Our Top 6 Play Therapist Recommendations for Therapeutic Storybooks

When words fail, stories step in. Imagine your child sitting quietly on the floor after a long day at school. You can tell something is bothering them, but when you ask what’s wrong, they shrug or say nothing. For many children, big emotions live inside them like mysteries they cannot explain.

In the playroom, we often turn to stories to help children navigate complex emotions. But finding books that move beyond simple lessons on "managing feelings" to truly foster self-compassion and acceptance can be a surprising challenge. During a recent hunt to expand our library, we found that many of the powerful stories we use every day were missing from common recommendation lists. It highlighted a need to share our team's most loved and effective resources for true bibliotherapy.

Bibliotherapy is the therapeutic use of books and storytelling. It's commonly used by creative arts and play therapists to help clients connect the story's content to their own lived experiences.

A psychotherapist chooses stories that speak to the client's emotions or reflect their experiences. These stories serve as a launching pad for exploration and offer a normalizing effect, reducing the isolation that often comes with difficult emotions. For children, an even more powerful option is to co-write a story specifically about their experience, a key intervention taught in registered play therapist training.

How Are These Books Chosen?

The Allius Team is deeply rooted in a self-compassion framework. It's crucial to distinguish our approach from social-emotional learning used in schools. Unlike stories that aim to "teach," a therapeutic story has no didactic goal.

Our favorites invite the child to be curious about their emotional parts and to accept what they and others cannot. These are often emotions that have attracted criticism or harm. We know that all emotional parts exist for a GOOD reason, even when they are inconvenient.

The stories we choose are not about helping kids to “manage,” “self-regulate,” or learn better self-control. They are chosen to help children understand themselves better—to see that they are not alone in their struggles. We use these books to show children: we SEE them and accept them with all their parts, exactly as they are.

The Recommendations

When Sadness is at Your Door by Eva Eland

This story features a child visited by Sadness. The child is invited to make friends with this emotion, sitting quietly with it, sipping hot chocolate, drawing, and going for walks together. The child learns what Sadness needs by providing it with space and time.

Why we love it: It’s perfect for children experiencing loss, sadness, or depression. Its sensitive, short phrasing sends a clear message that sadness is a normal human experience. It remains hopeful, suggesting that with care and time, sadness, like all emotions, will change.

Recommended by Julia Kavanagh, Registered Social Worker 

Holdin Pott by Chandra Ghosh Ippen, illustrated by Erich Ippen Jr.

Holdin Pott believes the best strategy is to keep negative feelings inside. Little Pott tries to follow this advice, even when bullied, but eventually explodes from carrying too much pain. Holdin Pott responds not with anger, but with compassion, coming alongside Little Pott with caring messages.

Why we love it: This book is ideal for a child who bottles up feelings, is reluctant to share, or feels shame about angry outbursts. Its compassionate messaging towards difficult emotions is radically different from most books on bullying and anger.

Recommended by Michelle Mills, Registered Clinical Counsellor

The Invisible String by Patrice Karst, illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff

Twins, afraid of a storm, are comforted by their mother. She explains that everyone who loves each other is connected by an invisible string through their hearts—a connection they can feel even when apart.

Why we love it: This book beautifully supports children experiencing relational loss, school anxiety, or separation anxiety. Our therapists frequently use it to help children from separated families adjust to changing homes and missing a parent.

Recommended by Amy Visser, Registered Clinical Counsellor

You’ve Got Dragons by Kathryn Cave, illustrated by Nick Maland

Dragons—symptoms of anxiety, panic, and worry—show up uninvited. The story validates the frustration and exhaustion of trying to ignore them, explaining that pretending they aren’t there only makes them worse.

Why we love it: It suggests paying attention to anxiety rather than avoiding it. It brilliantly lends itself to conversations about a client’s unique anxiety and inspires art projects to externalize and "draw the dragon," creating much-needed distance.

Recommended by Rita Rodriguez, Counselling Intern (BSc Psychology, MSc Neuroscience)

My New Best Friend by Sara Marlowe, illustrated by Ivette Salom

A character talks about a new friend she’s known her whole life—a friend who offers comfort in fun and sad times. This friend is herself. The story invites readers to break free from self-bullying and treat themselves with the same compassion they offer others.

Why we love it: For children with low self-esteem and self-doubt, this book is a powerful tool. It directly challenges our biological tendency to be self-critical and supports almost every child we see in learning to like themselves.

Recommended by Chaowen Yuan, Registered Clinical Counsellor

Steps and Stones: An Anh’s Anger Story by Gail Silver, illustrated by Christiane Kromer

After being ridiculed at school, Anh’s anger appears to keep him company. He and his "anger" take a walk, using steps and breaths to wind down until the angry creature shrinks away. Anh then finds a peaceful solution with a classmate.

Why we love it: It helps children understand strong reactions and supports a mindful strategy to process difficult emotions. It expertly personifies anger, allowing clients to externalize and understand how their own anger works.

Recommended by Lurline Ketler-Raposo, Clinical Director, Registered Play Therapist Supervisor

In conclusion, these six storybooks are more than just reading material; they are vital therapeutic tools that align with a compassionate, acceptance-based framework. Each one expertly externalizes difficult emotions, normalizes a child's inner experience, and opens a door for deeper therapeutic exploration without judgment or a demand for change. By moving beyond the goal of mere "self-regulation," these stories help children feel seen, understood, and less alone in their struggles. We hope this list expands your bibliotherapy toolkit and inspires powerful conversations in your playroom. We’d love to hear your thoughts—what are your go-to therapeutic storybooks? 

This blog is original content written by Lurline Ketler-Raposo, she is a registered clinical counsellor on Vancouver Island, British Columbia where she is the owner and Clinical Director for Allius Services Counselling. Lurline has been a child psychotherapist for eighteen years and has worked with hundreds of children and families over her career as a registered play therapist and a registered play therapist supervisor.