Therapeutic Fairy Tales

Book excerpt: Therapeutic Fairy Tales are a series of short, modern tales, dedicated to supporting young children through challenging situations of life and loss, covering diverse themes such as family breakdown, untreatable illness, and parental depression. Each short story is brought to life by engaging, gentle and colourful illustrations, and can be used by professionals and caregivers to support children’s mental and emotional health. This set also includes the Storybook Manual, which offers practical and creative ideas on how to use illustrated storybooks therapeutically. Exercises have been designed to encourage children’s imagination and creativity, develop confidence and emotional literacy as well as deepen engagement and understanding of storybooks. Books in the series include: Storybook Manual: An introduction to working with storybooks therapeutically and creatively, The Storm: For children growing through parent’s separation, The Island: For children with a parent living with depression, The Night Crossing: A lullaby for children on life’s last journey, Designed to be used with children aged six and above, each story has an accompanying online resource, offering therapeutic prompts and creative exercises to support the practitioner. These resources can also be adapted for wider use with siblings and other family members.