As the new school year , some students carry heavier worries than keeping up with homework: Demand has been growing steadily for childrenB次元官网网址檚 books that address traumatic events such as school shootings.

Sales of books for young readers on violence, grief, and emotions have increased for nine straight years, with nearly six million copies sold in 2021 B次元官网网址� more than double the amount in 2012, according to NPD BookScan, which tracks U.S. retail sales of print books.

As among young Americans, educators and advocates say childrenB次元官网网址檚 books can play a role in helping them cope.

B次元官网网址淲hile it might be second nature to try to shield kids from the harsher realities of life and scary news, itB次元官网网址檚 proving difficult to avoid big society issues,B次元官网网址� said Kristine Enderle, editorial director at Magination Press, the childrenB次元官网网址檚 book publishing arm of the American Psychological Association. B次元官网网址淜ids face these issues and challenges in their day-to-day life.B次元官网网址�

One book, B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 Not Scared B次元官网网址� IB次元官网网址檓 Prepared,B次元官网网址� was reprinted several times to meet demand after the in May, according to the National Center for Youth Issues, the nonprofit group that published the book. The story, first published in 2014, features a teacher who shows children what to do when a B次元官网网址渄angerous someoneB次元官网网址� is in their school.

Bookstores around the country see interest in titles from the genre rise and fall depending on local and national headlines, according to bookseller Barnes & Noble.

Some newer titles engage directly with real-world gun violence.

In B次元官网网址淣umb to This,B次元官网网址� a graphic novel released this month, author Kindra Neely details the 2015 Umpqua Community College shooting in Oregon, which she survived, and the aftermath as she tries to heal amid repeated shootings elsewhere. Initially, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers editorial director Andrea Colvin said she was shocked when Keely pitched the idea.

B次元官网网址淚 had to remember that, yes, this is what our stories are like now. This is what young people have experienced,B次元官网网址� Colvin said.

Michele Gay, whose 7-year-old daughter Josephine was killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, turned to childrenB次元官网网址檚 books herself to help her two surviving daughters. One picture book she read to them was B次元官网网址淭he Ant Hill Disaster,B次元官网网址� about a boy ant who is afraid to go back to school after it is destroyed.

B次元官网网址淚t was one of many books that was of comfort to them and gave them a little bit of confidence to just face one more day, one more minute, because we can do it together,B次元官网网址� said Gay, who advocates for improved security in schools through a nonprofit she co-founded, Safe and Sound Schools.

Parents should make sure books addressing trauma are age-appropriate and backed by psychologists, experts say.

ItB次元官网网址檚 important to be aware of whether children are aware of or feeling stress about frightening things in the news, said Aryeh Sova, a Chicago psychologist who works with children who attended the , where seven people were killed in a shooting. A child asking lots of questions about an event may signify that they are anxious or fixated on it, he said.

B次元官网网址淚f itB次元官网网址檚 coming from the kidB次元官网网址檚 need, then books could be a great way for kids to learn and to read together with their parents and to review it on their own and to process it at their own speed, at their own pace,B次元官网网址� Sova said.

But bringing up violence when a child isnB次元官网网址檛 worried about it could increase their anxiety unnecessarily, Sova said.

Some young children experience gun violence at alarmingly high rates, .

For them, it is important to start early to address the effects, said Ian Ellis James, an Emmy award-winning Sesame Street writer known by his stage name William Electric Black. He is the author of the illustrated childrenB次元官网网址檚 book B次元官网网址� .B次元官网网址� He said young children in areas afflicted by gun violence are more aware of it than parents may think.

B次元官网网址淭hey know about flowers and candles and cards in the street. They walk by them every day,B次元官网网址� he said.

Through childrenB次元官网网址檚 literature and theater, Black works to reduce urban gun violence. B次元官网网址淚f you start when theyB次元官网网址檙e 5, and you go back when youB次元官网网址檙e 6, 7, 8, 9, youB次元官网网址檙e going to change the behavior,B次元官网网址� he said.

In the spring, he will collaborate with New York public school P.S. 155 in East Harlem with a series of gun violence awareness and prevention workshops for early readers, using puppets, storytelling and repetition.

B次元官网网址淭hey wonB次元官网网址檛 even get rid of assault weapons here in this country. So my thing is, we have to go in and weB次元官网网址檝e got to help them help themselves save themselves,B次元官网网址� Black said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e really kind of failing at that.B次元官网网址�

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Claire Savage is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse B次元官网网址 Initiative. is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Savage on Twitter at

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This story has been corrected to reflect the organization is named the American Psychological Association, not the American Psychology Association.

Claire Savage, The Associated Press

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