teaching problem solving through children's literature

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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Libraries Unlimited; Illustrated edition (28 Jan. 2003)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 209 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1563089815
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1563089817
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 7 - 17 years
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 21.59 x 1.12 x 27.94 cm
• 8,433 in Classroom Planning

About the author

James w. forgan.

James (Jim) Forgan, Ph.D. is a tenured special education professor at a state university and a school psychologist.

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• v.10(1); 2020

Children’s literature to promote students’ global development and wellbeing

Manuela pulimeno.

1 PhD Candidate in Human Relations Sciences, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy

2 UNESCO Chair on Health Education and Sustainable Development, Federico II University, Naples, Italy

Prisco Piscitelli

Salvatore colazzo.

3 Department of History, Society and Human Studies, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy

Background: Tales were transmitted from one generation to another, enriching young people with values, beliefs, imagination and creativity. Children’s literature still plays a crucial part in education as it provides knowledge and entertainment, representing a typical example of "edutainment". In this paper, we carried out a review to examine pedagogic, didactic and psychological/therapeutic dimensions of children’s literature, with the aim of highlighting its role in promoting students’ holistic development and wellbeing.

Methods: We have searched for original articles (from 1960s to 2019), by using the following keywords: "fairytales" or "fairy tales" or "folktales" or "fables" AND "education" or"development" or "learning" or "teaching" or "school" or "curriculum" or "classroom" AND "children" or "child" or "kids" or "childhood" AND "health" or "wellbeing".

Results: We found 17 studies concerning pedagogic aspect of children literature, while 21 and17 studies were selected for didactic and therapeutic dimensions, respectively. From a pedagogic point of view, tales convey basic values useful for children lives. In a didactic perspective, properly chosen storybooks represent a valuable resource for school activities, improving students’ language skills and building up a friendly/respectful classroom environment. Children stories are also used by health professionals for therapeutic purposes (bibliotherapy) to prevent unhealthy habits and addictions, or address psychosomatic disorders. Finally, storybooks and web-based/digital stories can be an effective vehicle for health contents, to encourage the adoption of healthy lifestyles among schoolchildren.

Conclusion: Children’s literature and storytelling could be helpful in promoting students’ global development and wellbeing, when included in school curricular activities.

Introduction

Myths, fables and fairytales – originally founded on oral tradition – allowed adults to communicate with young people in an uninterrupted process until nowadays. 1 Tales have been told everywhere and in every time to educate, entertain and increase individuals’ awareness about moral principles and customs, thus representing an important part of traditional heritage as well as a way to reinforce tolerance and mutual knowledge among different populations. 2

Reading or listening to tales can be considered significant community practices, capable to impact on young generations, empowering and preparing them for the future. 3 Since culture is crucial for learning, stories have a fundamental part in shaping individual’s role in the society, becoming a helpful resource from didactic, psychological/therapeutic and pedagogic perspectives. 4

From a didactic point of view, storybooks can provide children with new information about the world, enrich vocabulary and enhance specific language skills (in the classroom or at home), nurturing communication between the storyteller (teacher, parent or other professional staff) and the listeners. 5 , 6

It is known that stories – by reproducing fictional situations that match with children’s real problems – allow them to feel comfortable and safe in difficult circumstances, ensuring emotional security and providing healthier ways to deal with internal struggles, life adversities and stressors. 7 Story-tales compensate what young people may lack, by presenting them positive patterns of behaviours and constructive models through the characters they could identify with. 8

Storybooks (or digital tales) are easier to understand for all children compared to abstract notions or theories, and might become special instruments for mapping the reality and conveying health contents, especially to the most vulnerable groups. 9 , 10

As suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO), health literacy should be incorporated in school curricula, in the context of a health-promoting classroom environment, in order to provide new generations with useful knowledge about healthy lifestyles. 11 - 13 Actually, school represents the ideal setting to perform health-related interventions and positively influence students’ wellbeing as well as their academic achievements. 14 - 16 The final goal is to involve young generations in practical actions about healthy habits (i.e. balanced nutrition and physical exercise) and prevention of risky behaviours (such as cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, drug use) through a personal re-elaboration of health knowledge.In our previous systematic review, we have provided evidence for taking into account narrative-based strategies among the possible highly motivating approaches to encourage schoolchildren in adopting healthy eating habits since childhood. 17 , 18 More broadly, in this paper we explored the rationale for using children’s literature and storytelling in school setting to promote students’ global development and wellbeing.

Material and Methods

A narrative review has been carried out in order to analyze the pedagogic, didactic and psychological/therapeutic dimensions of children’s literature, highlighting the potential of narrative-based strategies in fostering students’ global development and wellbeing. Starting from January 2019, over a five-month period in the context of PhD in Human Relations Science of Bari University (Italy), we have searched on Web of Science for original articles and books, published from 1960s to 2019, by using the following keywords: “fairytales” or “fairy tales” or “folktales” or “fables” AND “education” or “development” or “learning” or “teaching” or “school” or “curriculum” or “classroom” AND “children” or “child” or “kids” or “childhood” AND “health” or “wellbeing”. We summarized definitions of health, presenting “wellbeing” (in its three dimensions of physical, emotional/mental and social health) as the main goal of every educational practice, and school system as the ideal setting to display health-related interventions. We also used citation tracking to detect other papers concerning children literature and narrative-based strategies (from oral storytelling to printed books and digital resources) as effective operational tool for conveying health contents to promote global development and wellbeing in school setting, along with the prevention of risky behaviours. Finally, we have provided brief definitions of children’s literature, presenting some historical insights about its pedagogic or didactic use, and psychological/therapeutic applications (bibliotherapy and narrative medicine).

Children’s literature is broadly defined as any creative literary work that has been especially written and designed for children’s use. 19 Only in the 18th century, with the evolving of the concept of childhood, a separate genre of children’s literature was created. 20 Modern children’s literature comprises short fairytales and fables, picture books, comics, cartoons, novels, nursery rhymes that can be potentially appreciated by most children. 21 In our search, we selected 17 studies concerning pedagogic dimension of children literature, 20 , 22 - 37 while 21 and 17 studies were chosen as addressing didactic 1 , 5 , 38 - 56 and therapeutic dimensions, 6 , 7 , 57 - 71 respectively ( Table 1 ).

Children’s literature as narrative tool in education: pedagogic dimension

The crisis we are facing is not only economic and financial, but also political, cultural and ethical, generating anxiety and fear due to the perception of a precarious existence in the context of a growing individualism and insensitivity to other people’s difficulties. Moreover, our society measures everything in terms of monetary value, giving priority to scientific/technological knowledge and decreasing the relevance of human sciences, which have nurtured the traditional humus of citizenship education. 72

Despite educational system is dealing worldwide with several challenges, school still represents the ideal setting to display interventions aimed at promoting students’ holistic development. Beyond its specific commitment, it is essential to build up healthy, respectful and satisfied citizens: the future adults capable to take care about themselves, the others and the environment. 24 , 73

In the globalization era, characterized by deep socio-economic changes and collapse of the traditional social tissue (i.e. new forms of poverty, increase of inequalities, family mobility etc.), the cultural heritage of folktales – easily available both for parental and teachers’ use – could represent a helpful tool for promoting individual personal growth, social cohesion and sustainable development. 2

Tales were told and are still told in every society and in many different settings to share experiences, customs, norms, and values, providing the listeners with entertainment and new knowledge. 25 In the “culturalistic” perspective, children’s stories belong to a specific cultural niche that could help young people to move into the life, allowing them to understand who they are as human beings and how they can contribute to the progress of the world. 26

Children’s literature continues to be a significant opportunity of presenting moral principles in an enjoyable and engaging way 27 and it is growing fast along with the aim to entertain, educate and provide new knowledge (in line with the new concept of “edutainment”), being able to integrate fun and adventure demanded by children (simulating the activity of free play) with the adults’ objective of offering them a set of moral examples. 20 , 28

A big part of children’s literature is represented by fairytales, which have the final goal of transmitting the basic universal values, and raising children’s awareness on many aspects of the life. 29 That’s why, even before printing press was invented, fairytales have been used by parents to transmit culturally appropriate moral norms to their children from an early age, equipping them with information, attitudes, and skills that could act as a kind of “vaccination” against all kind of threats to individual or collective health. 30

The most famous example fulfilling these criteria can be found in “Pinocchio”, written by Carlo Lorenzini (Collodi) to make children aware about the consequences of adopting wrong behaviours. 31 , 32 Similarly, in Germany, the Grimm Brothers presented noble values and positive models in their amazing adventures, helping children to understand what is good and what is bad. 33

Tales are very interesting for children because they show real aspects of family and community life, reinforcing the relations with the parents and highlighting ethical values related to social life. 34 , 35 Through implicit meanings embodied in the stories, children indirectly acquire pedagogical messages, able to influence their global personality and stimulate a social sense of duty. 27

Children’s stories are the place of endless possibilities, so that young people can open their mind to wide horizons, generate new viewpoints, find possible alternatives or solutions to problems, cultivating their points of strengths such as self-confidence and resilience. 36

The role and importance of children’s books have changed in modern society, but even today, children’s literature (including movies and digital resources) influences our daily lives and contributes to the development of young people in a number of ways, ranging from the transmission of values to didactic purposes. The presence of digital technology represents a challenge but also an opportunity for traditional fairytales’ or fables’ existence. Digital storytelling (the combination of the art of telling stories with a variety of multimedia tools) is a helpful instrument to generate more appealing and stimulating learning experiences. 37

Actually, printed publications tend to be expensive, while the Internet-based resources are a cheap alternative (usually available online for free), and might raise children’s interest towards books in many different ways. Combining narrative possibilities and technological potentials can be more powerful in terms of access to information, sharing of work, differentiated and motivated learning models. However, there is a fundamental distinction (at least in terms of establishing good relationships with educators) between watching a fairy tale on monitors (static and passive approach or even by computer-based interactive mode) and listening to a live re-telling of it. 22 , 23 , 74

Didactic dimension of children’s literature

The didactic intention of narrative works was discovered on clay tablets in Sumerian and Babylonian texts, dated back many centuries before Aesop’s fables (successively put into Latin verses by Phaedrus). Myths initially transmitted orally became well-known throughout the Mediterranean area thanks to Greek manuscripts of Alexandrian scribes, who used them in their daily education activities. Also philosophers (i.e. Plato) introduced myths and fables in their academic lessons with students and disciples: the rules of grammar and style were learned through the stories, encouraging young scholars to create new ones. Fables of Aesop were considered as useful didactic means also in medieval schools to teach Latin and rhetoric. 1

Even today, children’s literature – as integral part of primary school curriculum – could be a significant experience in the lives of children, with fables and fairytales being used as motivating teaching tools in both humanistic and scientific disciplines. 38 - 40 Educators are aware that all creative and artistic activities, including literature – while entertaining listeners or readers – can play a fundamental role in improving students’ knowledge, but also in the acquisition of daily life skills, useful to cope with any problematic situations. 41

Childhood is a crucial stage for language development, 75 so it is important to make it a pleasing experience: reading or listening to stories could be a joyful way for language training, able to overcome all the possible learning barriers. 42 - 44 Thanks to the recurring narrative passages intrinsic in the fairy tales’ or fables, child is able to deal with some complicated concepts or patterns, which require more repetitions to be better interiorized. That’s why tales are a valuable resource in teaching foreign languages and improving language skills (writing, reading, speaking and listening). 45 The use of narrative in teaching foreign languages has been found to lower the level of anxiety, allowing students to take risks in the language classes, thanks to the familiarity with stories and the relaxing learning environment generated by storytelling. Therefore, telling or reading stories is a successful strategy to acquire grammar structures, syntax, new vocabulary, increasing oral/written competences, and therefore the ability to communicate effectively and successfully. 46

By reading or listening to stories, students enhance their verbal proficiency and learn to accurately express their thoughts and feelings in everyday relations, making practice of peace-making skills (i.e. negotiation and discussion). 47

Learning from stories can stimulate and offer promising insights in other areas of children’s cognitive development such as problem-solving and reasoning skills. 48 Educators should awaken children’s interest towards reading and, at the same time, encourage them to use imagination, finding themselves inside the story; once children become attached to their favourite characters, they can reproduce them while playing, following the time chain and cause-effect relation of narrated events, so that the educational message of the stories can be better interiorized. 5 , 49 Educators should also be aware about their own responsibility when selecting children’s books for didactic purposes (not necessarily following popular titles or “best sellers”), and read the stories in a caring and warm environment. 50 Storybooks are accessible to students of all ages and can be borrowed from libraries or friends, while digital storytelling can be easily and quickly found on the Internet, even for free. 51

Multicomponent narrative-based approaches integrate traditional tales or other specifically developed storybooks, with audio and video resources (including those available on the Internet), cartoons, animated films, puppets or scenic elements. 23 , 52 , 53 Theatre reading or dramatization of children’s literature can be used at school to overcome the risk of short attention span of schoolchildren, and when dealing with difficult textbooks. Reader’s theatre in the classroom involve students as actors as they were really acting on the stage, while the teacher is guiding the scene and giving suggestions to the characters. In a study investigating the impact of readers’ theatre over six weeks, students assigned to the theatre class showed significant progress in reading level, compared to a control group who received more traditional literary and vocabulary education. The readers’ theatre class presented better fluidity in reading and expression, enriched vocabulary, and increased motivation compared to the control group. 54 Finally, it can be said that storytelling activities (including reader’s theatre) in school setting represent innovative didactic experiences, capable to build up also health knowledge and promote students’ global wellbeing. 55 , 56

Therapeutic dimension of children’s literature

Children’s storybooks not only provide new knowledge – by enriching children’s vocabulary and enhancing their communication skills – but also ensure emotional support during problematic circumstances of the life. Encouraging children to overcome fears and inner conflicts, tales act as promoters for change, positively influencing their social behaviour. 57

When parents or teachers provide children with a book, they usually hope that they will absorb the moral values that it contains. 58 - 60 Actually, fairytales can produce positive effects on personality development, satisfying all psychological needs of the children such as contact, entertainment, and cognitive demand. In the Freudian perspective, assuming the absence of a well-defined superego and moral standards in childhood, fairytales are useful to show proper patterns of behaviours needed by children. 61

Children’s literature – as a form of artistic creativity – presents a therapeutic potential for readers and listeners, in the same way that Greek tragedy was able to “heal” the spectators. 62 , 63 In the vision of the cathartic role of literature, we can say that it may influence children through psychological mechanisms, primarily consisting in involvement, imitation, identification, insight and universalism. Story-tales could be used in school-setting for primary prevention programs with the ultimate goal of preventing risky behaviours among young people, thanks to the potential of creative and artistic means such as specifically-developed children’s storybooks. Actually, narrative-based approach as a teaching and learning strategy is omnipresent in the classrooms, but it is infrequently used to promote students’ health. 64

Literature, as well as other forms of art (music, dance, drama, drawing, painting etc.) can be used to empower and motivate children towards the adoption of healthy behaviours, contributing to the improvement of pupils’ quality of life. The educational properties of the stories allow young people to accept their own differences, while showing how the characters of the tale cope with difficulties, enabling readers to enter in a fantastic world of entertainment, and – at the story’s end – to come back into reality in a comfortable way. 65

The main goal of art therapy in education is the holistic human development, to be accomplished by working on imagination, curiosity, and creativity, which represent all the basic features to be preserved in children, along with the natural needs of joy and play. 66 , 67 Artistic activities present also the potential of breaking down cultural barriers, actively involving the most vulnerable and marginalized children, as assessed in a study examining the effect of a creative expression program designed to prevent emotional and behavioural problems in immigrant and refugee students attending multi-ethnic schools. 76 This vision has been already adopted by the famous violinist Menuhin and his Foundation, to help vulnerable and disadvantaged children by using music and other form of arts. 77

Within the broad umbrella of art therapy, we can find “library therapy”, which S.M. Crothers in 1916 has turned into the term “bibliotherapy”, characterized by the fact that the treatment is carried out by the means of literature, using books to foster individual emotional wellbeing. Understanding the principles and practices of bibliotherapy is essential for teachers and educators, working with children, who may take benefit from the exposure to reading materials related to their specific problems.

The “healing” potential of books was known since the time of the ancient Greece and even before: Ramses II in Egypt identified a group of books in his collection as “remedies for the soul”. Aristotle and other Greek philosophers believed that literature could deeply heal people, while the ancient Romans recognized the existence of a relationship between medicine and reading, with Aulo Cornelius Celso explicitly associating the reading with medical treatment. This attitude towards therapeutic opportunities of books was cultivated even in the Middle Age and Humanism/Renaissance times, but also in the late eighteenth century books were proposed as a remedy for different types of illnesses. Today, literature is somehow considered as psychological therapy, especially in childhood, and even as a cure for psychosomatic disorders. 6

In the therapeutic approach, bibliotherapy includes also discussion and reflection on the story’s topics that overlap with the individual needs and have an evocative function that relies on projection and identification mechanisms. Proper storybooks work as a strategy for attitudinal change and self-improvement, acting through a compensatory function in children who lack of positive experiences which are often missing in their family or community. 68 Therapeutic reading can also represent a form of prevention as the readers acquire a more flexible mind to recognize problems and eventually ask for help. There are books that address questions concerning physical appearance, emotions and character traits, family relationships, and socioeconomic problems. 69 Bibliotherapy can be also applied in the field of psychotherapy for the treatment of minor disorders, eating behaviours and some forms of addictions, from alcohol and tobacco to drugs and ludopathy. 7

Narrative medicine, an emerging discipline in healthcare field – which embraces medicine, psychoanalysis and literature – is used to overcome individual traumatic experiences. It helps patients and health professionals to tell and listen to the complex and unique stories of illness through an active approach (subjects are invited to compose poetic or literary pieces) or passive mode (consisting in reading already existing pieces). 70 , 71

Efficacy of narrative-based strategies to promote health and wellbeing in school setting

Health is defined by WHO Constitution as “a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing”. 78 WHO has demonstrated that many early deaths can be avoided if each stakeholder in the society takes its piece of responsibility in promoting healthy lifestyles. 79 Health promotion and prevention represent two sides of the same coin being both focused on proactively maintaining people healthy. 80 Primary prevention should start as early as possible and school has the opportunity to guide people since childhood on the right path towards healthy life. Actually, education and health are intertwined, and it is undoubtable that wellbeing has also a remarkable impact on students’ learning outcomes. School represents the ideal setting to convey proper contents about risk and protective factors 81 by using motivating approaches (including “teaching narratively”), able to capture the interest of pupils and generate a harmonic and non-competitive learning environment. 82 Narration can be regarded as an interesting way to trigger students’ motivation 82 and develop a “narrative thinking”, which is fundamental for every human experience, including learning and interiorization processes. 83 - 86 Specifically developed storybooks can foster children’s self-responsibility towards health and stimulate critical thinking about the consequences of adopting risky behaviours (i.e. unhealthy eating habits), thanks to psychological processes based on the identification with the characters of the stories. 17 Actually, children literature and storytelling have been proved to be effective in specifically conveying health knowledge: the persuasive effects of narrative engagement have been illustrated in many researches and reviews. 87 - 95 De Graaf et al have specifically performed a systematic review of 153 experimental studies on health-related narrative persuasion with a focus on the narrative characteristics as potential explanatory factors in the effectiveness to convey a health message. 87 , 88 The results showed that stories that presented a healthy behaviour were more often associated with effects on the intention to adopt it, and stories with high emotional content were usually more effective, as well as the use of a first or second-person perspective in the text. No differences were observed between the media used for the narrative intervention (book or video etc.), while the familiarity of the setting and the way of displaying the health message in the narrative was found to be a promising persuasive factor. 88 Shen and Han assessed 25 studies comparing narrative to non-narrative messages, showing a significant effect of narrative for primary prevention and detection of risky behaviours, but not for cessation of negative attitudes (e.g., quitting smoking). 89 Zebregs et al included 15 studies that recorded positive persuasive effects of narrative. 91 Braddock and Dillard metanalyzed 74 studies that compared narrative-based interventions to a control group that did not receive any relevant message. 92 Their results showed that, compared to a baseline zero-effect, narrative had positive effects on story-consistent beliefs, attitudes and intentions. By reviewing 45 studies, Tukachinsky et al concluded that engagement with the narrative and its characters was positively related to attitudes and intentions implied by the narrative itself. 93 Other authors have focused on the persuasive effects resulting from the “transportation” into a narrative world: when children read, they “enter” into tales and act out together with the characters. 94 Dahlstrom et al have shown that it is important to consider whether the persuasive message is integrated in the causal structure of the narrative or not. 95 Stories with two opponent main characters seem to have an impact on narrative persuasion in the context of social issues, while tales presenting a transition of the characters from unhealthy to healthy behaviour may be particularly beneficial. 90 Moreover, the content and form of the narrative - such as characters, events, and the setting of the story - are very important: characters can be more or less similar to the readers, thus producing a different persuasive effect. 96 , 97 A further dimension relevant to health-related “narrative persuasion” is the context of the presentation used in the narrative: an entertainment format where the reader is unaware that the narrative has a persuasive intention or a narrative frame in which the persuasive intent is more explicit. 98 - 100 In addition to narrative characteristics, variables related to target recipients – like the predisposition to become engaged in narratives and prior knowledge of the readers – as well as the environment/situation in which the story is narrated may increase or reduce the engagement and effectiveness of narrative-based interventions. 101 , 102 Most likely, the full process of persuasion is determined by the interaction of narrative, recipient and situational factors (such as noise in the environment) that can distract the student and decrease engagement. It should be emphasized that contents of the stories must be close to the children and the main character’s mental states needs to be as much as similar to the feelings of the child. Finally, it seems that multicomponent approaches including printed stories or tales told by a health educator in a face-to-face settings (i.e. live storytelling) can produce effects on beliefs, attitudes, intentions and even on the behaviours of recipients. 103

Oral and written tales are part of a collective memory, maintained from one generation to the next as an intangible cultural heritage for the transmission of moral values (i.e. Homer’s epic poems). As emphasized by the UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2003, folktales play a dynamic role in bringing people closer together, thus ensuring knowledge exchange among different cultures and increasing the respect for others in a tolerant peaceful way.

At the start of 21st century, school system faces new challenges worldwide, pushing educators to display innovative strategies in order to motivate students and engage them in stimulating and “transformative” learning. 104 This perspective goes beyond the passive acquisition of knowledge, moving toward a more active, experiential and participatory approach to lifelong learning. 105 The adoption of cooperative practices into daily classroom activities can contribute to the enhancement of students’ wellbeing, lowering the competition and anxiety due to the pressure of success, currently detectable among schoolchildren. 80

To achieve these goals, narrative interventions may be considered as one of the possible strategies for teaching and learning because children’s stories create the comfortable atmosphere that is usually lacking in school setting. 5 , 106

Since ancient times, myths, legends, fables and fairytales have supported individuals to understand who they are as human beings and the world around them, allowing people to map the reality through the use of words and language. 107 , 108

From fairytales and fables – plenty of adventures, heroes, personified animals, enchanted forests and magical objects – children gain additional experiences, feelings and thoughts, learning to cope with inhibitions, vulnerability, and shyness. According to the psychoanalytical interpretation, children’s stories lead readers towards a deep level of consciousness, dealing with the fundamental human questions expressed in the language of symbols. Beyond its educational purposes, children’s literature can positively influence mental wellbeing, nurturing thoughts, feelings and behaviours of young generations. 63

Stories – as a kind of creative form of art – help children to fight (like the heroes) for good things and success in their life, satisfying their spirit of play, spreading good mood, with benefits on physical health, mental brightness and moral virtue. These latter represent the three dimensions of wellbeing – pillars for the integral growth of the child – in the perspective of building up the future mature and socially active man. 109

Children’s literature presents a strong pedagogical component and should be regarded as a real educational strategy with the potential of being incorporated into school curricula. Learning experiences carried out in a friendly school environment generate improvement of emotional health and better academic achievements 8 , 110 - 116 A properly chosen book stimulates children’s power of observation, reason, memory and imagination, broadening the range of experiences, compelling the readers to reflect on their behaviours, and find out possible solutions to their troubles while providing entertainment. A famous sentence of Albert Einstein was: “If you want your children to be intelligent, tell them fairytales; if you want your children to be more intelligent, tell them more fairy tales”. 117 Unfortunately, in today’s busy society, adults lack the time to talk with children, so that reading or telling stories could represent a great opportunity of constructive exchanges in the family and at school. 28

Multicomponent narrative-based approaches (storytelling, role-playing, games, post-reading activities) are able to satisfy children emotional needs, provide sensory input, increase attention span, and shape the aesthetic taste. 43 , 44 The power of listening and speaking is able to create artistic images and induce schoolchildren to produce their own stories or tales. This is well accomplished by introducing them to literature from early childhood, and ensuring them interesting, funny and attractive materials. Telling or reading a story is cheap, pleasing, inclusive, it can be used in any setting without special equipment except the imagination. 50 , 118 Moreover, it generates catharsis, resulting in reduced anxiety, better comfort, self-esteem, thus helping young people to cope with any adversity and improving communication of feelings.

According to Richard-Amato, 119 students find themselves in the characters or narration, and learn how to behave adequately while facing similar situations in the future life. 6 It happens that the child becomes aware about the topic of the story, unconsciously solves the problems, increasing self-confidence, with positive implications for personality development. 119 By developing the imagination and creativity, children can discover new ideas and increase personal motivation to achieve their objectives. Albert Einstein was used to say: “When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant to me more than any talent for abstract or positive thinking”. 117

Finally, it can be considered also the contribution of literature to stimulate individual agency, applying the already acquired knowledge, to make the world more fit to human needs. 120 In this perspective, the Italian writer Leonardo Sciascia was used to say that if he did not believe that literature could produce a change, he wouldn’t have continued to write. 121

Stories are also able to convey health information about prevention of communicable and non-communicable diseases. Several researches highlight the role of storytelling as a source of beneficial effects in primary prevention. Reading a storybook or listening to stories is helpful for children as it promotes pupils’ emotional expression and psychological wellbeing; it can be used to stimulate changes in young people lifestyles, encouraging them in practicing physical activity and reducing the consumption of sweets and soft-drinks, ultimately resulting in a measurable reduction of body mass index in specific cohorts. 122

Bibliotherapy facilitates behaviour´s externalization, promotes empathy and prosocial behaviours, and helps solving problems such as bullying and teasing, which represent common situations in every school. Several studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of treating bullying through bibliotherapy, that can become an innovative approach to promote a respectful school environment. A huge amount of children’s stories has been used in order to prevent and give other perspectives on bullying, demonstrating that children’s books can serve as a useful channel of exchange between parents, teachers and children. An example for that is the Child Adolescent Teasing in Schools (CATS) book review project and website, where – after the exposure to a fictional story about teasing and bullying – children share their own experience and are guided to develop successful coping strategies against teasing and bullying occurring at school. 123

Children’s books have been also used to let students learn peaceful alternatives to the violence of modern society, focusing on conflicts prevention in the classroom and the way for overcoming the problem. 124 This has led to the creation of specific lists of books which help children to better understand and cope with some situations of discomfort such as traumatic stresses.

“Therapeutic libraries” have been established for paediatric patients or their families in hospital setting according to the vision that literature can help children to improve their quality of life, reducing stress and pain levels associated with the hospitalization process. 125

In a randomized trial, a combination of storybooks and workshop sessions have been successfully tested in primary prevention programs for anxiety management, showing a significant improvement in coping skills and perceived self-efficacy: every session was based on a story describing characters facing common stressors and how they deal with their daily problems. 126 It can be said also that children’s literature offers strategies to overcome the anxiety and the fear of the unknown, stimulating reflection and re-elaboration of personal criteria to be applied in real life. 127 Bibliotherapy is used in school setting (from primary to high school) to foster social and emotional growth, offering the opportunity to find a deeper understanding of self, solutions to personal problems and enhanced self-image. 128 , 129

Finally, as demonstrated by the worldwide success of self-help manuals, bibliotherapy could be a helpful resource to reduce unhealthy food habits for the prevention or treatment of obesity, as well as in supporting who want to quit smoking or other addictions both in young people and adults. 130 - 132

Limitations of this work are mainly due to the initial design of the study, representing an exploratory work that found few on-field experiences concerning the use of narrative-based strategies to promote health and wellbeing among schoolchildren. A future work, carefully planned as systematic review, could take advantage from the findings of this first attempt, in order to better refine a comprehensive search in scientific literature.

Children’s literature offers young people the possibility to acquire a system of values (educational role), to be engaged in motivating learning activities (didactic aspect), and to deal with inner conflicts and life difficulties (psychological value). Based on international evidence, children’s literature and specifically developed storybooks can encourage the adoption of healthy choices and represent a useful preventive tool to foster young people’s global wellbeing, helping them to better cope with emotional/social problems while proposing proper patterns of behaviours and conveying health contents. 133 - 136 Children’s literature is a helpful tool to “educate”, “teach” and “heal”, so that narration could be considered among the possible educational strategies which can be used for pedagogic, didactic and therapeutic applications in the promotion of children’s global development both at home and at school.

Implications for practice

This review indicates that children’s literature not only presents a strong pedagogical and didactic value, but it can also generate benefits for global development and wellbeing of young people. Moreover, children’s literature can be regarded as a flexible instrument that facilitates the transmission of health contents to the students, allowing teachers to become “health educators”. Narrative-based strategies have the potential to be integrated as useful approach in the school curricular activities to specifically convey health contents (at least in primary and secondary school). 135 , 136 Being able to impact emotional experiences and individual motivation, children’s literature should be considered as a powerful educational tool also for health professionals, who can take advantage from the use of stories to spread health information. Actually, narration is a “transformative” mean that can be useful – in the frame of educational contexts – especially for the prevention of obesity, risky behaviours and addictions (cigarette smoking, alcohol, drugs, bet). Finally, beyond the possibility to prevent future diseases at individual level, thanks to well-designed narrative-based interventions in school setting, children can become themselves “health promoters” and “inter-generational multipliers” of desirable effects by influencing in a positive way their families and community. In this perspective, the use of children’s literature to convey health contents and promote wellbeing in school children might represent an interesting instrument to foster collective health.

Ethical approval

This review did not need any formal approval from ethical committee.

Competing interests

There are no competing interests concerning this article. This research has been carried out in the frame of institutional activities of the PhD in “Human Relations Sciences” of Bari University and UNESCO Chair on Health Education and Sustainable Development, without receiving any external funding or economical support from third parties.

Authors’ contributions

MP, PP and SC have conceived, prepared, written, approved and revised the manuscript.

Acknowledgments

Authors are grateful to Prof. G. Mininni, Director of PhD Course in Human Relation Sciences at University of Bari “Aldo Moro”.

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• November 28, 2021

Teaching Problem and Solution with Picture Books

Teaching problem and solution gets a little easier with these picture books. Each book has problem and solution scenarios built into the plot, some more obvious than others. With their rich narratives and engaging illustrations, picture books offer a way to introduce and explore this concept. This blog post delves into the significance of teaching problem and solution through picture books and shares effective strategies.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase anything through them, I will get a small referral fee and you will be supporting me and my blog at no extra cost to you, so thank you! You can find more information here .

Why Use Picture Books for Teaching Problem and Solution?

Understanding problem and solution helps your students develop problem-solving and creative thinking skills. Exploring picture books with problem and solution plots helps them see a problem being introduced, how the character(s) try to solve it and how they finally resolve the issue.

In picture books with problem and solution scenarios, your students will see characters who:

• use knowledge to solve problems independently
• predict outcomes
• think things through
• make good decisions
• try new ways to solve problems
• make mistakes and try again
• recognize breakthroughs
• use trial and error to find a solution

Discussion Questions For Teaching Problem and Solution

• Describe the different ways the characters were effective problem-solvers.
• How did [character] solve the problem? What strategies did they use?
• Why do you think [character] was an effective problem solver?
• Why did [character’s] idea work in the end? Did they think about how their decisions would affect the outcome and other characters?
• Did [character] make good decisions? Is there anything they could have done differently?
• Think of possible solutions for [character’s] problem.
• Did [character] work independently to solve the problem or did they work collaboratively? Was this the best strategy?
• Does a thinker have to be brave, a risk-taker….?
• Did their decision making surprise you? Why or why not?
• Was [character] creative in their thinking? Explain your answer.
• How did [character’s] way of thinking impact the outcome of the story?

Picture Books for Teaching Problem and Solution

Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty

Ada Twist scientific curiosity propels her to question, hypothesize, experiment, and unravel the world’s mysteries, including one close to home.

Ada Twist, Scientist fuels discussions around curiosity, inquiry, the pursuit of knowledge, and creative thinking and is a great choice for teaching problem and solution.

Ada's Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay by Susan Hood

Ada Río dreams of playing the violin, but her financial circumstances prevent her from pursuing this aspiration. This changes with the arrival of an innovative music teacher who creates instruments from discarded rubbish. 

Paraguay’s inspiring world-renowned Recycled Orchestra highlights the power of music, ingenuity, and the human spirit.

After the Fall by Dan Santat

A fresh retelling of the classic Humpty Dumpty story told from the egg’s perspective. Humpty Dumpty bravely faces his fear of heights, teaching us about courage, overcoming adversity, and the importance of self-esteem.

After the Fall promotes discussions around character traits, perspectives, and a growth mindset. It encourages students to understand and embrace their fears, foster adaptability, and celebrate resilience.

A Bad Case of the Stripes by David Shannon

Camilla Cream loves lima beans but won’t eat them because her friends hate them. A mysterious illness causes her to become what others think she should be. Only when she embraces her true self does she recover.

A Bad Case of the Stripes serves as a reminder that individuality should be celebrated and that personal growth stems from self-acceptance and the courage to resist societal pressures.

Black Dog by Levi Pinfold

Black Dog takes us to a family home where a large black dog grows in size and menace, causing fear among the family members. Yet, the smallest one shows immense courage and open-mindedness to discover the truth about the dog.

Engage your students in discussions about overcoming fears, taking risks, and not letting fear control our perception. Encourage them to conquer their fears and take on challenges bravely.

A Chair For My Mother by Vera B. Williams

A Chair for My Mother illuminates the power of love, family, and community even in the most challenging times. Rosa, her mother, and her grandmother lose their home to a devastating fire.

The book gives us a glimpse into poverty, the importance of saving money, the impact of community kindness and generosity, and the power of perseverance, even in the face of adversity.

Chalk by Bill Thomson

Three friends find a bag of magical chalk at the park on a rainy day – whatever they draw becomes real. A sun clears clouds, butterflies fly, and dinosaurs leap from the 2D realm. When a child’s drawn dinosaur chases them, they must creatively resolve the problem.

Chalk promotes creativity, problem-solving, the power of imagination and consequences, teaching children that every action can have effects they must deal with.

Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin

When Farmer Brown’s cows stumble upon a typewriter, they start typing letters demanding electric blankets. Things escalate quickly as the cows strike, and Duck is the mediator. But the peace doesn’t last long when the ducks have their own demands!

Click, Clack, Moo story promotes dialogue about fair negotiations’ importance, communication’s power, and the essence of compromise.

Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin

Dragons may love tacos but hate spicy salsa. A boy discovers this peculiarity and hosts a taco party for his dragon friends. The party takes an unexpected turn when the salsa, much to the dragons’ dismay, turns out to be spicy, leading to a chaotic and fiery mess.

Dragons Love Tacos offers opportunities to discuss the concepts of problem-solving, cause and effect, and the importance of careful planning and reading labels!

Enemy Pie by Derek Munson

When Jeremy Ross moves to town, a boy’s life changes for the worse. He is Jeremy’s enemy. Dad advises making an enemy pie, but it will only work if he spends the whole day with his enemy. They end up having so much fun the boy doesn’t need the pie. Use to discuss kindness, conflict resolution, bullying, and problem-solving.

Ernest, the Moose Who Doesn't Fit by Catherine Rayner

Ernest the moose is so LARGE he can’t fit inside the book. Determined, he shimmies, shifts, and shuffles his body but he just won’t fit. With a bit of thought his friend, chipmunk, comes up with a solution. Reinforces themes of determination, problem-solving and creative thinking.

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Fossil by Bill Thomson

This is the second of two picture books with a problem and solution by Bill Thomson. A young boy and his dog stumble upon a fossil which springs to life when touched! The boy excitedly cracks open more rocks, revealing more living fossils. But the excitement quickly turns into terror when he discovers a pterodactyl, which swoops down and flies off with his dog.

Fossil encourages discussions on curiosity, discovery, the unexpected consequences of our actions and problem and solution. 

How the Ladies Stopped the Wind by Bruce McMillan

The wind in Iceland is so strong a group of women decide to fix the problem. They plant trees to limit its effects and overcome problems through problem-solving, cooperation and persistence.

Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall

Jabari resolves to jump off the diving board for the first time. Despite his determination, fear and uncertainty hold him back. But with his father’s gentle encouragement, Jabari finds the courage to make the leap.

Jabari Jumps explores a growth mindset, courage, risk-taking, determination, and overcoming fears. It is also great for your students to make connections to Jabari’s fear of trying something new.

Journey by Aaron Becker

A lonely girl discovers a magic red marker and creates a door that transports her into an enchanting world filled with wondrous landscapes and adventure. She witnesses an evil emperor capture a majestic bird. She outsmarts the emperor’s army to free the bird. 

The girl’s journey inspires courage in facing challenges, persistence in pursuing goals, and thinking outside the box to overcome obstacles.

King Bidgood's in the Bathtub by Audrey Wood

This is the first of two picture books with a problem and solution by Audrey Wood. King Bidgood enjoys having a bath so much he won’t get out. His page calls upon the court for help. Nothing works, so while everyone is despairing of what to do the page plugs the plug! Use to teach sequencing, creative thinking, problem & solution and prediction.

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes

Lilly adores her school, teacher, and purple plastic purse. Her enthusiasm for her purse leads her on an unexpected journey of self-discovery, teaching her important lessons about self-management, forgiveness, integrity, and self-reflection.

Through Lilly’s experiences, readers learn the value of controlling their impulses and honesty. Lilly’s experiences teach the importance of second chances, making amends, and learning from our actions.

The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Audrey Wood

This is the second of two picture books with a problem and solution by Audrey Wood. The narrator attempts to convince a little mouse to share a recently picked succulent strawberry. Worried about a big, hungry bear, the mouse employs various strategies, including disguising and locking away the fruit, to keep it safe.

The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear promotes discussions on sharing, problem-solving, creative thinking and cause and effect.

The Lumberjack’s Beard by Duncan Beedie

Jim chops down trees in the forest without considering the repercussions. His actions make many animals homeless, so Jim allows them to reside in his huge beard. He replants the trees and waits for them to grow so the animals can return to their natural habitats.

The Lumberjack’s Beard encourages discussions about environmental conservation, cause and effect, and problem-solving and highlights how people can rectify mistakes.

The Marvellous Moon Map by Teresa Heapy

Mouse wants to find the moon with his own moon map. His friend, Bear thinks it would be better to plan and organise the trip. Mouse heads off alone but ends up lost with his map that can’t help him. Luckily, Bear helps him out him and they discover something better than the moon. Reinforces themes of friendship, organisation, creative thinking and problem-solving.

Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters by John Steptoe

Mufaro’s two daughters react differently to the King’s search for a wife – one is aggressive and selfish, the other kind and dignified. The king disguises himself to learn the true nature of both girls and chooses Nyasha, the kind and generous daughter, to be the queen. This African folktale promotes themes of jealousy, vanity and kindness.

Our Little Inventor by Sher Rill Ng

Nell has an ingenious invention to solve the pollution problem in the Big City. She sets off on a journey to the city, far from where she lives. She finds the pollution is much worse than she expected. Nell is dismayed when city leaders mock her. With unexpected help and Nell’s determination, she shows her machine to the city. Promotes girls in STEM, pollution, determination, perseverance, critical thinking and problem-solving.

Outfoxed by Claudia Boldt

Harold, a fox, is challenged by his father to catch a chicken. He decides to follow his heart and helps the chicken escape. Reinforces themes of empathy, independence, problem-solving and creative thinking.

The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch

Princess Elizabeth is a resourceful young girl who must outsmart a dragon to save her prince while dressed in a humble paper bag. The Paper Bag Princess invites discussions about empowerment, courage, independence, and challenging traditional gender roles by illustrating the strength of character over appearance. It emphasises that real heroines can save the day with their wit and courage, regardless of appearance.

Phileas's Fortune: A Story about Self-Expression by Agnes de Lestrade

Large factories churn out beautiful, ugly and funny words. People purchase, then swallow the words to communicate. Not all words are equal and the cost of each word varies. Phileas catches three discarded, random words to express his love for Cybele. Reinforces themes of communication, perseverance, problem-solving, risk-taking and creative thinking.

Rainbow Weaver by Linda Elovitz Marshall

Ixchel, a young Mayan girl, is passionate about continuing her community’s weaving tradition. Unable to use traditional materials, she innovatively uses colourful plastic bags, transforming waste into a woven rainbow fabric.

Rainbow Weaver sparks discussions on sustainability and recycling, empowering indigenous female characters, persistence and creative problem-solving.

Ralf by Jean Jullien

Ralf is always getting under everyones feet no matter what hr does. One night he smells smoke and stretches his body around the house trying to wake the family. After being saved, the family accept Ralf for who he is even if he still gets in the way. Reinforces themes of acceptance, caring, courage and problem & solution.

Star in the Jar by Sam Hay

A little boy finds a star and keeps it in a jar. He makes the decision to help the sad star get home., but wonders how to do this. He makes a star shape in the garden and the stars lift their little friend home.

Stuck by Oliver Jeffers

This is the first of two picture books with a problem and solution by Oliver Jeffers. When Floyd’s kite gets stuck in a tree, he throws his shoes in an attempt to free it. However, when that doesn’t work, Floyd resorts to increasingly outrageous objects (even people!) to dislodge the kite.

Stuck ignites discussions on cause and effect, creative problem-solving strategies, persistence in the face of obstacles, resourcefulness and initiative and adaptability in new situations.

Swimmy by Leo Lionni

After almost being eaten by a big fish, Swimmy works together with a school of fish to frighten off the big tuna. Use to promote problem & solution, cooperation, courage and overcoming fear.

This Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jeffers

This is the second of two picture books with a problem and solution by Oliver Jeffers. Wilfred is an organised boy who lives his life by rules. He claims a wandering moose as his new pet and names him Marcel. The moose is not keen on Wilfred’s rules and meets an old lady who claims him as her own. Wilfred recognises Marcel’s independence and learns how to compromise.

Wangari Maathai by Franck Prevot

The late Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai sparked a revolutionary movement in Africa to challenge deforestation. In a bold move, she championed African women to plant trees, ultimately helping cultivate lush farms and thriving communities. Maathai also provided seedlings to men, school children, and even soldiers, spurring further reforestation efforts and making a lasting impact.

When the Rain Comes by Alma Fullerton

In rural Sri Lanka, Malini helps plant the rice crop for the first time. The ox-cart arrives full of seedlings and the driver asks her to care for the ox. The skies darken and the monsoon rain falls, separating Malini from everyone. Rather than running for safety, she saves all the seeds from ruin. Use to teach responsibility, courage and problem & solution.

What are your favourite picture books for teaching problem and solution in the your classroom?

2 thoughts on “Solve It With Stories: Teaching Problem & Solution with Picture Books”

As far as I might be concerned, the most awesome aspect of kids’ books is the significant statements that epitomize a whole book in a sentence or two. Nobody will at any point settle on the “best” quotes, however here are a portion of my top choices!

An amazing post with great tips as always. Anyone will find your post useful. Keep up the good work.

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Using Stories to Support Mathematical Thinking in Young Students

Children’s books often contain valuable lessons that can help young students begin to think like mathematicians.

Many students and teachers view math as a subject for numbers and computation, instead of one that benefits from discussion and interpretation. Based on our experience as children’s literature and mathematics teacher-educators, we’ve found that providing the context to mathematical problems through literature supports students’ learning—children’s books can be used to integrate math and literacy and to provide context for math.

For example, the books  When Sophie Thinks She Can’t , a story about a little girl who discovers the importance of struggle, and Blue , a story about the history of the color blue, are great examples of books that integrate mathematical thinking into storytelling.

USING LITERATURE TO SUPPORT MATHEMATICAL THINKING 

1. Selecting books to support mathematical thinking: First, find books that have a worthy math problem to discuss or a story to connect to a math problem in your curriculum. Context is one of the most important parts of choosing a book. If the problem is not challenging or accessible enough for students, think about ways to revise the problem. We advocate for low-threshold, high-ceiling problems , which allow access for all students with their previous knowledge and build more knowledge and challenge all students.

When Sophie Thinks She Can’t , by Molly Bang, poses a worthwhile math task, asking Sophie and her friends to form as many different rectangles with 12 tiles as they can. Because she can’t figure out the solution to the problem, her teacher says, “You can’t figure it out yet ,” which encourages her to keep trying. This book is a perfect example of a mathematical problem that is easily seen in the context of the story and encourages the notion of the power of yet as a problem-solving technique.

In many books, the math problem is not as easily seen. As a teacher, you may not think that most books have some type of mathematical focus within them, but upon close examination, you can discover that many of them can be part of your math curriculum. For example, Blue , written by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond and illustrated by Daniel Minter, can be connected to an examination of patterns and shapes in textile designs. Working with different shades of blue papers, students could be asked to create patterns by folding the papers and study the patterns that they created mathematically. Studying the relationships between the number of folds and partitions in the final shape would take this task to a higher ceiling. 

2. Critically examining literature: Teachers should spend time critically examining their texts; as Maria José Botelho and Masha Kabakow Rudman advise, teachers should read beyond the words in the text and make connections between local, sociopolitical, personal, and mathematical content. Teachers can ask questions like the following:

• Whose story is this? How might it relate to students’ mathematical stories? 
• Through what point of view is this story told?
• What mathematical concepts shape the story?
• How are mathematical tasks and understandings established?

The first two questions help students relate to the issues, topics, and questions they may have about the story. The last two questions help students think like a mathematician. For example, Blue is told from a historical perspective and touches on classism throughout time. By examining the book closely, teachers can pull out the patterns in the illustrations and ask students to create mathematical patterns on their own—this is shown throughout this book and particularly on the endpapers.

This picture book provides so many historical background understandings of who cultivated the materials to make the color blue and who had access to textiles made from blue dyes. By leading the students through the questions above, teachers will help them begin to see math in all things and begin to think like mathematicians.

3. Designing a lesson to integrate literacy and mathematics: It’s beneficial to think ahead about questions for both disciplines that can help students extend and guide their thinking; in previous work, we developed a full lesson with content-specific questions. Asking students to analyze or interpret their peers’ mathematical work and making connections to the text would also extend students’ thinking. After coming up with their own set of rectangles with 12 tiles, students can compare their rectangles with the rectangles created by their peers or by Sophie and her friends. This can lead to a discussion of how similar or different all of the rectangles are. 

MORE BOOKS THAT PROMOTE MATHEMATICAL THINKING

A variety of books can be used to support math and STEM understanding through discussion and literature. Below are a few of our favorite books for pre-K through third grade.

Circle Dogs , written by Kevin Henkes, illustrated by Dan Yaccarino. Exploring shapes through a day in the life of two dachshunds. Perfect read-aloud for a geometry unit! Pair this with Hot Dog (below) to help your students make text-to-text connections.

Bean Thirteen , written and illustrated by Matthew McElligott. This book explores the concept of division with the tribulations that the two characters encounter as they work their way through a problem. A great way to engage children in discussions of trying to work through problem-solving. 

Hot Dog , written and illustrated by Doug Salati. This 2023 Caldecott-winning book explores a day in the life of a dog as readers are taken on an adventure throughout an urban setting to find solitude for the owner and the dog in a noisy city. A wonderful way to look at mapping. 

A Land of Books: Dreams of Young Mexihcah Word Painters , written and illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh. This story focuses on the creation of books by the Indigenous people of Mexico, exploring their knowledge, culture, and history. Readers can dig deeply into the illustrations and see how precise measurement, geometry, and special relationships of mathematical concepts enhance the telling of this story. 

We hope these ideas and books will support you as you provide meaningful conversations with your students by integrating mathematical understandings through children’s literature.

Top 10 Problem Solving Books

Whenever my son encounters a problem—be it building block pieces that won't fit together the way he wants them to, a door he can't open, or a bucket on the playground his friend won't share—my mom heart immediately leaps to help him. I want to solve his problems for him, to help him be happy and make life easy . . . but the truth I know deep down is that if I always help him, I'm not helping him at all. By allowing him opportunities to problem solve himself when a problem of appropriate difficulty arises, while it may be painful for both of us at the moment, I know he's developing crucial problem-solving skills, and problem-solving is one of those essential skills that, once developed, will serve children their entire lifetime. To help showcase different techniques for problem-solving, and hone metacognition for kids, we've collected here on this list the very best books for teaching problem solving through children's literature! Reading these problem-solving books with your child provides an unparalleled opportunity to have shared references to help you as a team through a learning moment when it arises, plus you'll get to enjoy the bonding moment of reading together! Some books are absolute classics, such as "The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear," that take a more humorous approach to problem-solving; others are popular titles you may be familiar with that take a more direct approach to flexible thinking techniques, such as New York Times Bestseller "What To Do With a Problem"; and some are hidden gems you may be discovering for the first time. There are books that teach social problem solving, highlight out-of-the-box thinking in innovation, speak to the role of teamwork in overcoming obstacles, and address the very real possibility that problem-solving may be needed to cope with failure at many stages of the process. Because problem solving is important in all of life's stages, this list includes board, picture and chapter books. Board books are best for infants and toddlers. Picture books are excellent for toddlers and also include stories for kindergarten and early elementary students (although we think picture books are great for all ages!). Chapter books are great for elementary- and middle school-age readers. If you know your target age group, feel free to filter to a single category, or just browse the entire list. Without further ado, enjoy this problem-solving list, and let us know what titles you would include!

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Teaching problem solving: Let students get ‘stuck’ and ‘unstuck’

Subscribe to the center for universal education bulletin, kate mills and km kate mills literacy interventionist - red bank primary school helyn kim helyn kim former brookings expert @helyn_kim.

October 31, 2017

This is the second in a six-part  blog series  on  teaching 21st century skills , including  problem solving ,  metacognition , critical thinking , and collaboration , in classrooms.

In the real world, students encounter problems that are complex, not well defined, and lack a clear solution and approach. They need to be able to identify and apply different strategies to solve these problems. However, problem solving skills do not necessarily develop naturally; they need to be explicitly taught in a way that can be transferred across multiple settings and contexts.

Here’s what Kate Mills, who taught 4 th grade for 10 years at Knollwood School in New Jersey and is now a Literacy Interventionist at Red Bank Primary School, has to say about creating a classroom culture of problem solvers:

Helping my students grow to be people who will be successful outside of the classroom is equally as important as teaching the curriculum. From the first day of school, I intentionally choose language and activities that help to create a classroom culture of problem solvers. I want to produce students who are able to think about achieving a particular goal and manage their mental processes . This is known as metacognition , and research shows that metacognitive skills help students become better problem solvers.

I begin by “normalizing trouble” in the classroom. Peter H. Johnston teaches the importance of normalizing struggle , of naming it, acknowledging it, and calling it what it is: a sign that we’re growing. The goal is for the students to accept challenge and failure as a chance to grow and do better.

I look for every chance to share problems and highlight how the students— not the teachers— worked through those problems. There is, of course, coaching along the way. For example, a science class that is arguing over whose turn it is to build a vehicle will most likely need a teacher to help them find a way to the balance the work in an equitable way. Afterwards, I make it a point to turn it back to the class and say, “Do you see how you …” By naming what it is they did to solve the problem , students can be more independent and productive as they apply and adapt their thinking when engaging in future complex tasks.

After a few weeks, most of the class understands that the teachers aren’t there to solve problems for the students, but to support them in solving the problems themselves. With that important part of our classroom culture established, we can move to focusing on the strategies that students might need.

Here’s one way I do this in the classroom:

I show the broken escalator video to the class. Since my students are fourth graders, they think it’s hilarious and immediately start exclaiming, “Just get off! Walk!”

When the video is over, I say, “Many of us, probably all of us, are like the man in the video yelling for help when we get stuck. When we get stuck, we stop and immediately say ‘Help!’ instead of embracing the challenge and trying new ways to work through it.” I often introduce this lesson during math class, but it can apply to any area of our lives, and I can refer to the experience and conversation we had during any part of our day.

Research shows that just because students know the strategies does not mean they will engage in the appropriate strategies. Therefore, I try to provide opportunities where students can explicitly practice learning how, when, and why to use which strategies effectively  so that they can become self-directed learners.

For example, I give students a math problem that will make many of them feel “stuck”. I will say, “Your job is to get yourselves stuck—or to allow yourselves to get stuck on this problem—and then work through it, being mindful of how you’re getting yourselves unstuck.” As students work, I check-in to help them name their process: “How did you get yourself unstuck?” or “What was your first step? What are you doing now? What might you try next?” As students talk about their process, I’ll add to a list of strategies that students are using and, if they are struggling, help students name a specific process. For instance, if a student says he wrote the information from the math problem down and points to a chart, I will say: “Oh that’s interesting. You pulled the important information from the problem out and organized it into a chart.” In this way, I am giving him the language to match what he did, so that he now has a strategy he could use in other times of struggle.

The charts grow with us over time and are something that we refer to when students are stuck or struggling. They become a resource for students and a way for them to talk about their process when they are reflecting on and monitoring what did or did not work.

For me, as a teacher, it is important that I create a classroom environment in which students are problem solvers. This helps tie struggles to strategies so that the students will not only see value in working harder but in working smarter by trying new and different strategies and revising their process. In doing so, they will more successful the next time around.

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11 Books That Help Empower Little Kids to Solve Big Problems

by Meghan Fitzgerald

Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts

Mindset: There are problems to solve all around us.

The only thing better than Beatty’s masterful rhymes are her marvelous characters. In Ada Twist, Scientist , she nails the curiosity and inquiry that drives a true problem seeker and solver. Our kids love this one, and we hope it inspires them to take on the mindset that there are problems to solve all around us. As parents, we love how this book both acknowledges some of the lumpier parts that come along with supporting genuine problem solving in our kids and reminds us that it’s so worth it in the end.

Stuck by Oliver Jeffers, 

Mindset: Problem solving can be fun (or at least quite silly).

Although we would never advocate throwing objects into trees, we cannot help but love this book. This whimsical tale shows a young boy, Floyd, as he attempts to solve an all too familiar problem—his kite is stuck in a tree! Floyd’s approach makes kids of all ages smirk and squeal with delight. When we read this, we enjoy acting amazed as the situation grows more and more outrageous. The book gets our kids talking, too. Even our youngest has ideas about why Floyd’s plan is not ideal and can share how she’d go about getting that kite un-stuck. 

What Do You Do With a Problem? by Kobi Yamada, illustrated by Mae Besom

Mindset: I have the resources to solve problems.

Even though our goal is for problem solving to be joyful , sometimes real problems are daunting, especially to kids who may not yet realize that they have the capacity to solve them. This beautiful follow up to Yamada and Besom's What Do You Do with an Idea helps kids see a child really wrestle with a problem and gives everyone a way to talk about the opportunity available in every problem, even the ones that seem hard.

Cat and Bunny by Mary Lundquist 

Mindset: Sometimes the key to solving a problem is teamwork and inclusion.

When a new friend asks to join Cat and Bunny’s tight-knit two-friend circle, Bunny says yes, but Cat’s not so sure. The changing dynamics of friendship can be tough for kids to navigate, and flexibility solves a lot of tricky issues. 

Going Places by Paul A. Reynolds, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

Mindset: Every problem has many different solutions.

Talk about thinking outside the box: Some kids love to follow directions. Others prefer to let their imaginations take them from challenge to solution. This book about a go-cart race that takes flight celebrates both sets of strategies.

Papa’s Mechanical Fish by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Boris Kulikov

Mindset: Creative thinking is at the heart of problem solving.

We love that this fanciful story about a dad inspired by his child’s question (“have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a fish?”) to invent the submarine is based on a real-life inventor! This story gets school-aged kids’ imaginations whirring. 

The Boy and the Airplane by Mark Pett

Mindset: Problem solving is joyful.

A little boy’s beloved toy airplane gets stuck on a roof. Through the beautiful illustrations in this wordless book, kids can work through the problem with the protagonist, and wonder how they’d go about solving it themselves. 

To the Sea by Cale Atkinson

Mindset: I have the capacity to solve any problem.

“I see you” are the magic words that kick off an epic adventure. When Tim meets a big blue whale no one else can see (no one else can see Tim, it seems to him sometimes), he’s tasked with helping his new friend find his way back to the sea. Kids will love discovering Tim’s process as he methodically sketches solutions for this massive problem. The winning strategy is a sweet surprise.

Solutions for Cold Feet (and Other Little Problems) by Carrie Sookocheff

Mindset: There are problems to solve everywhere.

Solutions abound for many of life’s little problems, as illustrated by a little girl and her dog. What if you’re caught in the rain? Faced with a boring day? Eating a fast-melting ice cream cone? Strategies range from clear to creative.

Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg  

Mindset: I have experience that I can use to solve new problems.

Kids’ problem-solving comes with lots and lots of mistakes along the way, which is the most wonderful thing about the process. This interactive book celebrates mistakes as an opportunity for new discoveries. Read it together and then make “Beautiful Oops” a family catch-phrase for turning problems into launching pads for progress.

Journey by Aaron Becker  

A girl yearning for adventure in this Caldecott Honor book makes it herself with a swipe of her red crayon. That single tool takes her on a magical trip and it’s what she uses to draw her way out of each dilemma. 

Meghan Fitzgerald

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