Using Quality Literature to Talk to Your Child About Difficult Topics Deb Norris August 22, 2023

A training for adults who are interested in using intentional language when talking about difficult topics with children. Difficult topics include - death, trauma, sexual abuse, sex, gender, current events (war, racial violence, pandemic) that may be causing higher levels of distress. It is our responsibility as adults to ensure that the children in our lives are feeling heard and understood as well as being given developmentally appropriate information about what they may be exposed to or making meaning of in their own way. When we discuss what we perceive to be difficult topics with children, we are giving them information they may need, recognizing the emotions that may be connected to these topics and supporting their beliefs and values for how these difficult topics are infiltrating into their lives. Please join a library director and a child’s mental health clinician in a 4-hour training on how to discuss difficult topics with your child using quality children’s literature. Please come prepared with an open mind to learn ways to discuss difficult topics with children in this hands-on training. After completing this learning module, participants will: Increase their understanding of young child development on how the young child may conceptualize death, trauma, sexual abuse, sex, gender, current events Recognize their own feelings about difficult topics and consider how to support children with a sometimes-uncomfortable topic Develop a plan for when to talk to their children about difficult topics Gather resources for support when discussing difficult topics with their children, including quality children’s literature from the public library Build confidence in addressing the needs of children so that these topics may no longer be viewed as “difficult”.