Book of the Month December 2020 - Riley the Brave

Riley the Brave is an endearing story which has a powerful message for children who have a history of trauma; bravery isn’t what you think. The message is charmingly delivered through Riley and his other animal friends. It is accompanied by an afterword which helps grown-ups to understand what might be going on with their ‘cubs’ too. 

We are first introduced to a cub called Riley. We learn that although he has lots of friends, he feels different to them- and we begin to discover all the reasons that Riley has had to be brave in the past.

​The story guides us through the way animals might need to do things to survive and feel safe, just like Riley did.  These may resonate with early life trauma experiences that children have in their past; however, by telling these scenarios through the animal characters, it helps to minimise any experiences of shame for the child. Indeed, we learn why these have actually been useful in the past! It strikes me that so many children we work with may not realise why they do the things they do, and this book will help to gently explore this. We then learn new ways that Riley is learning to be brave, and the story ends with a sense of acknowledgement for what he finds difficult, and also with a sense of hope.

The afterword discusses concepts for grown-ups, such as using the ‘upstairs or the downstairs brain’, safety blindness, and why children may continue to experience difficulties long after their circumstances have changed. It helps to prompt grown-ups about how to use the book safely; that perhaps you may only read a couple of pages to begin with, the importance of going slowly, and of recognising whether the child is having a “turtle” moment or a “tiger” moment. 

This will be a lovely addition in my therapy toolkit, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Emma Shedlow
Specialist Occupational Therapist

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