The Invisible String: book recommendation

The Invisible String

By Patrice Karst

This is a simple picture book that centres around two kids asleep at night who are woken up by a scary thunderstorm. They race out for comfort from their mother, but are then a bit too scared to go back to bed without her.

The children’s mother then tells them a story about the ‘invisible string’, a string that connects all people who love each other. The string is always there, and connects people who love each other even when they’re apart.

It’s a great book to introduce the concept of connection while people are apart, and the use of the string gives helps make the concept easy to understand. Kids from about age 4 can grasp the concepts – and although it’s a picture book kids of bigger ages will like it too. Some parts are a bit humorous which always helps engage the tweens. Having this shared idea of how to talk about connection also helps other people like teachers use the same language to reassure your child.

I read this book early on with my kids, and even as they grew older they would refer to being connected by the string. In one heart-warming moment years later, I caught the older one reassuring the younger one that it’s ok because we’re all connected by the invisible string. I think it’s a great choice.

Below is a link to a video where the book is read out loud – this can be a great way to see if a book would suit your child before you buy it or borrow it from the library.

This book is helpful for children with separation anxiety, and is one of my tips to manage this. You can read more in this blog post.