Talking with Your Kids About Complicated Issues

How do we get our children ready for conversations about difficult or even painful topics? Books can help make it easier to approach these tricky subjects with kids. Vibrant, exciting stories can help them understand what’s going on in their own lives and help develop empathy for the struggles of others. We’ve put together a list of helpful and engaging books by BC publishers to help the kids in your life understand the complicated world around them. You can feel confident and prepared to help them through these conversations by reading up on the best techniques beforehand, or by reading together with the children in your life.

When it’s time to talk about…

Separation and Divorce

Part of the Just Enough series, Why do Families Change? by child psychologist Dr. Jillian Roberts (Orca Book Publishers) helps guide children through separation or divorce. Often, young children blame themselves or are unsure of their place in the family if these events occur. Accompanied by illustrations from Cindy Revell, this book will help parents and caregivers lead children through the family’s transition.

Other books in the Just Enough series address topics including birth, death, trauma and diversity.

Climate Change

Learn how to make climate change more understandable in Harriet Shugarman’s How to Talk to Your Kids about Climate Change (New Society Publishers). The book provides tools and strategies to explain the climate emergency to young children, while reminding them to stay hopeful for a more positive future and teaching them that their actions can make a meaningful difference.

In If A Tree Falls: The Global Impact of Deforestation (Orca Book Publishers), Nikki Tate showcases forest practices throughout history, the growth of industry and the fight for preservation. Global deforestation is an issue that affects everyone. Children can learn more about the issue and find out how to make a difference, protect forests, and help keep them healthy for future generations.

Racism, Prejudice and Hate

Marcus Youssef’s The In-Between (Talonbooks) shines a light on complicated issues children begin to encounter as they enter their teenaged and young-adult years. In the play, Lily, who was adopted as a baby by white parents who found her in an orphanage in Vietnam, finds herself in the middle of a major conflict when her best friend begins hanging out with a group of older students who have radical opinions about race and immigration. The play is set in a school facing the challenges of social inequality that students come face-to-face with as they grow up.

Gender, Sexuality and Self-Expression

Ari doesn’t like to go by their birth name Edward. Hasan Namir’s moving picture book, accompanied by illustrations from Cathryn John, follows Ari’s journey from childhood to adolescence as they find self-expression and self-acceptance. The Name I Call Myself (Arsenal Pulp Press) is a touching story of Ari’s gender journey, perfect to help young children understand a complicated issue.

Illness and aging

Caring for a sick loved-one can take an emotional toll on a family, and helping the children in your life understand the illness affecting their loved-ones can seem like an impossibly difficult task. Sunita Pal’s Cancer is A C Word (Rebel Mountain Press) helps parents and caregivers explain the difficult reality of illness to children without creating more fear and sadness by focusing instead on the other “C words” linked to Cancer, such as Caring, Community, Cuddling, and Companionship. The story is accompanied by beautiful illustrations from Cody Andreasen.

Set in Vancouver and Granville Island, Bonnie Sherr Klein’s Beep Beep Bubbie (Tradewind Books), teaches children to understand the changes that take place with a family member’s age. Kate is upset when grandma (Bubbie) gets a motorized scooter. Will Bubbie still be herself in that scooter? Kate learns to accept the scooter after she sees how helpful it is to Bubbie. With stunning illustrations from Élisabeth Eudes-Pascal, Beep Beep Bubbie will help kids come to terms with changes in their family that come with age.