Crenshaw

Reach for this book when your child is noticing the family budget tightening or expressing anxiety about big, unpredictable life changes. Crenshaw follows ten year old Jackson as his family faces the looming threat of homelessness for the second time. To cope with the stress, Jackson is visited by his former imaginary friend: a giant, surfboard riding cat named Crenshaw. While the family's financial struggle is very real, the book uses the whimsical presence of the cat to explore how imagination can be a lifeline during hard times. It is a gentle yet honest look at housing insecurity, making it an excellent tool for normalizing conversations about financial stress and building resilience in children ages 8 to 12. Parents will appreciate the way it validates a child's observational powers while providing a safe, imaginative space to process heavy emotions.