Good mental health has been steadily declining and is one of the biggest current public health issues that impacts all of society today. The statistics of children with a mental health problem are grim and rising. The Mental Health of Children and Young People in England report published by NHS digital saw a rise in children with mental health problems from 1 in 9 to 1 in 6 from 2017 to 2020 (2022 they remained the same). From my experience counselling adolescents, it became clear to me that when the robust foundations of good mental well-being are not built in the key window of opportunity of the early years, a crucial developmental opportunity is missed that can have lifelong implications. 

It is believed that children who have the encouragement to learn and understand social emotional skills are more likely to develop resilience, empathy, have a more positive sense of self and good mental well-being. The importance of building these foundations are stated in Development Matters, the Non-Statutory Curriculum Guidance for the EYFS (DfE, 2021): 

Three areas are particularly important for building a foundation for igniting  

children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, forming relationships and thriving.  

These are the prime areas:  

• communication and language 

• physical development 

• personal, social and emotional development

It goes on to state that: 

Personal, Social and Emotional Development  

Children’s personal, social and emotional development (PSED) is crucial for  

children to lead healthy and happy lives, and is fundamental to their cognitive  

development. Underpinning their personal development are the important  

attachments that shape their social world. Strong, warm and supportive  

relationships with adults enable children to learn how to understand their own  

feelings and those of others ... These attributes will provide a secure platform

from which children can achieve at school and in later life.

When my son was born in 2019, I noticed his language, communication and physical development was tracked with interest by healthcare professionals, there were key developmental milestones to reach and guidance was accessible. 

Reflecting on my own childhood I could see that although we have come a long way in 40 years, social and emotional development is a relatively new idea. Resources are catching up and helping primary care givers to encourage these vital skills, however story books in the mainstream that explore all other manor of learning far outweigh any with emotional development as the cornerstone. This disproportionate amount puzzled me when PSED has been highlighted as crucial. 

Learning through play is one of the best ways for children to learn as they are more likely to retain information in a multi-sensory play environment. Story time is an excellent opportunity to open up conversations, expose children to different situations and build a safe open connected space to explore emotions. 

I have always had a passion for writing and unable to find a picture book that even uttered the word 'Mental Health' I decided to write my own. Yet even as a qualified counsellor I found myself questioning if the words 'Mental Health' were appropriate to include in a children’s picture book? I wondered why we are so quick to talk about physical health yet mental health still feels taboo? Could this be part of the mental health problem? Our resistance to acknowledge our reactions and feelings towards difficulties we face because of an archaic stigma? 

A child’s mental health is just as important as their physical health and they deserve the same quality support. No-one would feel embarrassed about seeking help for a child if they broke their arm and we really should be equally ready to support a child coping with emotional difficulties.

Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Cambridge 

It is for this reason that my books go beyond story time and have social emotional development learning opportunities at their heart. The common themes woven between the pages are empathy, resilience, mindfulness and difference. 

Empathy is a key component to building healthy relationships and like any skill it can be taught and encouraged. Reading a story book that has characters experiencing a range of different emotions or difficult situations can help to open up conversations. Talking to a young person about how that character might be feeling, if they can relate to that feeling or experience, how might they have solved the issue themselves, gives the child the opportunity to recognise and build a vocabulary around their own and others' emotions. Blue printing conflict resolution, kindness, connection and resilience helps to expose a child to situations at a reflective distance, enabling them to learn in a safe, contained environment. This will provide them with the foundations to help support them when they experience difficulties in their own life. 

Helping to develop skills such as resilience can help children to manage stress and uncertainty better, they are more able to recover from setbacks and in turn become more confident in their ability when other problems arise. 

I trained as a person-centred counsellor (Carl Rogers approach) and during my own personal development I learnt the theories surrounding self-worth are key to building confidence in one's own valuing system. This trust in our own judgment equates to resilience when things don't go to plan, we trust our self and our value is found internally. If we grow up in an environment where conditions are put on our worth, being accepted and acceptable become paramount to our self-worth. Our worth is then reliant on external factors so the approval of others becomes crucial to our psychological well-being.  

It was important to me that my stories didn't blueprint an unobtainable "happily ever after". That learning to accept one's unique self while navigating life's inevitable ups and downs is a far more empowering end destination. The ingredient for self-acceptance does not come in the form of a knight in shining armour: as in life, it is reliant on yourself. 

Mindfulness is a powerful aid to self-regulation. We help little ones with important new strategies to aid development in any skill they are required to master, but again self-regulation has only more recently been highlighted as a skill they might require focused assistance with. Just like reading or mathematics the more support and encouragement for PSED provided in the early years setting and home environment alike increases the likelihood that the child will become proficient in that area. Focusing in the moment to calm racing thoughts, encouraging the child at a reflective distance to identify coping strategies that were helpful for a key character or identifying what is helpful for them, and also things that don't help, can all be explored in conversations after reading a carefully chosen story. 

Self-discovery and mental well-being is not ‘one size fits all’ and often a ‘work in progress’ - that is why through my writing I hope to encourage exploration of self and ultimately self-worth and self-acceptance by modelling it through the stories of others. I am aware that sometimes it can be tricky to know where to start and how to consolidate the learning from a story, this is why I like to include a few helpful exercises and topics to explore once the story is over.

We all want our children to thrive, and wish to protect them from difficulties. Sadly we are not always able to do this, but one of the best ways to help is by building these important life skills that they can carry with them into their futures. In my opinion story time is a wonderful starting point. 

You can read about Hannah’s books in this article by Caroline Vollans here on the FSF.

To find out more about Hannah and her books you can visit her Instagram @h.j.peckham

You can order Hannah’s books at Waterstones or Amazon.

Keep an eye out for Hannah’s new book, The Get Well Spell, which will be out on 1^st Feb, in time for Children’s Mental Health Week. Sales of the book will support The Rockinghorse Children's Charity - you can find out more in this Forum post.