Summer Transition and Siblings
By: Dr. Janie Avant
Summer can be a fun-filled time to create family memories. Vacations, local trips to the park and library, sleep-overs and camp-outs! So many things to do that the typical school year doesn’t permit. On the flip side - the structure that drives the school year is upended during those summer months. That can create tensions and anxieties that may show up as siblings who struggle to get along as they spend hours together that are normally spent in school and with friends.
The Nora Project has a solution - shared reading with the family, with a focus on books that highlight feelings, siblings, empathy, and kindness.
Get started with Cranky Right Now by Julie Berry. This picture book features a young girl who is feeling very cranky, and her moods are affecting her actions, especially toward her sibling! Sound familiar? Using the story’s descriptions of situations and feelings can be an opportunity to help children relate to their own situations and feelings. Being able to identify how your emotions can affect your actions is a first step toward taking steps to handle those emotions and actions in a positive manner.
It has been said that “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me!” Nope, we have learned that words can be positive and helpful, but also very hurtful, with long-lasting repercussions. Using the book Words and Your Heart by Kate Jane Neal can guide children to the realization that what they say matters - a LOT! In the heat of the moment, as siblings argue, words can be said (shouted!) that will be impossible to take back! Developing empathy can be viewed as a step toward righting actions, including words, that can be harmful to others, and this book can be a bridge to that understanding.
Once children recognize that what they say and do can have a positive or a negative result, they will need help finding ways to be positive and kind. The Nora Project can recommend two books to aid children in recognizing and using kind words and actions, not only with their siblings, but with all family members, as well as neighbors and friends. Bucket Filling from A-Z by Carol McCloud and Caryn Butzke takes readers through the alphabet, providing concrete examples of ways to demonstrate kindness and empathy. A fun summer activity could be to create buckets for each member of the family (with expansion to neighbors and friends), then spending the summer “competing” with each other to fill everyone’s buckets! A positive take on sibling rivalry!
Finish up with The Jelly Donut Difference: Sharing Kindness with the World by Maria Dismondy. This story gives readers the chance to see bucket filling in action as two siblings work to spread kindness through random acts toward their family and neighbors. Reading together and taking action to show empathy and kindness can lead to a summer filled with more fun and less sibling tension!
As always, Team TNP is asking for your input! Please continue to let us know what you think about the books we have chosen to highlight, and tag us on social media (Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram) with book recommendations. Let us know about your summer of kindness and empathy!
A light blue rectangle has the covers of four picture books. (From left to right) “Cranky Right Now“ by Julie Berry shows two siblings, one playing a kazoo and the other annoyed by it. “Words and your Heart“ by Kate Jane Neal is a red book with a cartoon person holding a balloon, “Bucket Filling from A to Z” by Carol McCloud and Caryn Butzke has an illustration of children putting letters into pails. “The Jelly Donut Difference“ by Maria Dismondy shows a brother and sister holding platters of donuts in a bakery.
About the Author: Dr. Janie Avant is a retired teacher with 40 years of experience working with children with a wide range of disabilities. She continues to work as an early intervention specialist with children birth to age 3 with disabilities, and is a Program Advisor for The Nora Project.
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