" suspected constipation, there's a particularly good book about it.
My kids responded well to the idea that we are all part of the universe, so we don't "go" anywhere. Whatever we are has always been here (atoms, etc.) and always will be (well, more or less). They also both liked this book… it's more of about origins, but in the end it's all the same.
http://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Stardust-Elin-Kelsey/dp/1926973356/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425958942&sr=8-1&keywords=we+are+stardust
Not wanting to poop in the potty is a common kid issue apparently. My son did the same thing. The problem is it becomes a feedback loop because they hold it and it gets hard and then it hurts so they don't want to poop etc.
Here are the things we did: 1) purchased several books on pooping. Look on Amazon we got one called It Hurts When I Poop (https://www.amazon.com/Hurts-When-Poop-Children-Scared/dp/1433801302/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=) but there are several if you look geared for kids. We made these books regular stories for a while 2) we implemented a reward chart just for pooping. Everytime he pooped he got a sticker and when he got 30 stickers he got a prize. We only had to do two charts before he was pooping regularly. 3) we started giving him fiber gummy vitamins and fiber loading his diet i.e. Every meal had fruits and veggies 4) made sure he was drinking lots of fluids as hydration helps with normal stooling 5) cut out foods that constipate like rice and bananas. Not forever just until he was going poop on a regular basis 6) if he hadn't pooped by late afternoon/evening we would sit him on the potty and give him books or whatever to keep him there til he pooped. There were tears sometimes involved because he was scared to poop. We would read the above mentioned poop books and discuss how everyone has to poop it is part of being healthy so your body can get rid of bad stuff. We actually still at 5 have to make him sit on the toilet to poop because in his words "it is boring and takes too long." And finally 7) if he really wasn't pooping and back up our doctor said we could give glycerin suppositries. Within 30 minutes a kid WILL poop with those. It is not fun for anyone but we only had to do that a time or two and he preferred pooping naturally so would go before it came to that.
Lately he has liked having a footstool so he can have a better position to poop (like the new fangles squatty potty but cheaper)
Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss more. My husband and I spent a lot of time and effort to research this issue.
I read "Oh Crap! Potty Training". The author's recommendation is to not start until they are at least 20months and can sing their ABCs. My kid was speech delayed at that age and definitely couldn't sing her ABCs (and still can't, at 2.5yrs), but we dove in right at 20m and she trained super easily compared to most of my friends' kids, even training for naps and nights. It took us like 2w to get to where I felt like I could leave the house without accidents. And she learned to say "pee pee" when she had to use the bathroom, so that was a plus.
My second born will be 20m in 1 week and I can't decide if I want to dive in and go through 2 weeks of potty training accidents to get the sweetness of never needing diapers again. It's a tough call to make!
Anyways, we used the little separate training potty at first, so that she could put herself on her potty and go pee, and then eventually moved up to setting her on the toilet with an insert which was necessary for using the restroom during outings. By the time I potty trained her, she was also sleeping in a big kid bed already which was super helpful.. I would sit her little potty on a waterproof mat on her floor and if she woke up from her nap, she could quickly sit herself on her potty before I could even get in there. She rarely had accidents in bed.
We read a lot of books about toilets... "Everybody Poops", "Potty Time", and "Once Upon a Potty". Some other books I liked were "Diapers are Not Forever", "Potty", and "Let's Go Potty, Elmo!".
Not sure if anyone has said this yet, but the book The Care and Keeping of You Vol. 1 from American Girl is extremely detailed and helpful when it comes to things about puberty such as info on female anatomy, what tampons and pads are, what types of bras and underwear are good for you, how to care for your hair and body, etc. I bought it for my 10 year old sister upon her request and read through it myself. It's very open, informative, and body positive. It doesn't talk about sex and sexuality much at all, but maybe that's something that other volumes get into? I'm also unsure if it's sold in your native language or not, but even if it's only in English, it might still be a good thing for you to read if you want a detailed and informative source for what's to come.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00BHI2GW4/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491837456&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=american+girl+the+care+and+keeping+of+you+1
Yep, we had this problem at our house too. Much nakedness, way too long. I think it's best to be honest, maybe give her a book like this or this and say "I love how self-confident you are about your body, but it's not appropriate to run around naked now that you've started developing, okey doke?"
The same exact thing happened with my 4 year old. We tried everything but finally found a solution. I cannot recommend this book enough: It's No Accident by Steve Hodges.
It turns out the problem was my daughter had minor constipation. Her stool was pressing against her bladder causing her to have wetting accidents. As soon as we started treating her constipation, the wetting accidents stopped.
There are lots of kids' books about reproduction. What I want is for that information to be included in actual books on the human body, like this one. Instead it shows NO reproductive organs and, worse, shows the urinary system ENDING AT THE BLADDER. I bought a kids' anatomy book so my kid could learn about her internal organs. I think it's dumb that the books just pretend some of those organs don't exist.
Oh, this horribly embarrassing but great book: What's Happening to My Body?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Everybody-Poos-Taro-Gomi/dp/1845072588
Dawkins' Magic of Reality
Life on Earth: The Story of Evolution
Mine is 2.5 and we are potty training as well thou our situation is slightly different.
Mine started pooping on the potty before he was 2 about 90% of the time and now almost always will poop on the potty unless we slack and leave him too long when he wakes in his crib. That said peeing on the potty was a battle, he would fight me and argue and scream when i tried and i would get so frustrated. I finally stopped forcing him and followed his lead but we continued to talk about potty and watch mommy go potty and read tons of potty books.
He loved the potty books. Will link below the ones we have. Then i also got a star chart and man does he love watching it get filled with stars. We are now doing great with training.
I still let him wear pullups in the morning because i am pregnant and it has me pretty tired and sick in the morning plus we are on the couch or carpeted area. Once he wakes from nap we switch to underwear and he stays dry with me setting timers every 40 mins, once timer goes off we say time for potty and he says "siri says go potty" lol so we run and both go potty. Then we high five and run and do our stars more high fives, huge yays etc. he stays in underwear until bed.
Also many people in our 2-3 class we do just go bottomless so maybe if she won't wear underwear let her go without and see if that works. They all recommend that oh crap method.
Kenson Kids “I Can Do It!” Potty Chart Updated Toilet Training System! Includes Colorful Magnetic Chart, 30 Positive-Reinforcement Stars, Potty Training Book, Achievement Certificate, and Training Tips for Parents https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FFF9T1Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_CtLmzb7GG9BC4
Potty (Leslie Patricelli board books) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0763644765/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_huLmzbBFJ36KP
These books i have used to break a lot of unwanted habits like hitting, kicking and his paci... just ordered yelling since he started that
Diapers Are Not Forever (Board Book) (Best Behavior Series) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1575422964/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_UuLmzbS6Q6KAN
Also if you do screen time the daniel tiger potty episode is awesome, he watched that for everyday for awhile and now he sings it
Robb Wolf's Paleo On a Budget would be a fantastic resource for you to get started.
Sarah Fragoso's Paleo Pals, or Eat Like a Dinosaur are known to be great books to get the kids on board.
Sex Is a Funny Word.
Fantastic book that speaks directly to kids. It’s LGBT inclusive and sex positive, and it doesn’t get bogged down in definitions or make normative declarations. And it’s fun to read.
I think any kid would enjoy and learn from this book, and come away from it feeling good about themselves.
Edit: Oops, I see this is the first book in your list. Good start!
First know that plenty of parents (moms and dads) struggle with how to start this conversation with their daughters. There is the general awkwardness of the topic and the idea that a little more innocence is lost.
This book is a good place to start and you should read it first American girl - care and keeping of you
Also, are you there god, it’s me Margaret is a classic preteen that delves into topics for things she is likely going through
Depending on your relationship you can start explaining what will happen to her and ask if her friends have talked to her about this kind of stuff. Expect some squirming and go at her pace. Keep some nice quality pads on hand for her as well. They also make period panties which are expensive but worth it - accident do and will happen to everyone
Finally, as others have said, talk to a female relative closer to her in age that she can trust and see if they can get her to open up.
When that days comes give her a big hug, it’s stressful at first. Good luck
Yep! A couple of notable ones:
https://www.amazon.com/Its-So-Amazing-Families-Library/dp/0763668745/ref=sr_1_1
https://www.amazon.com/Sex-Funny-Word-Bodies-Feelings/dp/1609806069/ref=pd_sim_14_4
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I like this book . Your child should focus on being active and making good food choices. If you could convince your wife that paleo would be a good option for your family, I think it would help. The dinner table would look more unified, and your little girl will grow up understanding the basics of healthy eating from one perspective, not two. It'll be less confusing for her.
The Who Has What book already linked is great, my kid also has the Bare Naked Book which she likes to look at sometimes (she's 3 in February).
Don't get squeamish about the kid knowing the word penis or whatever. It's just a word, and it's a correct word for a body part that like 50% of people have. My kid talks about them sometimes like this: "he has a penis" (regarding her dad when he changes for the shower). Or sometimes "When I'm big I'll get a penis" because at the moment she really wants to be able to pee standing up lol.
They're gonna think words for genitalia are hilarious for quite some time so just get used to that :) it's better to not think the words are taboo though.
That movie is a complete ripoff of some random book I read when I was in 4th grade called "Running Out of Time."
Other than a handful of character differences, the story is the exact same. No credit was given.
EDIT - link
This happened to my daughter when she was 2.5 and had been potty trained for a few months. Had a hard painful poo and then pretty much refused to poo "ever again". Her record was 5 days. It was horrible and stressful. We called our excellent pediatrician and I researched a tonne. Here's the plan that we made.
Within 2 weeks we had her doing pretty well. Going every 2 days or so. Within a month we were down to 1/4 dose of Miralax a day. Within 2 months it became a distant memory. You want to treat it aggressively IMHO because it can lead to worse problems.
If he likes bubbles a bit of dish washing soap in the bowl works as a motivator. My wife and I had to be really patent. Boys in general potty train slower than girls and autistic ones even slower than that. We just were able to potty train my autistic 3 year old (4 in a few weeks). It took months of work. We did the pull ups, taking him to the potty every 30 minutes, used kitchen timers, gave him treats when he did go in the potty, etc.
The first thing to work on is just getting him to go in the potty and get used to that. We were able to add it to our nighttime routine easiest. After that we kept enforcing it more and more, and each time he did it he got a treat. After that we moved to the no wet pullup treat, where if he had a dry pullup he got his treat. Once we got good results there, we moved to underwear. It was rough at first, lots of changes in clothes, but we finally got some Toy Story underwear and he didn't want to get Buzz or Woody wet. We still reinforce with treats, but he will tell us now when he has to go potty. Our biggest challenge was that he's a sensory seeker so he doesn't mind being wet.
Things to try:
Oh honey, that's normal!
This is basically how my 4.5yo eats. A bunch of finger foods/small portions thrown together. I picked up Eat Like a Dinosaur a few weeks ago and love their recipes. My kids were thrilled to flip through it and pick out recipes that look good to them.
Diapers Are Not Forever is going over well with my two year old.
I think you did fine, but leaving the onus on him to come to you with questions might not work out. I suspect that a lot of kids aren't very comfortable or very willing to come to their parents with embarrassing questions right out of the blue. And lecturing doesn't do much good. The best approach, in my opinion, is to have short, ongoing, regular conversations about sexual and reproductive health, especially as his development continues and the conversations need to get more specific about some of the details. The more you talk about it, the less awkward it gets, and he'll be more likely to ask questions when it just becomes part of a normal conversation. Also, there are tons of great books about sexual and reproductive health and puberty out there. Get him three or four books and let him read. Get him the girls versions, too, so they're not a complete mystery. I'll include some recommendations below.
Here are some of the things I've added to the conversations I've had with my kid, specifically about porn:
-Pornography only shows actors performing sexual acts for the camera. Typical intimate, physical, sexual relationships between two people don't look very much like porn, so don't be fooled into thinking that's what a sexual relationship really looks like.
-Whether or not watching pornography is ethical or moral is something I think people need to decide for themselves. A lot of people think it's unethical for the following reasons: a) it doesn't show realistic relationships and distorts people's sense of what sex should look like; b) the actors, especially the female actors, are often exploited because they were in a vulnerable position and were taken advantage of; c) there are problems with things like human trafficking; d) some of the actors are underage; e) it can cause problems with addiction and desensitization; f) how would you feel if it was your daughter or sister performing? Do you think you should treat other people's daughters or sisters any differently?
But other people would say there's not a problem with looking at porn, especially if you're careful about the above problems. And a lot of people watch porn, so it's not weird or unusual. But deciding if it's right or not will have to be up to you.
If you do decide to watch porn, I would say -- as with anything else -- do it in moderation, and make sure it's not affecting your ability to have healthy relationships in real life.
Good books on puberty and reproductive and sexual health:
American Medical Association Girl's Guide to Becoming a Teen
by American Medical Association et al.
American Medical Association Boy's Guide to Becoming a Teen
by American Medical Association et al.
What's Happening to My Body? Book for Boys: Revised Edition
by Lynda Madaras et al.
My Body, My Self for Boys: Revised Edition by Lynda Madaras et al.
The Care and Keeping of You 2: The Body Book for Older Girls
by Cara Natterson et al.
What's Happening to My Body? Book for Girls: Revised Edition
by Lynda Madaras et al.
You mean Wimpy Fart?
This is a great book for 7-10 yr olds. [Sex is a Funny Word] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1609806069/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1463585952&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=sex+is+a+funny+word&dpPl=1&dpID=61dh3h-pXdL&ref=plSrch)
at home: my mom gave me 'The Care and Keeping of You' book that explained all of physical things about puberty. Still didn't put together what sex exactly was, although I knew it was when sperm hit egg. (I was quite sheltered.)
public school: had the "this is what sex is" talk in fifth grade health class, then we split by gender to learn about things specific to our anatomy. In middle school health class, we had various units on anatomy, STDs, and the different types of contraception. (We were told that abstinence is the only foolproof way to prevent pregnancy.) In 8th grade, we also got to take home a robot baby for a night to scare us into not having a kid. (I think it worked, we only had two or three pregnancies out of 1,000 kids in high school.) I named mine Philip and managed to not kill him. We were told by my health teacher in 8th grade that despite the fact that most of us said we'd place an unexpected child up for adoption if in that situation, most of us would have an abortion. (She also told us that someone in our class of 22 would die from AIDS, which, given the statistics of the state seems pretty unlikely. We've had more deaths from heroin overdoses.) High school was basically the same as middle school, I think.
CCD: I do not recall anything said about sex, but I also stopped going around sixth or seventh grade as I had been confirmed when I was seven. My parents didn't force anything.
There's a picture book which your 8 year old probably could still appreciate and the 5 year old might like (I'm a children's librarian and I love this book). It's not really atheistic per se, but it's called You Are Stardust. I love the illustrations too. Here's an amazon link http://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Stardust-Elin-Kelsey/dp/1926973356
You could search Amazon. I did and it took me 3 minutes to find this.
Hey there, don't feel like a failure. My mother's been supporting me through a very severe episode of OCD all summer, and she doesn't think she's 'failed' just because her (grown-up) kid got sick - if anything, I think in the end she's proud that we teamed up and beat OCD together :) OCD isn't caused by bad parenting; the scientific research shows it's probably caused by genetics, biological issues with brain inflammation, chemical imbalances and sometimes life stresses. It's not something children get because their parents necessarily did anything wrong.
Your son's issues do sound a lot like OCD. There seem to be two main ages that OCD symptoms start - a lot of us, either we've had obsession and anxiety problems since we were young children, or we get sudden OCD symptoms around 18 - 25. So it's not unusual that your son might have OCD difficulties at 10/11. The extreme perfectionism and worries over perceived moral or social mistakes are very typical of OCD.
It's good that you're seriously listening to him and addressing his talk around dying. Trying to get along in life with major untreated OCD is understandably a really, REALLY horrible way to spend your days, so it's pretty common for a lot of us with OCD to start thinking thoughts like these. Obsessions are so full-on, they're 24/7 and they're absolutely tormenting, so you never get a break unless you're asleep/unconscious! The idea of going to sleep, and not having to wake up and deal with yet another day of endless screaming obsessions, is an idea that can come to seem like a relief. I realize this is a really dark and disturbing thing to discuss, but I just want you to know that there's an explanation for the way your son's talking and it's got an understandable reasoning behind it when you look at the full picture. It does NOT mean everyone with OCD is constantly suicidal - OCD is very treatable and many of us make a great recovery! But it's good to be sympathetic and understand the intensity of full-blown OCD, and take the issue seriously. I'm glad you're not dismissing it as just daft things kids say.
You're doing the right thing looking for a child psychologist. Second choice would be any psychologist who specializes in treating anxiety and OCD. Whatever you do, please make sure that the psychologist you choose uses the RIGHT, scientifically-proven methods to help. If it OCD (and it does sound like it), it should be treated using a mix of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) and exposure-and-response-prevention therapy (ERP) (write that down somewhere and make sure!), or some similar variant. The reason we warn each other about this is because using the wrong methods on OCD can actually make it worse. The techniques you want are ones that encourage your son to face his fears in a controlled way and learn to just let meaningless dark thoughts pass by. Any technique that encourages him to over-analyse or repeatedly talk about his fears without facing them, is a no-no. We know from psychological studies that obsessions just get worse the more you over-analyse them. Unfortunately there are still a lot of unlicensed or underqualified (and some qualified!) ones who use the wrong methods on OCD.
There are some excellent books aimed at children and families on how to recover from OCD. Your son might like this one, which focusses on 'standing up to' the scary thoughts as if they were a bully? : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Talking-Back-OCD-Program-Parents/dp/1593853556/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1487352207&sr=8-10&keywords=ocd+children
There's also 'Breaking Free from OCD: A CBT Guide for Young People and Their Families' ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/Breaking-Free-OCD-People-Families-ebook/dp/B00ENSRTWW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1487354438&sr=8-4&keywords=ocd+children ) and What to Do When Your Brain Gets Stuck: A Kid's Guide for Overcoming OCD ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/What-When-Brain-Stuck-What/dp/1591478057/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487354438&sr=8-1&keywords=ocd+children ).
One list of resources you might find really helpful for your son is actually at OCDkidsmovie (a charity project to help kids with OCD feel less alone, by seeing other children who've recovered). There's links to the main OCD charities you can contact if you're having trouble accessing paediatric therapy, OCD support groups for parents and some specially-written pieces for children with OCD, to help them understand their scary thoughts better: http://www.ocdkidsmovie.com/ocdresources
All the best to you in overcoming OCD - it's not easy and it's not quick, but it's totally do-able. Your son can learn to feel much, much better, with the right therapy :)
Further reading.
Anxiety seems likely to me. I would try using a mindfulness app with her (we like BreatheKids) to start. I also highly recommend these workbooks for kids dealing with anxiety and perfectionism:
What to Do When You Worry Too Much: A Kid's Guide to Overcoming Anxiety (What-to-Do Guides for Kids) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1591473144/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_4H9PDbREVBS1C
What to Do When Mistakes Make You Quake: A Kid's Guide to Accepting Imperfection (What-to-Do Guides for Kids) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1433819309/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_3I9PDb63TQM42
My daughter has severe anxiety that requires therapy and meds, but she also found these books to be helpful.
Those are awesome! Is your student teacher friend a fan of picture books? Because that art style, especially that little pea, look familiar: https://www.amazon.com/Little-Pea-Amy-Krouse-Rosenthal/dp/081184658X
My daughters went through the exact same thing. It started all of the sudden when one of them was afraid for us to leave them at age 7 for the first time in her life. Then it turned into "bad thoughts" and not wanting to go to school, etc. I have twins and both of them went through this at different times but it seems like it is something about 1st grade - 3rd grade where this is really common. Out of sheer desperation, I bought the book "What to Do When You Worry Too Much" on Amazon. It is an interactive book for kids that talks about strategies for not letting their worries grow, saving their worries for one 15 minute time period in the day and resetting their system. It really helped both of my girls, and pretty quickly because they felt like they finally had a strategy or something that could help them. I hope that this helps you!
https://www.amazon.com/What-When-Worry-Much-What/dp/1591473144/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Worry+book&qid=1574100550&sr=8-3
At least it's not this
i'm with you on this! http://www.amazon.com/Running-Time-Margaret-Peterson-Haddix/dp/0689812361
Oh lady. I'm glad you have a sweet husband and a tiny sprout to keep you company. Tears come so easily at this stage and while you have a reason, you also have a lot of hope and love around you. Have you ever seen this children's book? I think you would like it... (on phone so apologies for messy link)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/081184658X?pc_redir=1404144322&robot_redir=1
Sorry was lazy yesterday about linking from my phone. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0764152319 this is the one we have. Here is the boy one (havent read it, assume its basically the same) http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0764152327
For anatomical stuff I recommend Amazing you (my daughter is thrilled that she has egg parts haha) http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0142410586
I work in special ed, and one of my students is an autistic girl in 5th grade who, if she's gotten her work done, gets to end her day by watching cat videos on YouTube. No matter how awful the day has been, watching her sitting there in hysterics laughing at funny cat videos online, I just can't help but smile and think it's all kind of worth it to see her happy and wanting to share her funny cat videos with her friends.
My under $10 item would be this kids book which teaches kids cognitive-behavioural techniques for dealing with anxiety. I'm hoping to be teaching next year, and I have a feeling that this would be an excellent book for my class, to give them ways of dealing with test anxiety and social anxiety and tools that will benefit them in the real world (in situations like preparing for interviews).
Also, my husband has an anxiety disorder and has been through cognitive-behavioural therapy, and I was a psychology major in college, so this strikes me as something that would be interesting and useful to have around anyway.
Also also, if Harry Potter is life, I propose a discussion on which book series is death (no saying Twilight - too easy).
My daughter really liked this one: http://www.amazon.com/Potty-Girls-Alyssa-Satin-Capucilli/dp/0764152319/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396150916&sr=8-1&keywords=potty+training+book+for+girls+Hannah. Potty Book for Girls. THe main character's name is Hannah.
I think this is the boy's version: http://www.amazon.com/The-Potty-Book-For-Boys/dp/0764152327/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396150940&sr=8-1&keywords=potty+training+book+for+boys.
We didn't start our kiddo on potty training until she was almost 3 so she was really into the whole "being just like Hannah" thing. Potty training is my lease favorite milestone to accomplish. At least she hasn't shit in her underwaer in a while so hopefully we're past that now!
Check out this one, we like it a lot.
My daughter had this EXACT same problem. If she didn't have a diaper on, she would hold it for days and then poops would hurt.
I bought her this book: http://www.amazon.com/It-Hurts-When-Poop-Children/dp/1433801302/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371965287&sr=8-1&keywords=scared+poo+book
It helped her understand what was going on. It did not cure her overnight, but it puts into words they can understand.
Ultimately what ended up happening was we told her that if she had to poop, she had to ask for a diaper, put it on herself and poop in it. When she was done, she was back in panties. Pull ups for naps & nights. We made sure to keep her ultra "lubed" up with tonnes of berries, veggies, flax seed, prunes. We stayed away from anything clogging for a while like breads & cheeses. Then one day, a poop just slipped out when she was on the potty peeing. We made a HUGE deal about it. It eventually happened more and more and within a week of her breakthrough she was potty trained.
He will potty when he's ready. I know how frustrating it can be, because you just want them to not hurt their own body by holding in their poops. For some kids it's a scary transition. It is also a comfort thing sometimes. They have worn diapers for their whole lives and to let go of that change can be very emotional. Hang in there, it will happen! :)
If you like the Village I have a book for you
Synopsis:
> Jessie lives with her family in the frontier village of Clifton, Indiana, in 1840 -- or so she believes. When diphtheria strikes the village and the children of Clifton start dying, Jessie's mother reveals a shocking secret -- it's actually 1996, and they are living in a reconstructed village that serves as a tourist site. In the world outside, medicine exists that can cure the dread disease, and Jessie's mother is sending her on a dangerous mission to bring back help. But beyond the walls of Clifton, Jessie discovers a world even more alien and threatening than she could have imagined, and soon she finds her own life in jeopardy. Can she get help before the children of Clifton, and Jessie herself, run out of time?
Required reading in my 5th grade class. When I watched the Village I was like "why is this familiar .... "
This might sound strange, and I don't mean it as a really comprehensive work on the subject, but see if the children's section of your local library has Life on Earth: The Story of Evolution by Steve Jenkins. It's a picture book, yes, but an accurate one and pretty detailed for its length. It also has completely gorgeous collage pictures. As I said, it's hardly as comprehensive as a big book for adults, but it's a good overview/starting point. Heck, buy it as a gift for some kid you know and read it before you give it away.
(I made a list of other evolution-related picture books on my blog, if anyone's interested.)
I have had a bunch of books, but I have given a lot away to another 3-year-old who loves bodies, so some of the out-of-print or rare books are not easy to find for me. I have this one:
http://www.amazon.com/First-Human-Encyclopedia-Reference-Series/dp/0756609976/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=14M5S3ATR6T05TJT3MTQ
I don't have the ones I listed below, but they look interesting. I have always had slightly "older" books than my kids, and let them look at the pictures and read what they were interested in. For example, my 4- and 7-year-olds have some books about the brain and are reading about neuroanatomy and neurotransmitters, and the central and peripheral nervous system, but sometimes they just pick up the books and look at the pictures and learn that the brain is responsible for all kinds of actions and thoughts and sensations.
http://www.amazon.com/Uncover-Human-Body-An-Book/dp/1571457895/ref=pd_tcs_compl_t_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0991ESGG92BTT0FW65QQ
http://www.amazon.com/Body-Science-Books-Patty-Carratello/dp/1557342113/ref=pd_sim_b_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=1MF77N2TKN3B7D84Y692
Finally, these videos look pretty interesting, but I have not tried them:
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/videos/humanbody.html
Excellent book with accurate info: Life on Earth: the story of evolution by Steve Jenkins http://www.amazon.com/Life-Earth-Evolution-Steve-Jenkins/dp/0618164766/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1301535717&sr=1-2 and also The tree of life: the wonders of evolution by Ellen Jackson http://www.amazon.com/Tree-Life-Wonders-Evolution/dp/1591022401/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1301535717&sr=1-7 which involves more details on the topic while not over-complicating it for children. If you would like to learn more so that you can address your child's questions a little better, a great reference would be to seek out the 8 hour PBS special "Evolution" which was often a reference in my college evolution class.
This is what they gave my kid, and I think it's a good book, no pejorative, information that is up to day, starts with the basics. Don't be ashamed because you are learning a little late - you are learning facts, and that's the most important thing.
https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Happening-Girls-Revised-Third/dp/1557047685
I have never read it personally, but I hear The Whole Brain Child is a good one. How did you like it?
I've read A LOT of parenting/child care books because I study child development in university.
The absolute BEST parenting books are (i included links):
The RIE Manual by Magda Gerber [link]
Elevating Childcare by Janet Lansbury [link] (All of the books by Gerber and Lansbury are really good!)
It's no Accident by Dr. Steve Hodges [link]
There really are dozens of great ones I could list, but those are my three favorites. If you want more, hit me up!!
This is the book my parents got my sister and me and I was exactly the same way as OP: fascinated and read it many times. Just another option:
The Period Book: A Girl's Guide to Growing Up https://www.amazon.com/dp/0802777368/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Yzt-ybXGX4B0J
Was it My Body, My Self?
Running Out Of Time
Update:
Thank you all for your suggestions!! I bought a few of the ones mentioned here as well as some others. I went a little overboard, but I figure I can space out the gifts for later in the year, and some are for her little brother too.
(She's French born, so I made sure to include some American artists in there too.)
Thank you /u/mariposamariposa, and /u/moration!
Edit: For the commenters saying I should just give her princess stuff if that's what she likes - I have and will continue to. This year I spent over 100 hours making her an Elsa from Frozen dress for her birthday. This should be proof enough that I encourage and share her enthusiasm. http://imgur.com/a/ga9DQ
Agreed - consent is so important to teach. If anyone is looking for a really good book for kids that teaches about consent and sexuality from a broader perspective than the male centric - penis in vagina male orgasms = sex, Sex is a Funny Word is an amazing book. Highly recommend!
I was given the old version of What's Happening to my Body Book for Girls. It is very long and very clinical and I read the SHIT out of that thing. I plan on giving my daughter an updated version. Some of the info on AIDS etc is outdated now so it wouldn't be right to give my copy to her, though I still own it.
Did you ever have that anatomy book that had the anatomy model that showed different organ systems as you turn the page? It’s very specific, so I’ll try and find a link!
Edit: link!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Everybody-Poos-Taro-Gomi/dp/1845072588/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=JH22PHHY7XPQCY97H39P
Mental health and addiction usually go hand in hand. There are no many who have an addiction who don't have a mental health challenge.
I have anxiety and my childhood was similar to what you are writing. I was a horribly anxious kid, and when I felt totally out-of-control that sometimes led to anger/frustration. I couldn't stay home alone, go to parks, or "scary" places even with a parent without freaking out. I did okay socially, but worried a lot about rejection and was never a social butterfly. That being said, I was ultimately really well behaved. I've never been formally diagnosed on the spectrum, but I definitely present with some mild sensory-related symptoms - likely related to the anxiety. I needed to learn how to effectively communicate worries and have a parent who listened without enabling. Self-awareness of emotions has been life changing.
While I don't think medication is a terrible thing, it should be a last resort. How is her diet? How is her sleep? Are you supplementing her diet at all - omega, magnesium (Natural Calm for Kids) and vitamin d can be helpful for anxiety? What coping mechanism is she practicing? How self-aware is she of the anxious feelings/emotions? How well does she communicate? How well do YOU communicate and work WITH her to solve "problems"?
Have you considered introducing her to a book-club or similar extracurricular to promote social exchange and keep her busy? The less-busy (and I don't mean relaxation time)I am, the more time anxious thoughts have to set in.
Since she loves reading, I suggest:
Remember she is also going through puberty, which is a particularly rough time for us clinically anxious folks. Hormones still make me go from mentally-healthy to mentally-ill for a couple days every month.