Alex and the Scary Things: A Story to Help Children Who Have Experienced Something Scary

by Melissa Moses

This is the story of Alex who has experienced 'scary things', and the different things he does to cope with all the ways these scary things make him feel. This gentle storybook will help children who have experienced trauma deal with their emotions and learn coping strategies.

By reading about the different parts of Alex that come out because of the scary things he has experienced, such as The Destroyer when he is angry, Spacey when he dissociates, and Puddles when he is sad, children will learn to recognise when they experience these emotions themselves and find solutions for overcoming them. Alex talks about the different coping strategies he uses to get back to being himself, such as breathing techniques, a counting game, painting, and finding a safe space he can go to, encouraging children to think about when they can do to help themselves handle difficult feelings.