Would you find books like this helpful for your child?

[EtherealSKWrites]

Hi all,

I’d really value some honest input from parents if that’s okay.

I’ve recently created a couple of children’s books based on real-life experiences — one around a child feeling different (in this case vitiligo), and another about children living between two homes after separation.

They’re designed to gently support things like confidence, emotions, and helping children understand change.

As a parent, would you find books like this helpful for your child, or is there something you feel is missing when it comes to supporting children emotionally?

I’m genuinely trying to understand what actually helps from a parent’s perspective, so any thoughts (positive or critical!) would be really appreciated.

I would find them useful but it's quite a saturated market.

I would imagine problems may arise if the real life experience in the book doesn’t match or fit with another person’s experience. I think children, especially small children, lack the ability to understand things from someone else’s perspective and that is why most kids books are much more general.
I think if it’s about something that is relatively rare, there will be limited interest naturally.
I notice that a lot of the books I have for kids about managing emotions or explaining tricky concepts or adverse experiences are written by qualified professionals like child psychology experts etc. I would imagine a lot of parents would prefer these kinds of books.

This is actually really helpful feedback, thank you — I really appreciate the honesty.

The intention behind the books isn’t so much to focus on one specific situation, but more to support the feelings around them — things like confidence, feeling different, or navigating change.

For example, while one story includes vitiligo, the aim is really about helping any child who might feel different or unsure of themselves.

I completely understand the point about professionally written books too — I’m currently training as a counsellor and have worked closely with children, which is a big part of why I wanted to create something that feels both gentle and supportive, rather than just a story.

Out of interest, what would make a book feel genuinely useful to you as a parent?

Most kids books are about celebrating differences , my son brought home a book from school where the main character had vitiligo, not mentioned in the story

i always think it best to write a cracking story with engaging adventure and the character just happens to be in a wheelchair or have vitiligo

id prefer a good fun story over a miserable
“ worthy” “Sad-face” story any day

Thanks, this is really helpful and I appreciate the honesty.

I completely get the point about not wanting something that feels too “worthy” — I agree kids connect more with a good story first. That’s definitely something I’m taking on board, making sure it feels engaging rather than heavy.

Out of interest, what kinds of stories do your kids tend to enjoy most?

yes, I hear you on it being a saturated market too — I think that’s why I’m trying to focus more on the emotional side and real-life experiences, but I can see how it should feel relevant to more children.

Why are you writing your post am responding with AI?

Are these information books or story books?
Picture books or longer novels?
A lot of books like this already exist.
Jacqueline Wilson wrote The Suitcase Kid back in the 90s (a novel about a child living back and forth between two homes) so it's not exactly a new plot.
What is different about your books that will make them special?

Honestly, my kid tends to like stories with good quality illustrations that are funny and entertaining. Sometimes they just want to be entertained rather than taught a lesson. Books can be useful for explaining particular things but you can barely find a book for young kids these days that isn’t driving home some point about some deep issue or other. Reading should be fun for kids at least for the most part. How would most adults feel if almost everything they were given to read was for self improvement or a some sort of how to manual?
It is different if you are only talking about books for the purpose of helping them to understand a specific subject like sharing/ manners, emotions, making friends, bereavement etc. I have used a number of those to explain managing big emotions, calming down techniques etc because this is something my child struggles with. They have helped but we are now working with a child psychologist. The psychologists were very impressed with the techniques we were already using and we explained that we had learned them from the books. The information in those books was written by experts in child psychology. That’s why they were so valuable. They gave us practical advice through tips for parents at the bottom of each page which was basically a crash course in what you will learn in the first few sessions with a psychologist.

🥴 Hey! I am not using AI to reply. I am just trying to answer properly and take on the feedback which is being shared.

The books I have created are picture books rather than longer novels, with the primary focus being storytelling.

The books do include some gentle extras at the end (like simple prompts, space to draw, and a short note for parents), but they’re optional rather than part of the main story — more there if a parent wants to use them.

@EtherealSKWrites I personally think with picture books you have to have really good illustrations.
Are you the illustrator too?

Another AI response.

You are entitled to have an opinion. Thank you.

I do not create the illustrations myself, I am not much of an artist in that respect.

The feedback I have received on the copies I have already shared/ sold has been positive, with positive comments being received about the illustrations. - Thank you.

I was an avid Jaqueline Wilson fan as a child; whilst the concept is similar, my books are different with their context, delivery and the overall message I am trying to convey by sharing my stories.

Would the plan be to sell them via specific publishers/websites (where people are actively seeking out books with "issues") or general sale via Waterstones etc?
I think if they are sold for use in schools/therapists/hospitals etc they will probably sell just fine.
If you are aiming for general sale then they will need to be something very special to be noticed amongst the 100s of other picturebooks.
Books like this already exist but there's no reason yours wouldn't sell if they are quality enough.

Don’t do the illustrations with AI, op.
Someone I know did this and it looks really crap. It’s so easy to do, the world is going to be awash with people creating kids’ picture books soon. You won’t be able to give them away.

That’s a really good point actually.

At the moment they’re just on general sale (Amazon) but I do like the idea of them being used more in settings like schools or with therapists as well, as that’s probably where they’re most useful.

I agree though — if they’re going to sit alongside lots of other picture books, they need to feel like a genuinely good story first, not just something “issue-based”.

Definitely something I’m still figuring out!