Teaching children to deal with disappointment and see things more positively

When things don't go our way, the Disappointment Dragon can come to visit and take us down to his home in the Valley of Despair…

The Disappointment Dragon sometimes comes to see us all and, if we let him, he can make us feel sad or angry. He visits Bobby when he is not picked for the school football team, he also finds Lucinda when she has to miss an exciting school trip because she has the Chicken Pox. He even tries to take the whole of Class Three down to the Valley of Despair when their favourite teacher moves away. Will the Dragon of Hope be able to chase away the Disappointment Dragon and help them see things more positively?

The fun characters in this charming, fully illustrated storybook will help children to cope with, and discuss openly, their feelings of disappointment. There are many creative suggestions on how to banish the Disappointment Dragon and an introduction for adults explaining disappointment in children and how they can help.

"This is a great therapeutic story book which cleverly conceptualizes the feeling of disappointment as a dragon... Written by a Specialist Advisory Teacher for autism, with more than 35 years' experience in education... aimed at any child who may be struggling to deal with their emotions when things don't always go to plan, the visual concept would particularly appeal to children with autism, helping them to understand the feeling of disappointment. This book serves as an excellent discussion point about coping strategies and "armour" that can help the children to fight off the disappointment dragon... At the end of the story, there are notes and discussion point with additional strategies to try. I would definitely recommend this book to parents and teachers (both special needs and mainstream) to read with their children and to implement the strategies." - AuKids magazine, Summer 2014

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This book is much more than a picture book for children...The author's intention is to model for children how to manage complex emotions such as disappointment... The book includes information for adults and a list of techniques for children that teachers, parents and professionals will find helpful.... The stories in the book could be
used by parents and professionals as a tool to support children in exploring their own experiences of disappointment and other emotions. The colourful descriptive examples not only bring the story alive, but give examples of when disappointment may arise so children can then link back to their own experience.