Short description:

This beautifully illustrated and sensitive storybook is designed to be used therapeutically by professionals and caregivers supporting children with a parent who is suffering from depression. With engaging, gentle and colourful illustrations, it tells the story of a girl who is helped to feel less isolated from her parents? depression.

Long description:

This beautifully illustrated and sensitive storybook is designed to be used therapeutically by professionals and caregivers supporting children with a parent who is suffering from depression. With engaging, gentle and colourful illustrations that can be used to prompt conversation, it tells the story of a girl who is helped to feel less isolated from her parents? depression.

This book is also available to buy as part of the Therapeutic Fairy Tales set. Therapeutic Fairy Tales is a series of short modern tales dedicated to exploring challenging life situations that might be faced by young children. Each short story is designed to be used by professionals and caregivers as they use stories therapeutically to support children?s mental and emotional health.

Other books in the series include:

• Storybook Manual: An Introduction To Working With Storybooks Therapeutically And Creatively


• The Night Crossing: A Lullaby For Children On Life's Last Journey


• The Storm: For Children Growing Through Parent?s Separation 

Designed to be used with children aged 7+, each story has an accompanying online resource, offering therapeutic prompts and creative exercises to support the practitioner. These resources can also be adapted for wider use with siblings and other family members.

The Island ? part of the Therapeutic Fairy Tales series ? is born out of a creative collaboration between Pia Jones and Sarah Pimenta.

A gentle story of the importance of seeking help when family members and others around the child may be struggling. The Island supports children who may feel alone, encouraging them to reach out for kindness and support.

This sensitively written and delightfully illustrated book will reassure young children who are isolated by living with a parent with a mental health problem, that it is not their fault and it is not their job to fix a parent?s illness. It opens up a dialogue for a child to acknowledge a range of emotions that they may be experiencing.

The Island sensitively depicts the isolation and loneliness a child may feel living with a parent with depression. The story allows for discussion with the child to explore their caring role and the self-blame felt by children who have a lived experience of parental mental health. The story gives a powerful message, encouraging a child to share their experiences and opening up conversations about this difficult subject.

The power of these stories lies in their deeper natural and archetypal metaphor, something like the deeper Mother Earth continuity below any surface. Before even reading any of these Therapeutic Fairy-Tales, you feel their tenderness through the stunningly beautiful illustrations.

Table of Contents:

A Word of Caution  The Island: For children with a parent living with depression