How to Use Stories to Talk About Difficult Topics With Kids

Why difficult conversations matter—and why they're so hard

As a parent, you care deeply about your child's emotional world. You want them to feel safe, supported and understood, especially when facing something tough—grief, bullying, anxiety about school, or a big life change. Yet knowing how to start that kind of conversation can feel overwhelming. What if you say the wrong thing? What if your child shuts down or doesn’t want to talk?

You're not alone in that struggle. Many parents share the same dilemma: you want to help, but you're not sure how to get through. Sometimes, the more you try to talk about a painful topic, the more your child seems to pull away.

Stories: A gentle bridge to big emotions

Children may not always have the words to explain how they feel. But they do have the capacity to relate—to characters, to emotion, to metaphor. This is why stories can be such an effective tool: they disarm, they invite curiosity, and they offer safe distance. Through a character’s challenge or journey, a child can see their own feelings reflected and explored—without having to directly name or claim them right away.

For example, if a child has experienced the loss of a pet or grandparent, jumping straight into a conversation about death might feel too sharp or too fast. But reading or listening to a story about a character navigating loss allows space for your child to absorb and process at their own pace.

As you read together, conversations can emerge naturally. “What do you think she’s feeling right now?” or “Have you ever felt that way?” becomes less loaded than “How are you dealing with Grandma’s death?”

Stories open doors. They don’t push—they guide.

Creating shared emotional vocabulary

Reading stories together helps build what psychologists call emotional literacy. Children learn to name emotions they haven’t expressed before, and they begin to understand how different feelings can coexist. A character who is both excited and scared to start school provides a model of complexity—a reflection that helps your child feel less alone in their own mixed emotions.

Over time, this storytelling practice builds a shared language between you and your child. You can return to the book later as a reference point: “Remember how the little lion in the story worried he wouldn’t fit in? I wonder if your nervous feelings about changing schools might be something like that.” These simple, story-based references help children feel seen without putting them on the spot.

If you’re interested in how stories build children’s confidence and expressiveness, this article explains it in more detail.

Finding the right kind of story matters

Not all stories for kids are created with emotional development in mind. Some books gloss over real struggles too quickly or avoid complexity. When choosing stories to open up difficult topics, look for those that embrace nuance and allow space for reflection:

• Stories where characters face challenges, make mistakes, and grow
• Books that avoid easy fixes, and instead explore feelings gradually
• Tales that use allegory or fantasy to create emotional distance while still being relatable

Audio stories can also be deeply effective, especially for kids who might resist sitting down with a book. The iOS / Android app LISN Kids offers a variety of original, age-appropriate audio stories that gently tackle topics like fear, friendship, resilience, or sadness. These stories can be a soothing way to wind down at bedtime or a way to spark conversation during calmer moments of the day.

Audio storytelling also encourages active listening—a skill closely tied to empathy and emotional understanding. If you’re curious, this article explores that connection more deeply.

Timing is everything

When it comes to raising sensitive subjects, timing often matters more than wording. Trying to have a serious talk when your child is overwhelmed, tired, or distracted rarely leads to connection. Instead, consider integrating storytelling into already calm, connected parts of your routine—bathtime, bedtime, or a weekend walk.

Bedtime, especially, is a powerful moment of emotional openness. Stories told in the quiet of the evening often linger in the mind, and the intimacy of that time together builds trust. For more on why, read about the rituals of bedtime stories here.

Let your child lead the conversation afterward. Sometimes they’ll want to talk. Sometimes they need more time to let the story settle in. That's okay. You're planting seeds.

When stories prepare kids for real-life transitions

Difficult topics aren’t always about emotional pain. Sometimes, the challenge is a big life change: a move, a new school, or a sibling on the way. These transitions often come with their own blend of excitement and anxiety.

Using stories proactively—before a change happens—can be incredibly grounding. If your child is about to start at a new school and you share a story about a character navigating similar worries, they feel less alone. They also begin to develop mental “scripts” for how they might handle unfamiliar situations.

This article unpacks how to use stories as preparation tools during major transitions.

You're not solving—you're connecting

Perhaps the most valuable role of a parent in these conversations is not to fix or explain away your child’s feelings, but to be present with them. To say, through a story: “You are not the only one who feels this way.”

In those shared moments—curled up with a book or listening to an audiobook together—you’re reinforcing something simple, but powerful: difficult feelings are normal. And they are safe to talk about.

That safety net of connection is often the most important thing you can offer.