For Children

Welcome to Sprouting Strong Souls and the Riverwoods Forest.

Stories designed to help grow emotional resilience, improved coping skills, and deeper relational connections for children and the adults who care for them.

The Forest Friends together in Riverwoods Forest

Riverwoods Forest is home to friends who are curious, imperfect, funny, sometimes uncertain, and always still growing. They make mistakes, misunderstand one another, try hard things, need help, discover strengths, and sometimes need to repair what happened between them.

The Forest Friends aren't here to teach children how to be perfect, they're growing too. They are here to guide children and adults to learn how to nourish the moments for individual and relational resilient growth.

A free introduction to Soul Seeds

Get 5 Free Soul Seeds Cards

Explore five nature-inspired cards created to support emotional understanding, reflection, and connection for children and the adults alongside them.

Get 5 Free Soul Seeds Cards

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Meet the Forest Friends

Nine friends. Many ways to grow.

Fellow the Fox

Fellow the Fox

Curious, loyal, and full of questions, Fellow is learning that uncertainty does not have to stop him from exploring what comes next.

Marlow the Otter

Marlow the Otter

Curious and adventurous, Marlow loves exploring the stream and discovering what becomes possible when we slow down long enough to notice.

Pebble the Turtle

Pebble the Turtle

Thoughtful and observant, Pebble reminds her friends that feelings can change and that there can be more than one way to understand a moment.

Sunny the Squirrel

Sunny the Squirrel

Quick, energetic, and full of ideas, Sunny is learning how to use all that energy with greater intention without losing the spark that makes Sunny, Sunny.

Ash the Raccoon

Ash the Raccoon

Capable, inventive, and determined, Ash likes figuring out how things work and is learning to speak clearly about what she needs, thinks, and believes.

Bramble the Badger

Bramble the Badger

Gruff around the edges and deeply interested in the things he loves, Bramble is discovering that being understood does not require becoming someone else.

Joey the Blue Jay

Joey the Blue Jay

Observant and always noticing what is happening across Riverwoods Forest, Joey is learning that knowing something and knowing what to do with it are not always the same thing.

Chance the Elk

Chance the Elk

Loyal, determined, and happiest when he is part of the team, Chance brings his own strengths, challenges, courage, and way of doing things to Riverwoods Forest.

Walter the Oak

Walter the Oak

Old, steady, and deeply rooted, Walter has seen a great deal—but he does not always have the answer. Often, his greatest gift is making room for someone else to discover theirs.

Stories That Grow
Beyond the Page

A Sprouting Strong Souls™ story doesn't end when the adventure does. Each book includes pages created especially for children and the adults reading alongside them.

What Was Growing Beneath the Story?

A concise explanation of the evidence-informed strategy, principle, or meaning beneath the adventure.

Questions Beneath the Canopy

Curiosity-opening questions for wondering together rather than finding one right answer.

Try It Together

Simple activities that bring learning into real life through practice, play, or conversation.

The child isn't the only person invited to grow.