Aroha Series

NEW BOOK - COMING mid-OCTOBER 2023! Pre-order to ensure you receive a copy from our first shipment in time for Christmas!

We can all have down days when we just aren’t happy, and it can be difficult to think of good things. These days are important because without them, we wouldn’t appreciate the good days as much. However, if we are having lots of down days and they don’t go away, or lots of days filled with negative thoughts in our head, that is when we need to get to work making new pathways that will leave us feeling better.

As Aroha says, ‘Thoughts are not facts, they are just words in my head.’

This book is all about showing how we can affect how we feel, and ultimately the life we live, by becoming aware of our thoughts and changing them if we need to. This book I wrote for my youngest son who tends to think more pessimistically, to help him understand that our thoughts are powerful and can leave us feeling great or terrible. I wanted him to understand that HE has the power to change his thoughts. This is something I wished I learned at a much younger age.

This is a powerful and complex topic that we recommend for kids aged eight years through to teens, and perfect for a lot of us adults too.

I had to build new pathways when I was a young adult. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, but also one of the most important. I had used my unhelpful and harmful pathways for a long time. My days were filled with negative thoughts and there wasn’t any happiness. But a very special lady call Trish helped me change that. Slowly, bit by bit, I built new tracks that led me to the wonderful life I have now. (I am so lucky to make books to help share all the things I learned.) It changed my life from emptiness and despair to hope and contentment, from darkness to light.

Our brains are like supercomputers that help us make sense of the world we live in. They help us think, learn, and do all sorts of amazing things. In this story, Aroha learns that she can create pathways in her brain to lead her to different outcomes. It is all about what thoughts she chooses to focus on. The more we practise noticing our thoughts and ensuring we have plenty of good ones, the stronger these pathways will become. Pathways that we create using good thoughts will lead us to a happier and more content life.

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“Aroha’s Choice supports children (and adults) to understand how our neural pathways can create automatic ways of thinking and behaving. It beautifully explains that if our thinking is holding us back, we have the power and capacity to reform it in ways that uncover our strengths and develop our self-confidence. I would love a world where children recognise when their thinking needs to shift from disempowered to empowered, and they knew how to do it. This book is an inspirational start.” – Anna Mowat has a background in psychology, and as director of Real Collective, she works across many national projects that support children’s wellbeing.

Paperback - 40 pages

Size: H210mm X W225mm 

Recommended Age: 8 years - 100+ 

New Zealand Best Seller

International orders can be placed via Amazon.

Aroha’s Way is a bestselling picture book for children around uncomfortable emotions; fear, apprehension, worrying thoughts and nervousness with ways to manage them.

Free book reading on our YouTube channel!

Here are just a few reviews:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “My five-year-old boy enjoyed the book upon first reading. The next day, I found him reading the book by himself during a stressful moment: "I'm looking for one of Aroha's Ways to calm myself, Mum." Clearly, the message got through. Thank you!” Paula

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “A beautiful, precious book, easy to follow and written in a way that is understandable and relatable. My 3 almost 4-year-old moko enjoyed it, and it created further kōrero and questions between us. I wish there were books like this when we were growing up!” Keriana

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “My 7-yr old struggles with anxiety - so much so that it affects her breathing every time she gets slightly stressed. We had previously tried talking it through and belly breathing exercises. But it took this book - and Aroha showing her the way - before she really opened up and practiced these techniques. The book is such a beautifully written and illustrated piece - it's easy for both of us to read. The notes at the back really got the conversation flowing too. Thank you for this book. I was finding it difficult to get through to my daughter. Obviously she needed to see it through Aroha's eyes first to normalise her own emotions.” Kim

About the book:

Come along on a journey with Aroha, as she wards off nervousness, fear, worrying thoughts and apprehension, with simple, yet effective tools that everyone can use.

From award-winning New Zealand author and illustrator, Craig Phillips, creator of
The Adventures of Jack Scratch and Giants, Trolls, Witches, Beasts (winner of the Russell Clark Award for Illustration at the New Zealand Book Awards 2018).

“Aroha’s Way is a beautiful, descriptive and relatable book – an important book – helping children to normalise, understand and even develop their own tools for dealing with their feelings.” – Jenny Palmer, Author of Feel a Little.

This beautiful picture books takes children on a journey through emotions associated with anxiety and shows simple yet effective ways to help manage them.  Aroha shows children a tool that she uses for each emotion which includes; movement or exercise, belly breathing or diaphragmatic breathing, mindfulness and connecting with others and sharing our worries.

At the back of the book, there is a section for parents and/or teachers to explore the tools in more depth.  This section expands on the beautiful poem and opens up conversations with our children.  Asking questions around those emotions to make it easier for children to recognise the emotion, and then a simple way to manage it.

At Wildling Books we believe these tools will be invaluable for children and can be used for a lifetime.

We would like to give a big THANK YOU to Like Minds, Like Mine in helping to make this book possible.

Paperback - 36 pages

Size: Landscape 210x225

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REVIEWS:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

Dr Hinemoa Elder, MBChB, FRANZCP, PhD - "An exquisitely moving read.  This book will help empower our tamariki mokopuna."

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Jimi Hunt - "In order to change our culture of greatly increasing mental illness, we need to tell stories ... this is one of those stories.  Beautifully told and illustrated, it is another tool in the education of our young people in how to deal with emotions and increase their mental fitness."

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Dr Suzanne Henwood, mBraining4Success - "This is a beautifully illustrated and cleverly written book to help children find a way back to calm."

Finalist in the New Zealand Children & Young Adults Books Awards 2022

Storylines Notable Books 2021 - Non-Fiction Winner

#1 NZ Bestseller

Paperback option available, as well as international orders can be placed via Amazon. All Australian orders can be ordered from us with a flat $12 shipping fee. We do have stockists in Australia, please see our Stockists page for more details.

Available on Kindle Fire for colour E-Readers

With 60+ definitions to help improve emotional literacy. This HUGE hardcover book with over 140 pages, is all about our children learning to recognise and label emotions and feelings.

Join Aroha and her friends as they share how different emotions might feel in the body and how each emotion might be helpful. This emotions dictionary is all about helping children find the words for how they truly feel. Learning to recognise and label our emotions correctly is such an important skill for life. 

Giving our children this language helps to build emotional literacy. It is a gift to give children the tools to know how to recognise what they truly feel and that is it okay to feel all emotions. When they know that no emotion is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and that all emotions provide messages, then it takes away any attachment to that emotion being part of who they are.

We may have experienced this ourselves being labelled ‘naughty’ or ‘out of control’ due to feeling angry a lot. However, this behaviour is just a way for a child to communicate. Diving deeper into why they are acting that way, why they may be feeling the things they are, can help us find some answers with our child. It can also help us find ways to help them empower themselves with tools to feel better.

Use this book to start conversations about different emotions. If you can, give examples of things you have experienced. When you see a child experiencing an emotion, help your child label it. “Are you feeling ... right now?”

This book can be used with children from 5 years of age up to 100+ as everyone might get something from the book. 

There are over 200 emotions and so we couldn't include them all in just one book, however, this book is the most extensive book about emotions for children.

Hardcover - full colour

Pages - 145

Size - 216mm x 280mm (Landscape)

Recommended Age - 5 years - 100 years+

International orders can be placed via Amazon.

Aroha knows that nature is there for you and for me. Spending time out in nature makes her feel all kinds of wonderful emotions. Throughout Aroha Knows, Aroha and her friends experience our amazing world and this picture book explores how it can benefit our wellbeing.

From the creators of bestselling Aroha’s Way and Let It Go, Aroha Knows encourages children to feel connected to and find meaning in nature.

With every copy of Aroha Knows sold, Wildling Books will donate 20c to Trees That Count helping Kiwis to plant more native trees.

“We love how Aroha learns to appreciate the world around her through this beautiful story. It’s our hope that, with every book helping to plant a native tree, many tamariki can learn to love and care for our precious environment.” – Adele Fitzpatrick, CEO, Trees That Count

At the back of the book join Aroha and her friends as they look at ways to become Guardians of the Earth.  They look at planting trees, saving seeds, composting and more.

Learn with Aroha! The wonderful Greening Taupō has created some wonderful connector resources for teachers and homeschooling families to use, based on Aroha Knows. Simple ideas and activities to get kids connecting with nature 🌳💜

Grab the best-selling series of books about emotions to help your children learn to recognise and label their own emotions and broaden their emotional literacy. This has never been so important than the unpredictable world our children are facing today.

Included in the bundle:

1. #1 NZ Bestseller & Award-winning - How Do I Feel? A Dictionary of Emotions for Children - with 60+ definitions to help children identify and understand emotions
2. NZ Bestseller - Aroha's Way - A children's guide through emotions. Come along on a journey with Aroha, as she wards off nervousness, fear, worrying thoughts and apprehension, with simple, yet effective tools that everyone can use. These emotions are the four emotions associated with anxiety.
3. NZ Bestseller - Let It Go - Emotions are energy in motion. Join Aroha and her friends as they navigate their way through four emotions: sadness, anger, shame and fear. Let It Go encourages children to explore what emotions feels like in their body and find a unique way to release them.
4. Wildling Bestseller - Aroha Knows. Aroha knows that nature is there for you and for me. Spending time out in nature makes her feel all kinds of wonderful emotions. Throughout the book, Aroha and her friends experience our amazing world and we prompt children and adults to think about how it can benefit our wellbeing.
5. Aroha Belly Breathing Poster - Free Download
6. Let It Go Poster - Free Download

This board book is a simplified version from the best-selling book, How Do I Feel? A Dictionary of Emotions for Children. It helps to introduce our little wildlings to emotions and how they might look, using other toddlers so they can recognise themselves in the illustrations, which is very important.

When we help young children label their emotions, it helps them to understand and manage what they are feeling and to improve their emotional literacy as they grow.

When big emotions come to visit, use the simple belly-breathing tool at the back to help your child find their way back to calm. This is a simple yet effective tool in helping children manage big emotions. Used regularly it can really help a child to learn to manage and regulate their own emotions over time.

The board book covers just ten emotions, we picked the ones that toddlers might experience and resonate with, and they are:

I feel ...

Silly, Angry, Curious, Sad, Excited, Scared, Happy, Frustrated, Shy, Confused, Loved

The last page covers a simple way to blow big emotions away with deep breathing.

ISBN 978-0-473-58097-1 (board book)

DIMENSIONS: H170MM X W170MM

SPINE WIDTH: 13MM

EXTENT: 24 Pp

We hope through our series of Aroha books, we can help to start conversations around emotions, promote emotional regulation and expand emotional literacy. This wasn't something that was taught to us when we were small, and so, our books are as much for the big wildlings as they are for the little ones.

Together, we can learn to manage our emotions in safe and healthy ways, keeping a strong line of love and connection between adult and child.

Here are just a few of the 5-star reviews:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “My 7-yr old struggles with anxiety - so much so that it affects her breathing every time she gets slightly stressed. We had previously tried talking it through and belly breathing exercises. But it took this book - and Aroha showing her the way - before she really opened up and practiced these techniques. The book is such a beautifully written and illustrated piece - it's easy for both of us to read. The notes at the back really got the conversation flowing too. Thank you for this book. I was finding it difficult to get through to my daughter. Obviously she needed to see it through Aroha's eyes first to normalise her own emotions.” Kim

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Actually I bought Aroha knows, Aroha's way, and Let it go - three children's picture books about dealing with emotions. I think they are an excellent resource for talking to children about how to manage strong and painful emotions. It was the first time I bought something from an add on facebook, and this purchase was a good one." Elisabeth

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "I’m a leader of emotional intelligence literacy at my school and I bought this book for my own children,5 and 3. It’s so powerful. I love the practical strategies it teaches my young kids when they notice the emotions in the story." Kymberly

Grab the first three books in the Aroha series and save 10%!

Included in the bundle is:

1. NZ Bestseller - Aroha's Way - A children's guide through emotions. Come along on a journey with Aroha, as she wards off nervousness, fear, worrying thoughts and apprehension, with simple, yet effective tools that everyone can use. These emotions are the four emotions associated with anxiety.
2. NZ Bestseller - Let It Go - Emotions are energy in motion. Join Aroha and her friends as they navigate their way through four emotions: sadness, anger, shame and fear. Let It Go encourages children to explore what emotions feels like in their body and find a unique way to release them.
3. Wildling Bestseller - Aroha Knows. Aroha knows that nature is there for you and for me. Spending time out in nature makes her feel all kinds of wonderful emotions. Throughout the book, Aroha and her friends experience our amazing world and we prompt children and adults to think about how it can benefit our wellbeing.
4. Aroha Belly Breathing Poster - Free Download
5. Let It Go Poster - Free Download

Finalist in the 2021 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults - Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award for Te Reo Māori.

2022 IBBY Honour List for Translation (New Zealand). These books are considered to be outstanding for the quality of writing, illustration and translation. Important considerations in selecting the Honour List titles are that the books represent the best in children's literature from each country, and that the books are recommended as suitable for publication throughout the world. 

Aroha's Way Te Reo Māori Edition - Listen to the story on our YouTube Channel

International orders can be placed via Amazon.

NĀ KARENA KELLY I WHAKAMĀORI

Nau mai, hoake tātou ko Aroha, i a ia e kaupare ana i te taiatea, i te mataku, i te māharahara, me te anipā, ki ana tukanga māmā ka taea e te katoa.

Nā te ringatuhi rongonui nō Aotearoa, nā Craig Phillips, nāna ngā pukapuka o The Adventures of Jack Scratch me Giants, Trolls, Witches, Beasts (te toa i te Tohu Whakaahua o Russell Clark ki te New Zealand Book Awards 2018).

“He huia kaimanawa tēnei pukapuka, he tino rauemi hoki, hei āwhina i ngā tamariki, me ngā whānau katoa. Ka titia ēnei kōrero ki te ngākau. “ – Stacey Morrison

Paperback - 36 pages

Size: Landscape 210mm x225mm

My Aroha Tree helps children create a habit of noticing what is good in their world. This daily habit can strengthen pathways in your child’s brain that help them focus on the good in each and every day. This can help them through the difficult times when their days feel cloudy or cold.

My Aroha Tree contains a stunning A1 poster of a beautiful kōwhai tree, which includes, ‘Lessons from a Tree’ on it. The tree is a reminder that nature is a wonderful teacher. Also included is a sticker book filled with beautiful birds, insects and words to help children think about what they love, what they are grateful for and what fills them with joy. They can add a few stickers to the tree each day, which will help them to build a positive mindset. Aroha is there, under the tree, waiting to see what your child will create. Aroha is from the best-selling series of children’s books which focus on emotions and well-being.

There are 15 picture stickers on each page, as well as 10 words/notes, and there are a total of 12 pages of stickers in the book. We would hope that the daily practice could last at least a month.

Please note that the poster is folded and included in envelope with sticker book.

Six postcard sized cards with a different quote on each about emotions.

1. It's okay to feel ... a little or a lot.
2. Think about why an emotion is visiting you. How is it trying to help you?
3. All emotions are important, and every emotion gives us a message in one way or another.
4. You are not your emotions - they are simply energy flowing through you and trying to ehlp you in some way.
5. Allow your emotions space and really feel them in your body. Label it and then when ready ... release it!
6. Never feel ashamed to reach out for help if you are struggling.

Postcards come in a Wildling Books envelope sleeve.

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