Nonna's Reading Guide to the Heart of Winter

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

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Hope-filled Books

January and February are dark months in the Northern Hemisphere - colder, wetter, shorter days. Add to normal winter weather the crazy snow and rain storms bombarding North America and you've got a solid recipe for sadness and depression. As parents and grandparents, we are responsible for helping our kiddos develop resilience in the face of difficult circumstances.

And I am a firm believer that one of the best ways to do this is to share hope- and love- filled books with our children, regardless of their age.

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The February Stories Matter books have been selected to help you build the habits of resilience with your children:

Five Resilience-Building Habits for Children
Give Your Feelings Room
Be Kind to Yourself & Others
Think & Breathe
Cultivate Joy
Transform the Story

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Here a just a few of the best of the best hope-filled books to get us through the Heart of Winter - and to help our kiddos develop their resilience muscles! 

A live link to a book's full review is connected to the books cover.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu tell a simple story of two young boys finding joy in hard times and how important it is to share joy when possible. This is a very sweet, gentle story which, when read often, will prompt quiet, thoughtful conversations with your child. If you share only one book with your child this year, I hope it will be this one.

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A change like moving can be quite difficult for our dearest little people. Our kiddos are going to have some very big feelings  - anger, anxiety, fear - when there are significant changes in their lives and it's our job to help them with these emotions. Musser's book is perfect for the job of sharing with our little ones that everyone can have a hard time adjusting to something new.

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In addition to the stunning illustrations and lyrical text, I added Hope is An Arrow to this month's curated titles specifically because it tells the story of a young boy who is forced to transform his story more than once as he grows up. 
Gibran Kahlil Gibran or Kahlil Gibran? Or both?  Our name matters, especially as we navigate our identity.

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Poetry is the literary language of resilience and what better month than February to learn about poets who have changed our world - not with just their words, but with the resilience those words embody. Sharing poetry with your child is a simple practice in understanding how someone else has transformed their own story.

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I love this book because of the historical context surrounding the first and second editions of the book! The original publishing date for Will It Be Okay? was 1977. And the problems we faced 45 years ago were not much different than today's challenges. Our children are not usually looking for logical answers to their fears, but reassurance that we understand and will face it with them.

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Our heart's response to the truth in poetry is powerful. I love picture book illustrations of poetry, especially when the artist understands and has the skill to depict the heart's response to the truth behind the facade. This is one of those books - perfect.

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The best way to cultivate our children's joy is to build deep, strong loving bonds with them. Still This Love Goes On is an inspiration to think about the people and the places we love - when we do, joy goes on and on as well.

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Angelou's poem is a call, a reminder to be defiantly self-confident in the face of the day-to-day things like shadows on the wall or a new classroom. And Basquiat's art is just as defiantly vivid in depicting the things which scare us. (This might not be a good book for very little persons who still get nightmares....)

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Most of the books reviewed can be found at your public library or purchased through your local bookstore.
I am affiliate of Bookstore.org and will earn a commission if you click through the links and make a purchase from
the Stories Matter storefront.
But, really, VISIT YOUR LOCAL PUBLIC LIBRARY!  Thank you!