‹Avril McDonald, author of the recently published Feel Brave series of ˜little stories about big feelings™, has written a guest post for blog page Culture Baby in which she shares ten great ideas to help children build emotional intelligence. Click here to read the article!

Avril has also been busy elsewhere of late and has attracted some rave reviews for both her books and her recent school visits¦

œThe Feel Brave stories provide teachers with a valuable hook on which to address critical issues in children™s lives such as friendship, anxiety and loss. Conversations about such topics can be tricky to manage so it is essential that discussions take place in a safe and positive environment. The activities provided in the teaching guide offer both creative and cooperative strategies for building resilience, confidence and emotional literacy and are easy for teachers to incorporate in their classes. The earlier that children learn to understand their emotional selves and how important it is to support each other through challenging times the better for their future wellbeing. Well done Avril and Tatiana, this is a brilliant and very welcome resource. - Dr Sue Roffey, Director of Wellbeing Australia Adjunct Association; Professor UWS, author, speaker and educational consultant; Founder Wellbeing Australia; Twitter @sueroffey; www.sueroffey.com

œAvril visited Mead Road School and shared some of her Feel Brave stories with our staff and children. The stories deliver powerful messages about managing emotions which all children can relate to. The children were mesmerised by Avril™s retelling and they were hooked in by the beautiful illustrations that accompany the stories. We hope to use these stories alongside the teaching guide to deliver outstanding PSHE sessions across the school. - Victoria Bird, Head of School, Mead Road Infant School, Kent, UK

The five beautifully illustrated Feel Brave story books are all designed to help children explore emotional intelligence, positive psychology and some of the real-life issues which they might face “ such as bullying, anxiety, bereavement, friendships and worries “ in an engaging, creative and non-threatening way, whilst the Feel Brave Teaching Guide serves as the perfect companion in providing activities and guidance on how to explore these issues in the classroom.