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Which book teaches kids about resilience? A guide for parents and educators
Looking for a book to teach resilience to children? We recommend The Gift from the Willow the Wonderer series. It introduces the profound concept of 'Impermanence' (the wisdom that 'this too shall pass') through a gentle, rhythmic narrative. It teaches kids that resilience isn't just about 'toughing it out' through bad times, but maintaining grace and balance through life's inevitable ups and downs. Willow the Wonderer - The Gift: Willow learns how to navigate the ebbs and

Reeta Dhar
Oct 11, 20254 min read


Which children's books teach kids about nature and adventure?
All four Willow the Wonderer picture books are tales of high adventure set in the natural world. The epic tales as well as stunning illustrations help children learn about nature and even look forward to having a few adventures of their own! I would particularly recommend the second book in the series, Honey Time , as it teaches kids to slow down and pay attention to the natural world around them -- and experience the beauty and wonder of nature for themselves. Willow the Wo

Reeta Dhar
Sep 26, 20254 min read


What are the best books for children learning to read?
Picture books are great for children - of all ages - who are early readers, 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

Reeta Dhar
Sep 18, 20256 min read


What is a good gift for grandchildren?
We recommend gifting your young grandchildren our Willow the Wonderer Gift Sets . Willow the Wonderer gift sets feature our beautiful picture books and a bespoke character plush toy of little Willow, a baby donkey in a retro onesie. All this arrives nicely packaged in a custom box and is also gift wrapped to save you the trouble. You can choose between Gift Sets featuring the complete collection of books in hardcover or paperback , as well as customisable gift sets where you

Reeta Dhar
Sep 16, 20256 min read


Cover Reveal : Willow the Wonderer -- Inner Worlds
Here it is folks -- the book cover for the fifth and final Willow the Wonderer book. We had put our shortlist to a vote. It was wonderful to receive so many responses from our community of readers. In the end, it was a near unanimous vote for little Willow hugging the Earth. Cover Reveal for the fifth and final Willow the Wonderer picture book! One of our readers' put it best when she said, "Willow hugging the Earth is a lovely image for children to grow up with." We had

Reeta Dhar
Sep 8, 20252 min read


What stories are calming for bedtime —help kids wind down and sleep?
All Willow the Wonderer picture books are great for bedtime stories -- so many of our customers have told us that parents enjoy them as much as the kids! Written in rhyme, the melodic stanzas are a perfect way to lull the little ones into dreamland. The best bit is that all the stories have a beautiful ending that is both comforting and enlightening to readers, young and old. But if I had to pick just one book from the series for bedtime stories, I'd choose the second Willo

Reeta Dhar
Sep 5, 20252 min read


Which age group do you recommend picture books for?
In general, picture books are recommended for 3-8 year olds. However, we do not recommend using age as the main criteria for choosing which books to buy, as the reading skills and interest of children can vary widely. In our experience, parents, grandparents, teachers and nurses have used Willow the Wonderer picture books with children from well before they were born (ie reading to them in the womb) to premature babies still in pre-natal care, to children from the age of 6

Reeta Dhar
Aug 31, 20254 min read


How to navigate changing times?
Life is ebbs and flows - but how to navigate it all? A video popped up on my tiktok feed recently - featuring a middle aged school teacher sitting at his desk correcting assignments, with the following caption: "My students are asking me, how come I have an email address with my actual name?" His response (sanitised version), "Because I was around for the birth of the email ..." Who else remembers being alive in the late 90s - at the dawn of the internet? A fad for kids and n

Reeta Dhar
Aug 7, 20258 min read


Unlocking Creativity : Inspirations behind our bestselling picture book series — Willow the Wonderer
Watch our latest podcast exploring ideas, inspirations and creativity What is the source of ideas and creativity? "Where do your ideas come from?" This is one of the most common questions Darren and I (and no many other creatives) get asked. The motivations tend to vary. Aspiring or practising creatives are always curious to learn and perhaps get inspired through the approach others take, while the audience are usually interested in getting deeper insights into works they lik

Reeta Dhar
Jul 31, 202537 min read


Can you ship gifts to my grandchildren overseas?
We can absolutely ship books and other gifts to your little ones overseas. This will not only save you time and hassle of going to the Post Office, but also save you up to 35% on postage, as we pass on all our savings to you. Read the blog below to know just how fast, easy and cost effective it is to ship gifts overseas with us and a few little details you need to keep in mind. Enjoy fast delivery, worldwide We ship to almost all locations world wide - that has a shipping s

Reeta Dhar
Jul 25, 20253 min read


The Elephant in the Classroom : Why Our Schooling System Needs to Change
In the last episode of our Wise As Podcast , we discussed the staggering pace at which Artificial Intelligence (AI) is progressing and how within a space of five years, our world may completely change. We touched on implications for education towards the end, and how it too needs to adapt to the new technological paradigm. We felt that we did not do the topic of education justice ... and certainly have a lot more to say on that account. So for our latest episode, we revisited

Reeta Dhar
Jun 22, 202532 min read


Will Artificial Intelligence (AI) take our jobs? Essential skill to teach kids
Last week, I found myself at the center of an 'internet storm'. It was self inflicted - I posted a comment on Reddit that irked quite a few folks. The offending comment was a prediction: Mass unemployment in white collar professions and the Arts by 2030, thanks to widespread adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Reeta Dhar
Jun 3, 202541 min read


How wisdom can help us get through hard times in life
The first full episode of our ' Wise As Podcast ' is here! We start with a topic close to our hearts - and what became the impetus for developing our Willow the Wonderer series: Reflecting on the hardest time in our lives and the wisdom that would have made it a whole lot easier. The trials of 'coming of age' A lot of our conversation focused on our teenage and early adulthood years. As I edited the recording, I found it interesting that we both picked a time when we were '

Reeta Dhar
May 20, 202520 min read


Sneak Peek: Watch the pilot episode of our 'Wise As Podcast'
I remember reading a case study on Madonna at university. Believe it or not, this was for my Master's Degree in Commerce … The central theme was that Madonna was one of the few pop music stars who had managed to carve out a decades long career in what is usually a fiercely trendy and youth oriented scene. This was due to one thing that Madonna did better than any other pop singer at the time: Every ten years or so, she completely reinvented herself. I remember saying to m

Reeta Dhar
May 12, 20253 min read


The mad king and his court of clowns
The last hundred days will go down in history as being a period of economic and geopolitical turmoil that we probably didn't need ... No mysterious virus or natural disaster in sight. Just a narcissist, his ginormous ego and his band of bottom-dwelling buffoons, bringing chaos and disorder to our world. Most of these grifters couldn't run a school canteen -- in fact some won't even pass NSW's Working with Children Check. So, it really is staggering to see them in charge of th

Reeta Dhar
May 2, 202513 min read
Blog: Quote
“Light a campfire and everyone's a storyteller"
John J Geddes
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