Lincoln – A new project at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln is helping young flood victims heal page by page, story by story.

Read for Resilience offers free storybooks with themes of coping with trauma, loss, grief and stress to Nebraska children impacted by recent flooding. The Nebraska Extension project is part of the University of Nebraska’s flood recovery services.

Read for Resilience books are available online to parents, teachers and caregivers at the website child.unl.edu/read4resilience.

“A lot of people, when they think about flood relief, think about physically rebuilding what’s been lost,” said Annabelle Bielenberg, a teaching, learning and teacher education graduate student working on the project. “Helping kids and adults cope with what they’ve been through mentally and emotionally is just as important.”

Holly Hatton-Bowers and Amy Napoli, assistant professors of child, youth and family studies and early childhood extension specialists, are lead organizers of the project. The team includes Lynn DeVries, Jaci Foged, Carrie Gottschalk, Lisa Poppe, Lee Sherry, Jackie Steffen, LaDonna Werth, Tasha Wulf, Karen Wedding and Kathleen Lodl.

 In recent weeks, the team chose nine books – such as “Once I Was Very, Very Scared” to “A Terrible Thing Happened” – for caregivers to select. The books cover a range of topics, including dealing with feelings of anxiety and learning how to persevere.

The team has created story guides for the books, which include questions to ask the child and activities such as making art and practicing deep breathing.

“We’re hoping Read for Resilience will empower caregivers of young children to support them as they cope and understand their feelings around loss or grief,” Hatton-Bowers said.

The Read for Resilience project is relying on donations to send books across the state. To donate, visit the Nebraska 4-H Foundation PayPal account online at go.unl.edu/kvpp and select Read for Resilience in the menu.

Caregivers looking for more resources to help children cope can visit the Nebraska Extension Disaster Resources website at child.unl.edu/disaster.

– UNL