The Book

Little Z and Firefly is a children’s mental health book that teaches various self-help techniques. This book teaches children how to incorporate healthy coping mechanisms into their daily lives so that they eventually grow to be healthy and happy adults. Throughout their journey to “Light and Love,” Little Z and Firefly learn valuable lessons about supporting someone in a “Dark Place.”

 

Little Z and Firefly The Workbook, An Interactive Mental Health Guide, allows kids to use the same skills learned in the story in their personal lives. The guide was designed to teach parents the importance of each wellness tool and provides tips on how to best implement the strategies with their child. 

 

These books are perfect for parents, teachers, counselors, and anyone looking to find a tangible and interactive resource to help empower the young people in their lives.




I love this story! Easy to read and relatable. I think children struggling with sadness and depressive moods will understand the concept of the dark place and feeling lonely... The seven steps are great. Each task is easy to do but also aligns with some self care tips and therapeutic tips for depression... The illustrations are a big winner for me! Especially when Little Z tries to handle his dark place feelings on his own and at school! The imagery was great. Each picture tells a story.

Marquisha Dunston
Clinical Therapist, Philadelphia, PA

I think the book is really cool because it, like, teaches you a lesson. It teaches you to never give up. I think it would help kids who are going through a rough time.

Austin
11yrs, Allentown, PA

The meaning of the book is great. It shows kids what the meaning of true happiness and inner happiness is. It also shows the journey of searching for inner peace.

Amanda
12yrs, Philadelphia, PA

As a Mental Health Worker and a champion for a kinder, more compassionate, and more self-regulated world - I wholeheartedly believe that we need to begin with our youth. The problem, however, is that understanding and managing our emotions is hard. It’s hard for most adults, and even harder for the children who are looking to those adults as their compass. Little Z and Firefly takes those tough concepts and harnesses them into a beautiful story about accepting our feelings and managing our reactions.It simultaneously appeals to our children while acting as a guide for the adults responsible for teaching them. Books are meant to go beyond the pages - to make us learn, feel, and grow; this book checks all the boxes and should have a place in every classroom, home, and library.

Kelly Andreas
Mental Health Worker, Allentown, PA

It’s a really great book that has a good meaning behind it.

Kennedy
14yrs, Philadelphia, PA

The book was very good...It teaches kids how to not look at materialistic [things] to make them happy.

Jada
10yrs, Philadelphia, PA

This book will truly help so many families! It's a wonderful tool for parents to not only help their child, but also to help THEMSELVES help their child! Oftentimes parents want to "fix" what they think is broken in their child and I think this book offers us a way to help our child and ourselves to view this struggle as part of the journey and not try to "fix" it but learn to accept it! It teaches all of us not only the skills to cope in the moment but builds tools for lifelong acceptance for whatever struggle arises. We struggled through some very dark periods of time with my daughter and this would have been a wonderful tool to help bridge the communication and needs for our whole family, not just my daughter. It took a long time for us to realize we needed to change the way we viewed our situation and walk alongside our daughter instead of in front of her expecting her to follow.

Tamara Baer
RN/Mom of Three, Bethlehem, PA
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