Psychological Safety Books for Children

Psychological Safety Books for Children

In 2020, we shared a collection of the best books about psychological safety. 

As new books were published (and there have been a lot of them about psychological safety!), we’ve added to and refined the list, and it has expanded into related concepts such as human error, power, and culture. We’ve also used this list to share the core texts that support our Psych Safety Train The Trainer course, alongside other books that add value and insight.

Here, however, is our list of the top psychological safety books for children. We believe children deserve psychological safety just as much as adults (maybe even more so?). All children should know that they can speak up, ask questions and share things they are worried about. Crucially, they also need to know that it’s ok to make mistakes. 

These wonderful books address those challenges. Some focus on learning from mistakes, some on finding your voice, some on resolving conflict and some on kindness and inclusivity. All are great for building empathy, generating new ideas and opening up a dialogue with children about how we can build a kinder, more inclusive and safer world. 

“It’s OK to Make Mistakes” by Annelies Draws

This is a wonderful book to read too or with young children. It reminds us that we don’t need to be perfect, and mistakes are proof that we’re learning, growing and improving. It’s colourfully illustrated in a gorgeous retro style, and is very robust and chewable! We’ve also spotted two mistakes in it, and have no idea if they’re intentional or not!

“Say Something” by Peter H. Reynolds

A fantastically motivational book for children, encouraging them to speak up about injustice, share their ideas, and find their voice, in whatever way works for them. As you’ll read in “Say Something,” some people find it easier to say something than others, but everyone has something to say, and speaking up doesn’t have to be verbal either. 

“Bird and Bear” by Ranae Wooley

Mary Parker Follett taught not just about organisational dynamics and power, but about conflict resolution, and this lovely MPF-inspired book by Ranae Wooley tells a story about how two friends, Bear and Bird, work out their differences by thinking beyond the obvious solutions of fighting it out or compromise. Bear and Bird learn that sometimes the best idea hasn’t been thought of yet. This is a good one to remind us all that psychological safety doesn’t mean the absence of conflict – it’s about being able to effectively discuss, address and resolve it. 

Kindness Makes Us Strong by Sophie Beer

From sharing our crayons to cheering on and encouraging your friends, this colourful and lovely book by Sophie Beer highlights practical things we can do in our day-to-day lives to demonstrate kindness, and be more inclusive and supportive. Of course all these help to build psychologically safer spaces for both children and adults. 

“The Invisible Boy” by Trudy Ludwig

The Invisible Boy is a beautiful, at times heart-wrenching story that explores what it means to be included or excluded, and how that can make us feel. Its protagonist is Brian, a boy who feels as though no one, not even his teacher, sees him at school – he feels invisible.  However when a new student joins the class, he and Brian begin to forge a friendship. As their budding friendship develops, the illustrated Brian gradually turns from pale monochrome into vibrant colour, and smiles. It’s a powerful book to use to discuss friendships and feelings and develop empathy, which of course is a core element of fostering psychological safety.

“Beautiful Oops!”

This brightly coloured, highly interactive and playful book encourages young children to embrace their mistakes and turn them into something beautiful – a “beautiful oops”! It shows us the value of adapting and seeing mistakes as an opportunity to flip our thinking, creating new ideas, innovating, and trying things out. What we try may not work, but it might just turn out better than we could have imagined.

Children’s books have a remarkable power: they help young minds understand the world, each other, and themselves in a gentle and safe way. The books in this collection beautifully illustrate what psychological safety can look and feel like for children, whether that’s embracing mistakes, finding the courage to speak up, or learning to navigate conflicts with kindness and understanding.

Sharing these stories with children not only nurtures their empathy, compassion and confidence but also opens up essential conversations about the kind of world we want to create together. After all, building psychological safety isn’t just about workplaces and adult environments – it permeates all of our relationships and connections with each other.

We’d love to hear your experiences too. Which books have helped your children (or those you teach or care for) feel safer, braver, and more understood? Feel free to share your recommendations with us directly or in our wonderful community, and we can keep the conversation going. 

Further Reading

The Best Books about Psychological Safety

Reading Fiction Builds Empathy

Psychological Safety Should Support DEI 

Psychological Safety and Creativity

Psychological Safety in our Personal Lives

(An honourable mention to the wonderful “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” by Dr Seuss, which does a wonderful job of describing the highs and lows, the successes and failures, that we encounter in life.)

“Wherever you fly, you’ll be the best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don’t. Because sometimes you won’t.”

-Dr. Seuss, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”

New Stickers!

We’re super excited to announce our two newest stickers!

“No Such Thing As Too Much Psychological Safety” and “Psychological Safety Looks Different For Everyone” (designed by our wonderful illustrator Deisa Tremarias) both available at our online shop, along with (nearly) all the classics!

“Human and Organisational Performance” and “Delivering Effective Feedback” Workshops

Booking is now open for “Delivering Effective Feedback” (23 September)and HOP Fundamentals (8 January 2026)!

Due to extra demand we’ve opened booking for two more online workshops. 

The success of our inaugural HOP Fundamentals workshop meant that we had to schedule another immediately, and we’ve also opened the next Feedback workshop which is already half full before even advertising it.

The Delivering Effective Feedback workshop is designed to be applicable for those working in all industries, domains and roles. It may be most useful for those with people responsibilities, including managers, leaders, trainers, supervisors and mentors. 

In the HOP Fundamentals workshop, we use the 5 principles as a scaffold to explore HOP and how to put it into practice. We cover many safety-related topics, such as human error and Work-As-Imagined vs Work-As-Done, but it is not specifically a health and safety workshop.

Join us and build understanding as well as great practices to take away and run with your own teams or clients, and meet wonderful participants from all over the world!

“Genuinely one of the most thought-provoking and practical courses I’ve attended in a long time.”

Find out more and book your place here: https://psychsafety.com/psychological-safety-training-for-individuals/