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Ruben Bell Books

For grown-ups

None of this is required reading. It is simply what tends to work when a picture book is the way in to a conversation.

Before you read

Before you read

  • Pick the world that matches what is actually happening this week, not the one that sounds most improving.
  • Read it yourself first if you can, so you know where the quiet part is.
  • Put the phone in another room. Approximately ten minutes is the whole ask.

While you read

  • Let them stop you. A question in the middle is worth more than a tidy reading.
  • Point at faces. What does she look like she's feeling is an easier door than any sentence you could write.
  • Read the character's mistake without editorial. They will notice it on their own.

After you read

  • Ask one of the questions. Whichever one you would actually like to know the answer to.
  • Answer it yourself as well, honestly and briefly.
  • Let it end there. The subject is now open, and it will come back on its own.

How to use the questions without it becoming an interrogation

  • Three questions in a row turn a story into a test, and children can tell. One is plenty to start with. 
  • Ask about the character before you ask about the child. The distance is the whole reason a story works.
  • A shrug is a complete answer. It usually means the thought has not finished arriving.
  • If they change the subject, let them. Nothing is lost — you both know the subject exists now.

Open questions that work with any picture book

  • What do you think happened just after the last page?
  • Who in this story would you want to sit next to?
  • Was anybody being unfair? What would you have done instead?
  • Which part would you change if it were your story?
  • Did anyone in the story feel the way you felt today?

Three small things to try this week

Name one feeling out loud, about yourself

At some point today, say what you are feeling and why, in one plain sentence. Nothing more is needed. A child who hears it done learns that it can be done.

Wait for something together

Choose something small you both want, and put it off until tomorrow on purpose. Talk about the waiting while it is happening rather than afterwards.

Notice who was left out

On the way home, ask who played with whom today. Not as an inquiry — as a habit of noticing. It becomes their habit surprisingly fast.

At home, at school, in a group

At home

One book, one child, ten minutes, most nights. The questions can wait for the car.

At school

Read aloud to the group and ask one question, then let the class talk with each other. The conversation is the actual lesson.

In a group

In a library session or a reading circle, the characters give a whole group something safely outside themselves to talk about.

Downloadable resources

These are being written. Leave your email and you'll be told when each one is ready. Nothing is linked here until it exists.

  • Discussion guide

    Coming soon

    [DISCUSSION GUIDE PDF — NOT YET AVAILABLE]

  • Talk About It question cards

    Coming soon

    [DISCUSSION GUIDE PDF — NOT YET AVAILABLE]

  • Classroom read-aloud notes

    Coming soon

    [DISCUSSION GUIDE PDF — NOT YET AVAILABLE]

For schools and libraries

Class sets, library orders and read-aloud sessions are all possible, and are arranged by email while the imprint is this small. Tell us roughly what you need and you'll get a straight answer.

Ask about schools and libraries

How to read and talk together

  • Read it once for the story alone. The questions can wait for another night, or for tomorrow in the car.
  • Ask about the character rather than the child. What do you think Ruby was feeling is an easier question to answer than what were you feeling.
  • Let a shrug be an answer. Silence often means the thought is still arriving.
  • Say what you think too. A child who hears a grown-up admit to finding something hard learns more from that than from any question.

These are picture books, not therapy, and not a substitute for professional support. They're a way in to a conversation.