What Will I Do If I Miss You? : A Picture Book for Separation Anxiety

2026 NCSS-CBC NOTABLE SOCIAL STUDIES TRADE BOOKS WINNER

2025 BEST KIDS' BOOKS ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH―CHILD MIND INSTITUTE

A touching picture book that reassures children with separation anxiety through proven self-soothing techniques―perfect for back-to-school, travel, deployment, divorce, daycare, or anytime you're apart.

“Mama, what will I do if I miss you?”
“Hmm. That’s a good question,” she said. “Let’s try something.”
Alex’s mom took his hand in hers and moved it over his heart.
“Can you feel your heart beating . . . thump, thump?”

Alex is starting day school, but thinking about being away from his mom for so long makes him feel worried! So he and his mom devise a plan to use their magical connection―heart to heart―to feel close to one another even if they cannot be together.

Based on a true story from author Melissa Shultz, and with magical illustrations by Lilia Miceli, What Will I Do if I Miss You? is the perfect picture book for families with working parents or children going to school or daycare for the first time.

Melissa T. Shultz is a writer and editor whose work has been published by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Dallas Morning News, AARP’s The Ethel, Ladies’ Home Journal, Parade, Newsweek, Reader’s Digest, and many other publications. She is editor at large for Jim Donovan Literary and the author of From Mom to Me Again, a memoir/self-help book. What Will I Do If I Miss You? is her first children’s book. Lilia Miceli was born in Turin, Italy. As a child, she loved turning words into images; this love led her to study at Centro Sperimentale di Cinematrografia of Turin, where she graduated with a degree in 2D animation. Art is her primary form of communication, and she hopes to use her creativity to make the world a better place.