5 Soothing Picture Books for Separation Anxiety

The Kissing Hand, by Audrey Penn, Ruth E. Harper, and Nancy M. Leak
This book was first published in 1993, long enough ago that some of today’s young parents might remember being comforted by it themselves. It endures because of the simple, loving advice a raccoon mother gives her son Chester, who opens the book with tears in his eyes over the prospect of heading to animal night school. Mrs. Raccoon tells him about the wonders of school, and then kisses his palm. “Whenever you feel lonely and need a little loving from home, just press your hand to your cheek and think, ‘Mommy loves you.’ And that very kiss will jump to your face and fill you with toasty warm thoughts.” Chester learns this lesson so well that he returns the favor—because it’s not just kids, but parents too who can feel separation anxiety!

The Invisible String, by Patrice Karst and Geoff Stevenson
If The Kissing Hand doesn’t convince your child that your love carries with him or her, Patrice Karst offers a different metaphor in The Invisible String. In this story with winsome wiggly-lined illustrations by Geoff Stevenson, twins Liza and Jeremy wake up in a thunderstorm, are scared, and search for their mom. They don’t want to go back to bed, so Mom tells them about the “Invisible String.” “People who love each other are always connected by a very special String made of love,” she explains. This string extends no matter where they go or what they do, from exploring jungles to outer space. The kids go to bed picturing all the invisible strings linking their friends and family, “Until everyone in the world was connected by Invisible Strings.”

Owl Babies, by Martin Waddell and Patrick Benson
Owl babies Sarah, Percy, and Bill wake one night while their mom is out hunting and freak. “I want my mommy!” Bill insists on page after page, even as Percy and Sarah try to convince him that their mom must have a good reason to be gone and that she’s sure to return. They wait and worry together, their baby owl eyes wide, until Mom returns and asks, “What’s all the fuss? You knew I’d come back.”

Henry and Leo, by Pamela Zagarenski
Sometimes the separation that’s hard to endure is not from a parent, but from a beloved possession. In Henry and Leo, when Henry is out walking with his family, carrying his stuffed lion Leo, he grows tired and falls asleep while his dad carries him home, dropping Leo. When he wakes to realize Leo is missing, he’s distraught. His family promises to go looking for Leo when day breaks. But Leo isn’t the kind of stuffed animal to sit back and wait to be rescued—in scenes enchantingly illustrated by multiple Caldecott winner Zagarenski, Leo befriends forest animals and finds his way home.

 Llama Llama Misses Mama, by Anna Dewdney
When little Llama begins school for the first time, the zebra teacher couldn’t be nicer, the classroom couldn’t be more colorful, and the friends couldn’t be more ready to play. But something is missing at school: Mama! When Llama tears up, his new classmates cheer him, and once they’re all playing together, the time passes quickly until Mama Llama returns. “Llama finds out something new,” Anna Dewdney writes, “He loves Mama…and school too!”