What if…a wise wombat from Australia could help our kids?

What if…a wise wombat could help our kids be kinder and braver?

After writing an adult book called What if…? How to reframe challenges into growth opportunities, I received feedback from readers that they ‘wish they knew this stuff’ when they were little.

Around this time the publisher shared that her two children aged four and six at the time, were having problems with worries. They were saying ‘What if…?’ at the start of sentences to express their fears. So whilst working with me to publish What if..? she tested the concept on her kids.

Let’s use our ‘What ifs? to create ‘good things’. The children quickly grasped this idea and started to use their imagination and words to focus on what they wanted, instead of what they didn’t want.

So even though I had never wanted to write for kids, I recognised the need.

I decided to write a book for kids aged eight to 10 years, because this is a very tricky age group. At that age you’re not quite little, but not quite big. You have all these conflicting thoughts, emotions and fears that you don’t recognise, let alone express.

My concept was to create a wellbeing book to help build kind, brave and resilient kids.

But as the little kids in my family live a few hours away from me, I needed to tap into little me.

So, I went back in time. I thought about who I was, at that age.

This triggered memories of growing up in a crazy, busy household with two working parents, a family business, and six siblings.

Our parents instilled their values in us. I was brought up to be considerate and kind, to listen to the ideas and opinions of others (even if I didn’t agree), and to share.

Most of all, I was taught how to be resilient – to pick myself up (figuratively or literally) after falling over. Because there wasn’t always going to be someone around to help me.

Don’t get me wrong - our family wasn’t perfect. We all had our challenges. But we were taught to express them and ask for help when we got stuck.

I also remembered that as a 10-year-old, I had experienced bullying at school.

At the time, I didn’t know how to express my hurt and my feelings – because I didn’t have anything to compare the experience to. One day I ran away from school. I thought about self-harm. Thankfully my dad found me, gave me a big hug, and took me home. We talked.

The next day, I needed to go back to school. I needed to face my bullies. None of this experience was easy. But under the careful watch of my parents and with time, I found ways to help myself. I found ways to rebuild my sense of self.

This experience was to be a major lesson in how not to treat others.

What if…we could help children embrace challenges and change…instead of being afraid?

What if…we could reassure them.. that they’ll get through tough moments…if they talk with people they trust and if they ask for help…when they feel stuck?

What if…we could help them …believe in themselves? So that no matter what other people think and say, they retain a positive sense of self.

What if…we could help them understand that kindness is a superpower? A strength, instead of a weakness.

What if…we could help them use their words and imagination to create their future? To create what they want versus what they don’t want.

Writing for a younger audience is very tricky. Kids are naïve and innocent, and they absorb ideas like a sponge. So, I knew I needed to be extra careful with my words and the illustrations, to remove potential triggers.

The intention was to help, not harm.

Going through my adult What if…? book, I selected what I felt were the most important ideas for an eight to 10-year-old. Then I wrote the ideas into seven short chapters reframing a ‘What if..?’ into opportunities for self-growth.

Having worked as a communications professional for decades, including in advertising, I knew that it’s easy to disengage a person with visuals. So, to help kids connect with the ideas in the book, I chose an orphan wombat who I’d met years earlier whilst working as a publicist at an Australian wildlife park. His name was Wilson.

Wilson says ‘What if…?’ is designed to help kids identify their thoughts and feelings and to express themselves. With interactive prompts, it’s also a tool to encourage intergenerational conversations.

A wombat is a unique, nocturnal animal native to Australia. They are marsupials – just like kangaroos and koalas, the young are born in the mother’s pouch. By day, wombats live underground in long tunnels called ‘burrows’. To people who have never seen one – I often describe wombats as a cross between a baby bear and a corgi dog. Some species of wombats are endangered and/or at risk of losing their habitat. To encourage people to help, there are 10 simple wildlife tips at the back of the book.

Bronwyn Frazer is a health writer, communications professional and clinical nutritionist. She lives in the Blue Mountains, approximately 90 minutes west of Sydney in Australia. With a Bachelor degree in Communications and a Bachelor of Health Science in Dietetic and Nutritional Medicine, she has studied both psychology and counselling. She loves eating healthy plant based food and enjoys a sleep in. Secretly, she believes she may in fact be a wombat in disguise. Her book Wilson says…What If? is out now. You can also get a copy on Amazon or Bookshop.org.