Social Emotional Learning Books for Children

Editor’s note: This article draws on earlier material. Offers and resources can change; please check current availability. The discussion is educational and is not medical advice.

Social Emotional Intelligence Books For Children and children's well-being are important to parents, teachers and educators. SEL can be placed into 5 core competencies: self-management, self-awareness, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.

Social Emotional Learning Books for Children Are Important Today

Social and emotional intelligence is the ability to be aware of our own and others' feelings – in the moment – and use that information to lead yourself and others.  SEL is shaping kindness, friendships, feelings and emotions.  In this SEL article, I interview Lori Vasquez. Lori has over a decade of nursing experience, including emergency psychiatry and crisis care.

What is SEL - Social Emotional Learning? My Interview with Lori Vasquez, Board Certified and Licensed Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner:

In this interview, Lisa Caprelli talks with psychiatric mental-health nurse practitioner Lori Vasquez about social-emotional learning.

Social-emotional learning in the early years

In this video, described by its publisher as featuring early childhood teacher Victoria Strugatsky, the discussion emphasizes helping young children learn about respect, acceptance and boundaries. It also discusses recognizing feelings, sharing and using words when something goes wrong.

Lisa Caprelli in Alabama with a Unicorn Jazz friend!

9 Social Emotional Learning Skills Unicorn Jazz teaches with children:

1. Giving Back. We will share why it's important to give back.
2. Acceptance.  Encouraging children to accept themselves and others can open conversations about fairness and a kinder community.
3. Sharing, giving back, kindness.
4. Compassion.  Helping children understand what others are feeling, the impact of their own actions and the reasons behind why someone might feel a certain way is a valuable life skill for children because it: Encourages kindness, patience, acceptance and tolerance of the self and others. Having compassion cultivates a better understanding of others.
5. Empathy; to love one another.  Empathy is important because it can help build connection, regulate emotion, and promote helping behaviors. For kids, practicing empathy can support friendships and caring conversations; preventing bullying also requires a broader, ongoing community effort.
6. Friendship; helping and taking care of each other.
7. Everyone is different; everyone is unique.
8. Everyone deserves the same kind of love  
9. Respect. Even though others may not look the same as you do, we need to respect their needs, culture, and differences.  Receiving respect from others is important because it helps us to feel safe and to express ourselves.

Explore the SEL Social Emotional Learning educator's packet on Teachers Pay Teachers.

By discovering with research and studying human behavior, it is essential that we help children to grow up to develop confidence, boldness, and self-acceptance. 

I wrote social emotional learning books because I wish I had these kind of stories when I was in elementary school. Because I grew up by a single mom raising a family of six, and with poor communication, we had challenging times. Book like this would have helped me to understand my world around me and how to adapt to feelings and emotions at school and at home. ~Children's author, Lisa Caprelli

Explore Unicorn Jazz educator resources Find classroom activities and social-emotional learning resources. I am an inquisitive mind by nature.  Being the shy, introverted girl that people find hard to believe, I have grown up believing the way we communicate at an early age is important and can have a lifelong impact. Lisa has heard from school librarians, counselors, principals and educators interested in books that include social-emotional learning lessons.

Social Emotional Learning Books for children are an important part of Unicorn Jazz's stories and messages. SEL can be places into five core competencies: self-management, self-awareness, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision making 

Children's unicorn books by Author Lisa Caprelli. My generation didn't grow up with stories or social emotional learning books for children.  I made it a point to study human behavior my whole life.  I believe that there is transition thanks to innovative minds, thinkers and doers in the world. It makes me happy that the books I write do share messages woven through entertainment.  It is comforting to know that a story and/or song can convey kindness and the power of believing in others.   By THE THING I DO show writer and children's author,  Lisa Caprelli Sharing with children how words matter is very important to me.  I have been doing virtual author visits and developing meaningful relationships on the subject of social emotional learning books for children, WHAT IS SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING SO YOU CAN RECOGNIZE IT?

Social-emotional learning offers ways to practice skills that support relationships, communication and learning. A 2023 review of school-based SEL programs found improvements across several student outcomes compared with control groups, though results varied by program and context. The skills often discussed include:

• understand and manage emotions
• set and achieve positive goals
• feel and show empathy for others
• establish and maintain positive relationships, and
• make responsible decisions.

Caprelli reading Bee-ing Happy to first graders

The “Social Emotional Learning“ is the art of teaching children on how to apply the relevant attitude and expertise in managing of their feelings. The program can be combined in the school program or it can be taught on online school programs.  It can also be taught at home and consists of the following categories: Self Awareness Self-awareness can help children notice and name feelings and consider how those feelings relate to their actions. Children develop these skills over time and may still need support during difficult moments. Self-Management Self-management involves practicing ways to respond to feelings and challenges. Depending on the child and situation, activities such as singing or reading can offer opportunities to pause and reflect.

Relationship Skills Relationship skills can help children practice listening, communicating and working through disagreements. Even with support and practice, conflicts can still arise. Social Awareness Social awareness includes noticing that people have different experiences and perspectives. Children can practice empathy and consider how to support others.   Decision Making Responsible decision-making gives children opportunities to consider choices and their possible effects on themselves and others. Adults can help children reflect and learn from mistakes. Explore more books and resources about social-emotional learning, and contact Unicorn Jazz with questions.

An image from the original article about Unicorn Jazz Presents: The Thing I Do.

“We just read your book, Unicorn Jazz, as our morning read and may I say how much my daughter loves it. It has three of our favorite things: (1) Message: Loving the skin you're in.  We are all different and unique and are supposed to be that way. (2)  Music: we are both terrible singers but love to sing our hearts out even when we don’t know the words and  (3) Animals: KayLynne is crazy about animals.  

Overall, the message of Unicorn Jazz is close to my heart because I truly believe that once I made the decision and owned that, “I too, have something to say, and that is why I am a writer.  I use my voice through books to let everyone know:

“You are more than enough, you were born complete, you are uniquely made and therefore you are beautiful.”  Thanks for writing such a beautiful story. -Karlene Froling, Children's book author, KaysHeart.com As parents, when we tell our kids to always be smart, we don’t just mean that they should pay attention and get good grades in school – that’s only one part of the message. What we really mean is that our children should think with their hearts just as much as their minds. Or in other words, it’s not what we think that matters, it’s how we feel about it too that’s just as important. However, being able to teach our kids the subtle difference between thinking with your head and thinking with your feelings is a whole other matter. Luckily, that’s where introducing our kids to the value of social-emotional intelligence comes into play.

Practicing social and emotional skills

Children can practice recognizing emotions, communicating, and building relationships in different ways and at different paces. Books, conversations, play, and supportive relationships can offer opportunities to discuss feelings and choices. A 2023 review of school-based SEL interventions reported average improvements across several measured outcomes, while noting that results varied with the program, setting, and implementation. These findings do not guarantee a particular outcome for an individual child or show that a particular book or activity has the same effects.

Further reading

• Research review of school-based social-emotional learning interventions
• CDC: connecting and communicating with young children
• CDC: healthy child development