Books about hard things
Hospital, a move, a new sibling. How children use their own stories to make sense of big days.
Some of the most-read MirthTale books are about difficult things. A grandmother in hospital. The first day at school. A cat that did not come home. Children reach for stories when something is too big to talk about directly, and a story they control is safer than one they don't.
Let them set the distance
A child may put themselves in the story or may put a whale in it instead. Both are fine. Do not push for the real version. The whale is doing real work.
Endings
Children often can't give an ending to a hard story, because they don't know it yet. MirthTale writes one gently, without pressing. If the ending it writes is wrong, your child will tell you, and that is a conversation worth having.
What we don't do
- We never ask a child to explain why they chose something.
- We never write a frightening ending for a young age setting.
- We never keep a story to build a profile of a child. See our Privacy Policy.
When to involve someone else
A story is not therapy, and we are not clinicians. If a child's stories worry you, talk to your paediatrician or a professional you trust. Bring the book. It may be the clearest thing they have said about it.