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8 Powerful Books for Kids That Build Emotional Self‑Regulation Skills
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Neurodivergent or not, learning strategies to regulate emotions are important and helpful for all kids. You might find the following books handy to have on your bookshelf! All of these books cleverly weave-in messages of self-regulation with many of them backed by evidence-based strategies 👏
Feelings - The Big, Heavy Kind
Written by Psychologist Kirsten Forgione| Illustrated by Anna Panchuk
…each page is an opportunity to build your little one’s “toolkit” for navigating the ups-and-downs of life 👉Follow Bam-Bam and Pep as they adventure around the world to learn about feelings — the big, heavy kind. With them, you’ll discover why we feel emotions like sadness, anger and worry, and ways to work through them. It’s filled with evidence-based strategies for building emotional intelligence and wellbeing and conversation-starters for sharing the experience together.
The Wally Wombat Series
Written by Sarah & Emily Authors | Illustrated by Kadri Kussler
The Wally Wombat series supports young children in understanding and managing anxiety through gentle, relatable storytelling. In Wally Wombat’s Anxiety Body Clues, children learn to identify physical signs of anxiety—like racing hearts, shaky hands, or butterflies in their tummy—helping them recognise when they’re feeling worried. Wally Wombat’s Anxiety Strategies builds on this by offering practical, evidence-based tools such as deep breathing, grounding techniques, and positive self-talk. Together, these books provide a supportive framework for emotional awareness and self-regulation.
Sarah and Emily Authors discuss their journey to publishing the Wally series, here.
My Brain is a Race Car
Written & Illustrated by Artist Nell Harris
A story to help understand a neurodivergent brain.
This book is an explanation of common traits in a neurodivergent brain. It gives examples of self regulation tools a child could use themselves to assist and work with / request the supports around them.
A note from the author:
“I envision my books be what I call ‘conversation openers’. My dream is that the book is read between adult and the child and then a chat about their individual selves and what can and could be done to manage, assist, and uplift”.
Feeling Balanced
Written by Clinical Psychologist Dr Brogan Cheese | Illustrated by Trevor McDonald
Feeling Balanced is aimed at both kids and parents, the books in this series help to name emotions and introduce simple nervous system tools for moving through big feelings, all within the covers of an engaging touch and feel book where you can explore animals, basic colours and different textures!
These tools are simply a fun and engaging introduction, these aren’t skills we expect small children to acquire, in fact they may be more helpful for us as parents. They are simply exposure to more helpful ways of approaching our big feelings.
When My Brain is Messy
Written by Tania Wieclaw | Illustrated by Rahul Chakraborty
Meet a little autistic dinosaur with a big heart and even bigger feelings. From the challenges of loud noises and bright lights to the need for deep pressure and moments of calm, this heartfelt story offers a gentle, relatable way to explore sensory and emotional needs. Written in simple, engaging rhyme and paired with vibrant illustrations, this book helps children:
- Recognise and express their sensory needs.
- Feel seen and validated in their emotions.
- Discover techniques for finding balance and regulation.
My Feelings are Waves
Written & Illustrated by Artist Nell Harris
This book gives two regulation strategies on how to move through the terrifying experience of RSD in kids terms (temporary distraction and processing). More importantly, this book is a conversation opener between reader and audience, to create a bond of understanding through emotion and a way to begin talking about what regulation strategies would work for YOU.
Gus Goes To Bed
Written by Louise & John Dennison| Illustrated by Suzi Devlin
A unique bedtime story which uses simple reflexology techniques for both parents and children to help calm and relax before bed. It follows the story of Gus, who struggles to fall asleep, but with the help of his nightly ‘Sleepy Time Routine’; manages to fall asleep, and stay asleep, much more easily. This book is suitable for all children but especially beneficial for those with ADHD and Autism. A light-hearted, fun story which will appeal to children and parents alike.
Finding Toby's Smile
Written by Krystal Wade| Illustrated by Janet Turner
Finding Toby’s Smile is a gentle, rhyming picture book for children aged 4–10 that helps kids understand and express their feelings. In this story Toby often hides his true emotions behind a smile, but inside, he feels different. His feelings come to life through Echo, a friendly creature that shows what’s really going on inside. With calming illustrations and simple language, this story encourages children to talk to family, friends, or teachers when they’re feeling down. It offers easy strategies to let go of sad thoughts and find their smile again.
To learn more about the author Krystal Wade – check out her featured article on The Indie Author Diaries.
Mandy Goes Walkabout - a lesson in grounding
Written & Illustrated by Rowena Morgan
Explore Austral Island on a Walkabout.
Join Mandy Quokka on a walk as she navigates through her fears and anxiety, learning to cope along the way.
Focus for Grounding:
5 things you can see.
4 things you can feel.
3 things you can hear.
2 things you can smell.
1 thing you can taste.
Article by Birchy’s Books
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Books to help kids regulate their emotions
Learning self-regulation is an important life-skill that children can continue to build on throughout their lives, helping them to build resilience.
The following picture books help kids do exactly that! Picture books that teach kids how to regulate their emotions are becoming increasingly popular with many parents finding that reading books that feature such strategies useful for their kids with neurodivergent diagnoses such as ADHD.
The Indie Author Diaries
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