PVPF 2024

Children's Mindfulness Books Are a Boom Trend in Publishing

The latest booming trend in publishing is mindfulness books for kids as young as two
on Nov 15, 2022

The latest booming trend in publishing is mindfulness books for kids as young as two, according to the sector, with kids themselves requesting more books to help them understand their feelings.

Since 2021, sales of books for children under 10 that deal with emotions and mental health concerns have increased about 40% year over year, according to publishers like Magic Cat Publishing.

According to Kate Manning, director of marketing and publicity at Magic Cat, these books currently make up 25% of the company's publication list. The publisher has decided to broaden the genre in response to the popularity and will soon reveal a new line of books for kids above the age of 10.

The choice, she added, "has evolved to become the foundation of our publication. It's very much a response to different recent findings on how Covid, climate change, and now the cost of living has directly harmed children."

Manning also cited the Ofsted annual report, which concluded that the epidemic had a severe impact on the social and emotional requirements of even the youngest children.

According to the survey, this generation is more likely than previous age groups to experience mental health issues.

Although there have always been a few books on the list that deal with mindfulness, it has lately been a conscious choice to look into how mindfulness practices might support many of the books we are procuring.

The number of children's titles released this year in the genre of mental health and anxiety is up 18% from this point in 2021 and up 76% from this point in 2019, before the epidemic, according to Nielsen Bookscan statistics on children's books.

However, publishers claim that the rise is not the result of overly concerned parents: According to Nielsen's Understanding the Children's Book Consumer survey, more than 850,000 kids up to the age of 17 indicate they like reading books about mental health, self-esteem, and personal development.

Magic Cat is not alone in this endeavor; HarperCollins discovered that its significant new Mr. Men Little Miss Discover You series, which examines feelings and wellbeing, was such a hit that it has ordered four further works for spring publication.

With the release of a new version of the best-selling book Failosophy for Children ages 12 and above by Elizabeth Day in January, the genre will also be extended to older kids.

Little Big Feelings is a series of books for toddlers that MacMillan Children's Publishing also published; there are already eight volumes in the series. Every book includes advice from parenting professionals.

There is a real appetite for these books, particularly when they are written by authors with established expertise, according to Laura Horsley, publishing director for Hachette Children's nonfiction list. For instance, just a few weeks ago, Dr. Alex George's book A Better Day: Your Positive Mental Health Handbook shot to the top of the children's nonfiction chart.

Additionally, bookstores report a rise in parents purchasing these books for very young children. It began during the epidemic, according to Natasha Radford, co-owner of the Chicken and Frog Bookshop in Essex. However, she noted that demand had grown and was now reaching young teens as well as preschoolers.

"We have witnessed an increase in the volume and diversity of books produced on mindfulness and anxiety directed towards children from the publishers," said Annie Rhodes from the Norfolk Children's Book Centre.

These include everything from board books for young children to teen-oriented manuals. "Teachers also contact us for advice on these subjects because they've noticed a rise in concern among their students and need the tools to assist them to lead and counsel the kids,"

The expansion of titles was greatly needed, according to Tamara Macfarlane, proprietor of the acclaimed children's bookshop Tales on Moon Lane in Herne Hill, southeast London. "There was virtually nothing to give up until quite recently," she remarked. "The increase in children's emotion-related books has been a positive reflection of this generation's publishers, booksellers, writers, illustrators, parents, and teachers' understanding of the topic and the significance of children's emotional literacy."