Climate Book Fair 2026: Compassion and courage into the future – understanding emotions, knowing about support services and empowering children emotionally

Climate crisis, COVID-19, wars – the many crises are taking their toll not only on adults. Anxiety disorders and depression are also being discussed much more frequently among children and young people. Children are suffering from the current situation and the often lacking positive visions for the future. It is therefore all the more important to make our children resilient to crises and to raise awareness of mental illness. To this end, the Leipzig Children's University and the Climate Book Fair are collaborating for the first time this year and jointly focusing on children's mental health.
Psychologist and illustrator Lena Steffinger not only wrote her latest book, "When Feelings Go Out of Line: On Mental Illness, Volcanoes of Anger, and Therapy Dogs," but also illustrated it herself. As a psychologist, she brings the necessary expertise; as an empathetic illustrator, she finds images beyond words for such exciting and challenging topics as emotions, exploring the question of when feelings go out of line. When does sadness become depression? When does fear become an anxiety disorder? And what is actually normal? Where can we find help if we, or our friends, become ill? And how can we protect ourselves from mental illness?
As an illustrator, the author takes us into her world of images, not only raising our awareness but also providing us with powerful illustrations to help us move confidently into a courageous future. We invite all children between the ages of eight and twelve to join us in immersing ourselves in these powerful visual worlds and the wonderful realm of emotions.

Parents are also welcome to children aged 8-12, as long as there is space.
Register at: https://eveeno.com/Mitgefuehl+Mut

Lena Steffinger was born in southern Germany in 1989. After studying psychology, her love of colored pencils prevailed, and she pursued studies in illustration and graphic storytelling in Hamburg and Bologna. She lives and works in Stuttgart, where she writes and illustrates books for children and adults.
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An event of the Climate Book Fair as part of Leipzig Reads.