In the early years of primary education, there is a healthy emphasis on circle time discussion that allows children to talk about their feelings openly. One of the most effective and long-standing strategies to talk about difficult emotional issues such as anxiety and loneliness has been to use stories.

Picture books in particular offer an excellent opportunity for teachers to open up discussions about sensitive topics in a safe environment and there are many authors who look at such issues. Some of the books worth seeking out include The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan, a story about fitting in; Small Things by Mel Tregonning, on finding your way in the world; and The Colour Thief by Andrew Fusek Peters and Polly Peters, in which a young boy explores the effects of his father’s depression on the family. However, one of our personal favourites, and an author we would argue is the master of the craft, is former children’s laureate Anthony Browne.

A well-established classroom favourite, his books are short, funny and fantastical, but they are also a good starting point for talking about feelings such as anxiety, loneliness, jealousy, neglect, depression, friendship, belonging and self-image. His characters, often in the form of gorillas, provide models for children to project their feelings on to and discuss the strategies they use to cope with difficult situations. The pared-down text is ideal for younger readers and allows older readers breathing space and enough ambiguity to explore possibilities through discussion or role-play.

Here are our recommendations for how you can use picture books to get your class talking, using Anthony Browne as an example.

Voices in the Park

A visit to the park is seen through the eyes of a boy and girl, Charles and Smudge, and both their parents. The style of illustrations exposes how each person’s experience of the trip differs and brings to the surface their feelings about themselves and those around them.

Voices in the Park is useful for exploring issues of loneliness. Charles, isolated by his overbearing mother, longs for a friend. He finds brief companionship in Smudge, a young girl.

Start exploring this book by discussing how the stylistic features – font, illustration, text size – reveal the characters’ feelings. How do we know that Charles is lonely? Discuss how he could talk about how he feels in relation to Smudge: what might she suggest that he do? Using role-play to bring their conversation to life could help get children talking about their own experiences.

Smudge has her own problems, chiefly supporting her father – possibly a single parent – who is struggling with low mood and unemployment. How might Charles be able to help her talk about this? How could the two children comfort each other?

Silly Billy

Billy is a little boy with worries. He lies in bed at night and he imagines all sort of terrible fates, from being carried off by giant birds to being washed away by a flood in his bedroom. He finds a solution via his grandma, who gives him a bag of worry dolls to help share the burden.

Ultimately, Billy learns that confiding your concerns to others – even if that is to a bag of Guatemalan worry dolls – is the best way to keep your worries in check. Considering Billy’s wild and wonderful worries is a funny way to get children to open up about the strange things that keep them awake. The way he confides in the dolls can encourage children to discuss who they have to confide in, what should be shared with others and how this can help us all manage our anxiety.

For older children, talking about how the painting on Billy’s wall, Wanderer Above a Sea of Fog by Casper David Friedrich, relates to his emotions might also be an interesting starting point. What other works of art could be on his wall to reflect different feelings?

Willy the Wimp

Willy doesn’t feel like he fits in. He doesn’t like football, he cries at romantic movies and he often wants to at home reading his books. In Willy the Wimp we see how he tries to improve his self-image, based on what he believes he should be. But this has consequences he couldn’t possibly have imagined.

Willy is a chimpanzee in a gorilla’s world. He is not as strong as the other boys and, with his different, non-macho interests, he is a bit lonely. Dissatisfied with his skinny appearance, he decides to change himself to what he perceives as being normal – a big muscly gorilla. While changing to become more comfortable with yourself can certainly have benefits, asking where our ideas of normal come from is an interesting starting point for your discussion. What is normal? Who decides?

It is also worth considering how Willy’s personality begins to change as his body transforms. Does it change for the better? Does our appearance determine how we feel inside and how others judge us? Try bringing this to life through role-play, with skinny Willy talking to his muscly version from later in the story. How does his friend Millie feel about the new Willy? An interesting book to explore self-image and how to develop the confidence to be ourselves.

Dr Helen Hanna is a lecturer in education studies at Leeds Trinity University and Stefan Kucharczyk is a visiting lecturer at Leeds Trinity University and founder of ARTiculate Education.

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