MLA 2019 - Using Children's Literature to Help Children of Trauma

The theme of “What if…?” at this year’s MLA conference inspired librarians to focus on the
possibilities of librarianship and ways we can improve our services to have a greater relationship
with our community. One program particularly made me consider our potential to facilitate healing
with our youngest customers.

In the program “What if…We used Children’s Literature to Help Children of Trauma Heal?” Dr.
Colleen Lelli outlined the needs of young children exposed to trauma and how we can use children’s
literature to create “bibliotherapy” opportunities for conversations and healing around  books. She
outlined the effects of acute (short term) or chronic (repeated) stress and how toxic stress can
manifest in children’s behavior. She explained that stress comes in different levels.

While mild/moderate stress can be motivating for a child, chronic or toxic stress quickly leads to trauma. She also explained that our understanding of trauma is constantly changing and affects something like 66% of the population, but our vocabulary for dealing with it is unfortunately limited. This is especially tragic for children affected by chronic/repeated stress, which can have the effect of
limiting children’s receptive and expressive vocabulary, leading to confusion and trouble with
problem solving. Dr. Lelli left me with many simple strategies I’m excited to implement when
working with our young customers.

Here are some of the simple strategies offered for helping children connect with texts:

• Since children of trauma are often unfocused readers, ask them questions of the text to keep them focused on subtler details. 
• Since they often act instead of plan, set goals for them to help with their task analysis and participation in classroom activities. 
• Practicing simple phrases like “Please focus on the directions I’m about to give,” cues these children to be prepared for the directions. Asking them to summarize directions once you’ve given them reinforces these connections.
• Create visual task cards to show each step of a task, and have children work in groups so that they can summarize together what they have heard. 
• To help with expressive language encouraging children to use graphic organizers to keep track of ideas they are interested in writing or talking about.  Encourage them to practice talking about areas of personal interest for 2-3 minutes at a time. 
• Provide children with verbal prompts to solve problems and resolve conflicts with peers.
• Try exercises like cutting up a comic strip and asking them to put it in the correct sequence can encourage critical thinking. 

Matthew Hickey
Children's Dept. CEN

Further reading:
https://goo.gl/tYicwz - Books to Teach Grit and Resilience
https://tinyurl.com/y5jy5xb8 - Books in which Children Witness Violence or Trauma