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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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).

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 '

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

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

Don't just read out loud - Perform! One of the most wonderful things about picture books is that, more often than not, these books are read out loud by adults to their little ones, be it grandkids, kids or students. So, I wanted to share some insights on the creative choices I have made when writing these books that will touch upon a topic that we often forget to discuss: Poetry is meant to be performed. Hopefully it inspires our adult readers to perhaps become a bit more the

Willow the Wonderer Gets Help Riding the Highs and Lows of Life Understanding the Concerns of Parents and Grandparents Last week, I received numerous emails from concerned grandparents and parents. They expressed worry for their little ones' well-being. Some children are struggling with school. Others face challenges fitting in, while some deal with mental health conditions that are tough even for adults. Their main question: Could the stories of Willow the Wonderer help? Suc