Books for Building Self-Esteem & Self-Confidence

Sep 02, 2022

In a world filled with unrealistic expectations and super heroes around every corner, it can be difficult to find ways to support our children with building self-esteem and confidence. 

 

What’s My Super Power by Aviaq Johnston and Illustrated by Tim Mack

This book is amazing for helping your child find their unique Superpower! A story about a girl named Nalvana who goes on quest through everyday adventures to discover her superpower. Everyday she discovers things for her friends and peers, but doesn’t find one for herself. She starts to feel really defeated, sharing with her mom that she doesn’t think she’ll ever find her superpower. Her mom points out that an amazing quality about her is her ability to make others feel good about themselves and point out their superpowers. Through this Nalvana discovers her superpower is a quality, not a skill.

It’s so important to help children find their unique qualities, their superpower.

Another amazing element of this book is how it gives you the ability to talk a bit about Indigenous culture. Set in Nunavut, the author weaves into the story several elements that make amazing talking points for different experiences, but also how all children are connected. All children are seeking to understand themselves better and find their inner superpower.

 

BE YOU! By Peter Reynolds

A beautiful book with limited text and a big impact. Be You is about embracing your authentic self and doing things that build your identity, self-esteem and confidence. Each page is a theme making great talking points for building conversations about your child’s authentic self. Peter Reynolds is truly a master of creating books that build skills of social emotional well-being.

Note: something I teach in my program. When we are using books for building skills and having conversations, tackle one or two topics per sitting. The goal is to engage with the book versus turning the book into a lecture. It can be so tempting to explore big conversations on every page, especially with this book, but that will take the magic out of the reading experience.

 

I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont and Illustrated by David Catrow

A whimsical story about embracing all elements of yourself. It goes through the importance of accepting your physical self as well as your personality. No matter what others think or say, it’s important to believe in yourself to stand up for yourself and be your authentic self.

 

I Am Enough by Grace Byers and Illustrated by Keutrah A. Bobo

A story about authenticity, diversity, kindness and respect. This book is such an amazing way to build conversations about embracing your unique elements and believing in yourself. That it’s okay to stand out and be different and it’s important to support others in their uniqueness as well. Sometimes we get along and sometimes we disagree but no matter what, we all belong. 

 

I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes and Gordon C James

This is a story about embracing your authentic self. Standing out for who you are and being accepted. The idea that all children are good and the importance of focussing on that. Potential is within us all and when we seek to highlight these things in children, this will help them to see what makes them amazing.

A complimentary story to I Am Enough, this book is about celebrating diversity and inclusion by highlighting the importance of having conversations that lift children up. It’s an important book for taking an Anti-Racist approach to building self-confidence and self-esteem. This book sets the stage for having conversations about Black experiences and culture and highlighting how all children deserve to be treated with respect and find their inner-goodness. Just like What’s My Superpower sets the stage for building empathetic conversations, this book highlights that one of the things that connects children is that they are all worthy of love!

 

The Barnabus Project by the Fan Brothers

A story about the importance of imperfection, of embracing your unique qualities and finding others to support you in the journey. In a world focussed on perfection and being like others, this books focusses on building your authentic self and believing in yourself. When you believe in yourself you will find others and together you can form a community. You don’t have to be like others to fit in or find your community, you need to be yourself.

There are other story lines you can tackle with this book that I will highlight in a future blog. Like the meaning and impact of failure and determination.

 

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