According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, depression and anxiety have been drastically increasing in children, with 1 in 6 kids aged 2 to 8 years-old having a mental, behavioral or developmental disorder.
Carli Valentine, a local author, and illustrator from Ogden, UT, is trying to change this situation with her books.
Her most recent one, The Fun Thieves, focuses on children's mental health and the power of positive thinking in difficult situations.
“I think that books are such fun ways to help our children with difficulties that they face in life. And I think the younger you start your child reading books, and the more you read with them, the more they're going to become knowledgeable in their adult life on how to manage such difficult situations," said Valentine.
In her book, the author explores various difficult situations such as a tree stealing a child’s kite or the wind stealing a ball, and compares them to thieves because they seem to take the fun out of things. But at the end of each story, she highlights what good came out of the bad situation.
“It's easy for people to get stuck in kind of a negative thought pattern and be frustrated with what they have going on in their life," Valentine said. "But I think there are really positive things that you can gain from even the worst of situations if you look deep enough.”
Valentine hopes her book can help open conversations with kids and their parents about emotions.
“And that through reading it, they could talk about different perspectives, and maybe just their own situations in life that their kid is having a hard time with, like different frustrations," Valentine said.
The Fun Thieves: Explore the World of Positive Thinking and Learn to Look on the Bright Side includes Valentine’s own illustrations and was published on June 22.
