Did the Mr Men series fashion your childhood as it did mine? Well, the Discover You Mr Men Books has grown to include ten new books with the latest titles being created with the help of children’s clinical psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Kilbey. From Little Miss Hug to Mr Calm, find out more about that a little later on in the show.
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00:00 Sometimes it's the small things like holding the door open when Little Miss Busy had her
00:06 hands full. Are you kind like Mr Happy?
00:10 From Mr Bump to Mr Tickle and my personal favourite, Little Miss Princess. From their
00:14 conception in 1971, the Mr Men series of books have been a staple for each generation since.
00:20 And now, ten new books are being added to the series with the aim of helping adults
00:25 talk openly to children about their mental health and wellbeing. With the help of children's
00:29 clinical psychologist Dr Elizabeth Kilby, it's hoped that parents can help children
00:34 explore different emotions from happy to sad to everything in between.
00:38 You know, you might say I've got a headache or I've had a cold, but we really don't feel
00:42 comfortable talking about our feelings. And the thing that I want to change through the
00:46 use of these books is to give parents the vocabulary to talk to their children so actually
00:51 the next generation doesn't feel quite so restrained talking about this stuff. I think
00:56 they're all still true to the original kind of principle, which is taking something that's
01:01 kind of complicated human characteristics, personality traits, and giving them to a character
01:06 in a way that children can kind of really relate to and can understand. And I'm really
01:10 excited about the sort of new modern characters and also the stories that we can tell with
01:15 them because it's really relatable to where young people are at the moment. And I think
01:20 that's the bit that really brings it into the kind of, you know, into 2023.
01:25 86% of UK adults aged 25 to 34 agree that reading with children creates a safe space
01:32 to have open conversations. Dr Elizabeth is encouraging families to read together and
01:37 help allow these conversations to be had. Some of these new titles include Caring with
01:41 Little Miss Hug and Feeling Sad with Mr Jelly and Little Miss Curious.
01:45 And I think what worries parents is that exactly that point that they think they've got to
01:49 tell children how they're feeling and then they think I'm going to worry them or I'm
01:52 going to kind of put too much burden on them. But what we're saying is actually being able
01:57 to talk about your feelings is really as important as being able to talk about your kind of physical
02:01 well-being. So what we're talking about here is being able to label feelings like in this
02:06 situation, you know, certainly really young children, they might be feeling a whole storm
02:09 of things and you can say, I think you're feeling cross. I think you're feeling cross
02:12 because this has happened. And when you feel cross, kind of what happens in your body.
02:17 So it's teaching them to kind of identify those sensations. Like when you've got that
02:21 kind of worried feeling butterflies in your tummy, we might know what that is because
02:24 we're adults. But actually explaining that to children, that's a sign that you're worried
02:28 about something. Maybe we can talk about what you're worried about. You can see how this
02:31 whole process is teaching them to gain mastery over their feelings. So that's what we want.
02:36 According to a study by the Children's Society, one in six children aged five to 16 are likely
02:41 to have a mental health problem. In the last three years, the likelihood of young people
02:45 having a mental health problem has increased by 50%.
02:50 What I really hope is that we're taking the sort of characters that we all know and love,
02:54 but actually sort of bringing the topics that are relevant to young people now. That then
02:59 becomes part of what they talk about with their friends.
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