It's been hard to tear ourselves away from the news these past few days and attend to matters at hand ...

The shock, grief and anger still wells up from time to time, but so does the resolve to not let the actions of a few mad men overshadow an otherwise joyous time of the year for our country and collective culture.

We cannot do anything about the past but we can all work towards building a brighter future - One that is grounded in wisdom and our collective humanity. That is why we first started to work on Willow the Wonderer.

The stories we grow up with, really do matter. So thank you for gifting Willow the Wonderer books to your little ones this Christmas. We are looking forward to living in the future that our little readers will one day build :)

Happy reading,

The fifth and final book in the Willow the Wonderer series has arrived. It conveys what is perhaps the most important life lesson I've learnt that transformed the quality of my life, relationships and wellbeing: If you must dwell, dwell on the positive.

I've blogged about this in detail a few weeks ago - Here's a snippet that speaks to how we bring it to life in this latest Willow the Wonderer Book:

You can preview Willow the Wonderer - Inner Worlds below - and get a sense…

As we prepare to launch of the fifth and final book in the Willow the Wonderer series, we are going back to the key insight that got us started on this work: The understanding that stories we grow up with, matter.

Yes, picture books are great for children - of all ages - who are still learning to read or having some difficulties mastering the skill. Picture books have a low overall word count of between 500 to 1000 words, spread over 26-32 pages. This makes it possible for even beginners to work their way through the entire book in one sitting, which great for boosting their confidence in reading. Willow the Wonderer picture books are especially helpful for learning to read as they are written in rhyme. This teaches young children a critical skills in reading - phonics, the sounds combination of letters make. The illustrations in picture books also help children step away from the difficult task of deciphering alphabets and sounds to appreciating something that comes naturally to all humans - Art. Illustrations aid not only with comprehension but can also help kids guess unfamiliar words. This again, is…

There are some common questions about reading and picture books that keeps coming our way - so we thought why not have a FAQ to save everyone the trouble. When you get a moment, have a look through our new FAQ collection of blogs - we had to write a blog because even seemingly simple question like age recommendation require nuance. If you have expertise in a particular area and want to provide additional perspective to add to any of these questions (e.g. questions around reading) feel free to leave a comment in the blog.

https://www.wiseasstories.com/wise-as-blog/categories/frequently-asked-questions-about-childrens-picture-books

The insights we share in our Willow the Wonderer series is drawn from our lived experience of life and the many ups and downs that we have had to navigate - as well the more structured studies and practices we have done to fathom our mind!

I share one such retreat I did in a forest retreat near Bellingen that helped consolidate my understanding of the nature of mind - and see for myself if what all these contemplatives, philosophers and yogis have been saying/writing about was true ...

It is these insights and learnings that I draw upon when writing Willow the Wonderer books. We share more about our inspirations and creative process in the full episode so head to our YouTube channel or podcast page if interested to learn more.

Our motto is that "it's never too early to plant seeds of wisdom" - and this has to be a new record!

We are chuffed to be supporting the month long #readathon at the Royal Hospital for Women's Newborn Care Centre in Randwick, where they care for sick and premature babies from all over the state.

#Reading helps with brain development even at that tender stage - and is something parents are actively encouraged to do.

Shoutout to RN Jane Healy for helping source the books for her families - no doubt in her own time.  Wishing a lifetime of wonder, wisdom & joy for your little charges.