Rhodri Books

Gentle books that help a worried child feel brave

If you're reading this at nine at night, searching for something to help a child who won't settle because their tummy's in knots about tomorrow — I've been there too, on the other side of it, watching a small person I love feel too big a feeling for their small body.

That's who Rhodri was written for.

The dragon who started it all

Rhodri began as a small dragon statue from a garden centre in Wales, brought home after a visit to see my sister. My grandson Hunter — four years old at the time — decided the dragon needed a story. He told me exactly what should happen on every page and drew every single picture himself, in felt tip and total concentration. That very first book still exists, spelling and all, and everything since — Dragon School, Miss Lilly, a tiny hidden mouse named Percy — grew out of that one small boy and his dragon.

Why "not being fixed" matters

A lot of books for anxious children rush toward a lesson — the character learns a trick, says the right words, and the worry disappears by the last page. Real children don't work that way, and I didn't want Rhodri to either.

Rhodri still gets a wobbly tummy. He doesn't stop being scared before he does the brave thing — he does it scared, in one small step, with someone steady beside him. That's the whole idea behind the books: children don't need to be fixed. They need to be seen, kept safe from shame, and cheered on for small, brave tries.

What's actually in the books

Book One, "Rhodri — The Little Dragon Who Waited," is the story that started it all: a little dragon learning that being brave doesn't mean not being scared. Book Two, "Rhodri Goes to Dragon School," follows him through the particular wobbliness of a first day somewhere new, meeting friends who are all a little different from each other — and rather the point is that they are.

Both books include discussion questions and activity pages, meant to be read together rather than handed over — because the steadiest thing for a worried child usually isn't the book itself. It's the grown-up reading it with them.