Trudy Ludwig Discusses Brave Every Day

An interview with author Trudy Ludwig
The Children’s Book Review

In this episode, I talk with the highly sought-after speaker and children’s book author Trudy Ludwig! Her work focuses on promoting empathy, kindness, inclusion, and diversity in the classroom and beyond. We discuss her new book, Brave Every Day, and how reading books can promote empathy and kindness.

Trudy Ludwig is a nationally acclaimed speaker and an award-winning author who specializes in writing children’s books that help kids cope with and thrive in their social world, including The Invisible Boy, My Secret Bully, and The Power of One. She has received rave reviews from educators, experts, organizations, and parents at schools and conferences around the US for her passion and compassion in addressing peer aggression and friendship issues.

An active member of the International Bullying Prevention Association, Trudy also collaborates with organizations like the Committee for Children and ConnectSafely.org, and has served as a content adviser for Sesame Street Workshop. Trudy’s books have won the Mom’s Choice Gold Award, the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Gold Award, and the NAPPA Gold Award, and have also been recognized as NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People.

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You have no idea how thrilled I am to have you on the podcast today because I love, love, love what your books bring to the lives of children and the adults who choose to read with them. You have a motto on your website or a guiding principle: Making a difference in kids’ lives one book at a time. So, before we dive into Brave Every Day, I’m hoping you’ll talk us through your mission and what motivates you to write stories that can make a difference in kids’ lives?

Trudy Ludwig: Well, I feel that kids are navigating a very complex world since the Internet has blossomed and social media has blossomed. Kids are exposed to a lot more twenty-four-seven and the world is much more complex. So, I think it’s really important for kids to have more realistic resources on what they’re dealing with—tough social and emotional issues that they have to face on a daily basis.

Fluffy bunnies and happy stories—they’re fun and fictional. My books are fiction, but they’re realistic fiction. I want kids to understand that what they’re going through in their social world is normal—and when it becomes abnormal when friendships cross unhealthy lines. When I was trying to find books for my children when they were younger, I found a real resource gap for these kinds of books, and I wanted to fill that gap.

Bianca Schulze: Yeah, that’s great. And you definitely are filling that.

So, I think often when we talk about children’s books—there’s an assumption that they’re just for children. But can you speak to the value your children’s stories also have for adults?

Trudy Ludwig: Yes, I think I’m a very sneaky children’s author because what I do is I write books that I know adults will read with their kids and share with their kids. So, I’m not only trying to educate kids on tough issues, but I’m also trying to educate adults about what their kids are going through.

I love educator and librarian Molly Pearson—she says that picture books are big ideas in small packages. And I love that expression because, really, you’re dealing with complex issues in soundbite-able ways, so to speak. It’s a way you can peel back the layers of the story. People think picture books are very easy to write, but actually trying to address top tough issues with fewer words—every word is precious when you’re writing a picture book story because you know that the pictures are also going to be telling a story. So, you don’t want to be redundant with your words and the artwork.

So, I think teachers can use these books as mentor texts (and adults) to open up conversations about tough social and emotional issues in a safe social setting. Rather than asking your child so, have you been bullied today? Did somebody bug you today? Kids are less likely to talk about it, but when they share a story, they can see themselves in the story.

Rudine Sims Bishop, a professor emeritus at Ohio State University, wrote this amazing article many educators are aware of. I don’t know if parents are, but it is Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors. And she promotes diversity in literature. And what I love about that statement of mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors is that books give an opportunity for kids to see themselves in the characters in the story—they’re windows. They may be able to be exposed to other thoughts, feelings, and actions of people with whom they may not usually come in contact—and sliding glass doors because they are allowed to enter into the world. You lose yourself in the world of a story, and books are actually wonderful supplemental tools to build empathy.

And actually, there’s neuroscience behind that, showing that reading well-written literature can boost empathy in young readers’ brains.

Bianca Schulze: Yeah, I love that. That metaphor of the windows, mirrors, and sliding doors is fantastic. And I will have to say that, you know, in my experience as a parent of three children, I have had the experience of having to read your book Just Kidding. You know, when somebody said something really hurtful to one of my children and my child said, I hope that doesn’t mean what I think it means. And the response from the other kid was, well, I was just kidding. Right? And so, by reading that book, we could have a greater conversation on how to get through that with my daughter.

But I would also hope that when other kids are reading this book, you know, maybe they catch themselves and realize that’s a phrase they’ve said. And they didn’t even realize that by saying they were just kidding, they’re not being accountable for their actions. And I know that’s a more grownup response, what I’m saying. But I love that through these books, it not only helps somebody who’s going through a hard time, but they can actually help a kid, maybe identify that their own actions could improve a little. So, I love that.

Trudy Ludwig: Well, you know, it’s interesting that you brought up the just kidding because when I present at schools as an author, I ask the audiences when I feature that book for an author read aloud, I ask the kids to raise their hands if they had anyone say something funny and hurtful and then they just say, just kidding. About all the hands go up. And then I say, keep your hands up if you believe that kid was just kidding, and over 90% of the hands usually go down.

Bianca Schulze: Yeah.

Trudy Ludwig: And so, what I’m trying to do is raise awareness and address the elephant in the room with kids to say that’s right. Because most kids, when they say just kidding, they hide behind those words because they don’t want to take responsibility for the hurtful behavior. And the same goes that I often hear girls, not just girls, but I quite often hear girls and grownup women say, no offense. But you can be sure what they’re going to say is really offensive.

Bianca Schulze: Right? Exactly.

All right. Well, let’s dig into Brave Every Day. So, it’s ultimately a story about managing anxiety and finding the courage to stand up for yourself and others. So, first of all, why do you think there’s such a significant increase in anxiety in our children. And adults, too, for that matter.

Trudy Ludwig: Well, you could easily attribute that increase to the COVID pandemic for the substantial rise in anxiety among youth. But actually, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that anxiety was already on the rise prior to the pandemic. I like to think that the pandemic and its ongoing fallout have unfortunately turbo-boosted this upward trend. Right?

So, when I’ve been asked what causes you think can contribute to this significant rise? Because teachers and educators over the past eight years in schools that I visited consider anxiety one of the top issues, right up there with bullying and friendship issues they have to deal with. And I think that the journalist for The Atlantic, Derek Thompson, did a really thoughtful job in April’s article Why American Teens Are So Sad. And I really like how he broke down some of the contributing factors. He said that social and personal interaction and activities have decreased, especially enhanced by the pandemic—kids being more online than in person.

We’re all experiencing increased stress about the state of our world. We’ve got the Ukrainian war. We’ve got political, economic, and religious divides in our country. And the kids are picking up on the adult stress in addition to their own. And then there’s twenty-four-seven access to stressful news through the lens of journalism’s bad news. Right? Because bad news is negative attention.

And then there’s the heavy use of social media that’s taking place during sensitive life periods that can add to the anxiety. And this is fascinating because Cambridge recently did this study of over 80,000 participants. And they found that those sensitive life periods where social media can add to social anxiety in young kids are ages 11 to 12 for girls because they’re going through puberty, 13 and 14 for boys. And also, again, there seems to be a more vulnerable period with social media when they’re 19 years of age—when they’re done with high school, they’re starting a new life adventure, going off, maybe living on their own, going to college or going to work. So those are the key areas.

And one of the other areas that Derek Thompson mentions is a parenting style that’s called accommodative parenting. And that is when a parent overtakes the child in ways that really do not help to build the child’s emotional resilience. An example would be if I have anxiety about being bitten by a dog as a parent, you may not want me to go to other people’s houses with dogs. So, it’s actually reinforcing that fear and anxiety. Where it’s more like exposure therapy—exposing the child in very small and safe ways to help alleviate that stress and not bubble wrap that child.

Bianca Schulze: Yeah, you know, it’s funny. Like, I feel like that goes back to, you know, talking about how kids’ books aren’t just for kids and how your book, if a parent chooses to share this reading experience with their kid, that’s going to help with that element to where they’re not going to be accommodating the anxiety. They’ll be able to take away and learn from your book and help bring that to life with the child.

So, would you mind talking us through the actual story just, in a nutshell, beginning to end, what readers can get from your story?

Trudy Ludwig: Sure. Well, I think I can start by just explaining why this particular story on anxiety is different from the other children’s books out there, the picture books that deal with anxiety. So that will set up the story.

Bianca Schulze: Perfect.

Trudy Ludwig: I wanted to address anxiety as a three-tiered approach to how kids are dealing with anxiety? It’s not just the what-ifs—it’s also I can’t do this. And it’s also I’m scared. You know, these are the things that need to be addressed. And it’s normal for all of us to have fears and anxieties. That’s normal. But it’s how we learn to manage them and also to do reality checks with kids on addressing anxiety. What is realistic in their anxieties, and what isn’t? Have kids understand their commonalities and their fears.

And what was also really important for me was to approach this story to show that kids dealing with anxiety are really brave. And that was not an angle that was addressed in other stories. I wanted to show the kids who have to deal with their anxiety daily that they have to go beyond their comfort zone every day. And to me, that’s bravery. Bravery—I don’t think you can experience bravery unless you experience fear because you need bravery to overcome fear.

Bianca Schulze: Yeah, absolutely. So, talk us through just the setting. It’s a classroom setting.

Trudy Ludwig: Yes. So, Camila. The opening line starts as follows: Some kids love to play hide and seek, not Camila. She just likes to hide. Hiding is what Camila does best when she worries, and she worries a lot.

And her ‘what if,’ ‘I can’t,’ and ‘I’m scared’ worries visit her and consume her on a daily basis. They follow her to school. They follow her at home; they come to visit her at night. And Camila doesn’t think of herself as very brave, but she is. She just doesn’t know it yet. And so, one day, there is a field trip being planned by her schoolteacher to the aquarium. And for kids, new places are a cause of anxiety. And she’s really nervous about it. She has to go on this field trip because there is a project that’s tied in with it, a class presentation that’s tied in with it. It’s only when she encounters another classmate and she can see that that child has anxiety as well that she lets her heart overcome her fears. Right.

Bianca Schulze: And ultimately, if you even take a step back from that experience, Camila’s experience of seeing the boy struggling and having fears is really what the reader is experiencing from outside the book—watching Camila have fears and then seeing how Camila overcomes. So, I just love that.

And you already said this line from the book that I think is a true highlight, and it captures the essence of the story: Camila doesn’t think of herself as very brave, but she is. She just doesn’t know it yet. I think that line really captures it.

If you have anything else to add there, please do. Otherwise, I want to talk to you about the illustrations.

Trudy Ludwig: Yeah, I just want to add, after what you said, it’s not about getting rid of fears because we’re never going to get rid of all of our fears. It’s about learning how to manage our fears. And some days will be better than others. And we can make changes in big and little ways. And it’s about showing up. That’s what it’s about showing up. And that’s brave for kids who have anxiety.

Bianca Schulze: Yeah, absolutely.

Well, let’s talk about any feelings you have for Patrice Barton’s artwork, which she created using pencil sketches that were digitally painted. So, what are your feelings about the artwork?

Trudy Ludwig: I actually wrote this story with Patrice Barton in mind. I wanted to do another story so badly with Patrice after her amazing work on The Invisible Boy and Quiet, please, Owen McPhee. I needed to do another story with her, knowing how she operates. She totally gets it. If you look at her illustrations, she totally gets the social-emotional world of children and captures it so beautifully—so poignantly and humorously in her drawings and artwork. And so, when I had written this story, I requested that she be the one.

Normally you don’t get to pick as a picture book author. You don’t get to pick who the artists are when working with traditional publishers like Random House. And so, I asked my editor, can I please, please, please have Patrice, because I know she’s going to do an amazing job. I really like working with people that really can understand the layers of emotions that are going on with the words that I write. And she just captures it, and she just runs with it.

Bianca Schulze: Yeah, she really does. Even with the subtle little facial expressions and the softness of the palette that she chooses to use, it’s always so inviting and endearing and really does capture the moment.

Something I always love to check out on a picture book is the endpapers because if you look closely, they sometimes tell a story. This book’s front papers have the phrases I can’t, I’m scared, and what if? And then the back papers simply say, I’ll try. And to me, the endpapers are just the perfect bookends to the story.

Trudy Ludwig: I completely agree with you and noticed that the papers are all in the depths of water. It’s all submerged in water, all those things. And in an interview, I heard Patrice explain that when she experiences anxiety, she feels that the feelings of fear and anxiety bubble up inside her chest. And that’s what she wanted to show, is that you get submerged with all those feelings and that’s why they’re all underwater.

Bianca Schulze: Yeah. And then to resurface that simple phrase you deliver in the story is, I’ll try. And I feel like that’s such an easy takeaway for kids and grownups from this book. As you said earlier, you know, not every day can be perfect and not every day will feel the same. But if you can go in with a tool that is as simple as some self-talk of saying, I’ll try, I love that.

Trudy Ludwig: Yeah, I think that that’s important to know that we’re not going to have our anxieties evaporate. And there will be moments—there will be bigger anxieties and smaller anxieties, but we can try to manage them and make an effort. And obviously, this is not a book for kids with deep-seated, deep-rooted anxiety issues that require professional help; not using it as a clinical book per se. But it’s to address—for any of us who experience anxiety—that it takes courage to put one foot in front of the other. Right.

And also to pay attention that others around us may be experiencing the same anxieties we do and then collectively come together as what are some practices you can do to help reduce your stress? Let’s share them because you may have a really good practice that I don’t know about. We can learn from each other.

Bianca Schulze Absolutely.

So, another feature that I really love about the book is that you include discussion questions at the back of the book. So maybe this whole experience of your kid suddenly being fearful or not having the courage to try something new is new to you as a parent. I love that the discussion questions at the back can help you facilitate a deeper conversation about it. And then I love that you also included more recommended reading for kids because often the recommended reading in the back of a book is catered to the adults, you know. And it’s usually something a little bit more non-fiction and deeper. And so, I love that the recommended reading list at the back is for kids to explore deeper. So, tell me about the discussion questions and the recommended reading.

Trudy Ludwig: Well, it’s interesting that you brought that up because really, I look at that back matter as my author signature, so to speak. Because most of the books I write, I want to have adults who work with kids, whether they’re caregivers or educators, to have thoughtful conversations, to open up critical thinking skills with the kids by having those discussions on hand so that they don’t have to reinvent the wheel. It’s right there, ready to go, a ready-made lesson plan and using that book as a reference in a safe social setting. That, to me, is bibliotherapy in and of itself—just to start generating thoughtful conversations.

And then the recommended books—recommended stories for kids. I really think that it’s important for them to see different perspectives. I mean, this is what we all need—having different perspectives. And that’s the beauty of stories is just the way people learn differently. Some people learn visually, and some are auditorial—they learn through their ears—some people learn through their eyes better or are tactile learners. And so that’s how I see books. You know, if they want to find out more information—or some other book may resonate with them more, it’s dealing with that particular issue. So, I don’t think one book is a one-stop solution for any child or adult working with kids and getting information.

I will say that one of the recommended books I have for kids is by Dr. Dawn Huebner, What to Do When You Worry Too Much: A Kid’s Guide to Overcoming Anxiety.

Bianca Schulze: I love that book. I love that one.

Trudy Ludwig: Yes. And that is a non-fiction book that I think any adult working with kids who really needs more—it’s more of a clinical background presented in layman’s terms to help kids suffering from anxiety. That should be a standard go-to book on every family’s bookshelf.

Bianca Schulze: I 100% agree.

Trudy Ludwig: You know, I think it’s phenomenal. She has some other books coming out on it, and she has a wonderful TEDx talk. I don’t know if you heard her TEDx talk, Bianca.

Bianca Schulze: I did not.

Trudy Ludwig: Oh, you’ve got to check it out because she starts talking about her child’s anxiety and how she couldn’t find therapists to help the child and talks about cognitive behavioral therapy and how that helped. And then, she realized that she suffered from anxiety when she had to do talks and she didn’t realize that she had similar problems. It was fascinating when she had to do public speaking. So, I would check that out if you’re interested.

Bianca Schulze: Yeah. Do you know anybody listening that’s excited about the TED Talk? I’m in a link in the show notes too. (Rethinking anxiety: Learning to face fear)

I just, you know, I did love that you included all of this recommended reading specifically catered for kids because it’s true. I mean, every human, whether you’re a child or an adult, we all experience life slightly differently. And so, to be able to either find yourself and your experience in a book or see the multiple different ways people experience anxiety, I think, is great. Thanks for including that.

Trudy Ludwig: Oh, my pleasure. Totally.

Bianca Schulze: All right. So, when a reader gets to the last page of Brave every day and closes the book and takes a big, deep breath, what impact do you hope your story will have had on them?

Trudy Ludwig: I hope it normalizes for kids their fears and that they don’t feel like something is wrong with them. I think as human beings, we all come imperfect. We’re not machines. And to understand that if someone wrote a book about this, they are not alone. And I want them to be able to connect with the story, the reader’s thoughts, feelings, and actions, and have opportunities to maybe reach out to an adult or talk to someone else about what they need help with. And connecting in that way to understand that we are a village, that we need to help each other, and sometimes addressing our fears is helping us to help others address their fears.

Bianca Schulze: Yeah, absolutely.

Well, across all your books, you’ve covered bullying, empathy, kindness, inclusion, and diversity in the classroom and beyond. So, what will you write next, and are there any other books we should be watching for?

Trudy Ludwig: Yes, I am very excited about another book coming out. So, Brave Every Day will be—its book birthday is a day before my actual birthday, Bianca— June 28.

And I’m also excited to share. I have another book coming out in October, early October, and I am collaborating. It’s a close collaboration with a dear illustrator, author, and friend of mine, Kathryn Otoshi. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the work she wrote.

Bianca Schulze: I sure am.

Trudy Ludwig: One, Zero, Two, Beautiful Hands, Draw the Line. And she recently published Lunch Every Day, a beautiful story based on a true situation. Yes, we are collaborating on a book called Calling the Wind. It’s fiction, but it’s inspired by a true story. The book deals with loss and grief and the healing power of hope. And I think it’s a very timely and timeless story to help children understand when there are major life changes—whether it’s a family with divorce or moving to a different way of life or loss of a loved one—how we handle grief and deal with grief and the power of human connection. And that’s what this book is about. Grief doesn’t end, but it changes. Even when life ends, love lives on.

Bianca Schulze: Okay. I feel like you’re trying to make me cry today. That sounds so beautiful and very much needed right now. What a beautiful collaboration this is going to be. I feel like people are clicking and pre-ordering right now. It’s going to be amazing. Well, I’m so impressed by the content you choose to write about, but also by the number of published books you have now. Do you write stories every day?

Trudy Ludwig: Oh, you know, it’s interesting. I would say 20% of my time is spent writing actual stories. The rest of the time, it is presenting. I do a lot of presentations not only for kids but also for educators. I do professional development using literature to promote empathy and build emotional resilience, and I present at conferences and prevent its presence at schools. So, I’m sneaky because I teach character ed at the schools I visit. So, it takes me a while.

Honestly, I do not know what I’m going to write next because that last story Calling the Wind, honestly took it out of me. It was my way of finding meaning in life and loss. I experienced cumulative losses. I’ve lost my mother and four siblings. And it’s been a way for me to process my grief. So, I don’t know where I’m going to go with it. I know I will write again, but I don’t want to write for the sake of writing. I’m hoping that my muse will come calling soon.

Bianca Schulze: Yeah, I love it. Well, as a writer, do you consider reading an important part of your career? And was there a pivotal moment in which you considered yourself a reader?

Trudy Ludwig: Oh, I think, and this is what I share with kids of all ages, is if you want to be a good writer, you need, need, need to be a good reader. And what I also tell kids is to focus on the stories and what makes them exciting to them. What do you like and what makes you not want to read a particular story? What gathers your interest? Right.

I think that all writers start in some ways, kind of like the way fan fiction happened online. We write because we like a certain story with the same plot and then copy it just the way illustrators do when they’re very young. They first copy other professional illustrator stories, right? Or we may trace their illustrations until we can do our own. But I think that’s a very common process—we copy and then find our own voice or our own art in that journey.

So, I really think that reading transformed my life. I was a late bloomer in reading and with friendships. I was very shy and serious child, very reserved, and our family had moved from New England to the South. And I was a strange kid with a very strange accent, which I’m sure you could relate to. And I had different words for different things like a water fountain was a bubbler for me.

Bianca Schulze: Oh, that’s what I call it. A bubbler.

Trudy Ludwig: Yeah. And in my New England accent, I probably sounded like you—bubbler—because we didn’t say the Rs. And I fell in love with my first-grade teacher and the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when she read chapter by chapter in class every day. And I paid attention to the other kids who really loved that book. And I felt like we had something in common. We had a commonality, a love of that story. And that opened my world. It really opened my world to books.

And also, when we had tough times in our family, I could escape from that tough time by losing myself in a story and also see how problems were solved in the books. It was a way of trying on different problem-solving in a safe way. That’s what I love about stories. You can’t have a good story unless there’s a problem.

Bianca Schulze: Yeah, it’s true. There’s always a problem that has to be solved.

Trudy Ludwig: Yeah. Maybe solved in a good way or maybe solved in a bad way. But that’s the good thing about stories—you can talk about what wasn’t a good way to solve that problem. How would you rewrite the story?

Bianca Schulze: Exactly. Exactly. I love that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was the book that hooked you. I’m a huge Roald Dahl fan. And so, I think his book The Twits hooked me. I can’t say why specifically, but if I had to pick something about it, I’d say I was just drawn to his characters’ absurdity and quirkiness.

Trudy Ludwig: Yes. Yes. And I love that. And I loved that adults were messed up too. He showed the messiness of adults with kids. I mean, when you think about it, a lot of literature over the years, what I don’t like is they and also movies. They usually show grownups that are inept or negligent or not fair, and the kids have to solve the adult problems. Think about it, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, Snow White, Cinderella.

Bianca Schulze: Yep, yep, yep.

Trudy Ludwig: I mean, all the classics—it’s bizarre. And that’s a big burden to put upon a kid. So, I also want to show that in my stories, too. I want to show that we’ve got to seek out caring adults because when kids are little, they still believe adults can help them. Yeah, what I try to tell kids is, you know, if you go to an adult for advice and that advice isn’t working and you still trust that adult, you need to check in with them because adults forget to check in with you to find out if their advice is still working. So go in and go in and say, hey, it’s not working. Got any other advice? Because sometimes adults we need to talk with other adults to come up with better solutions.

Bianca Schulze: Definitely. Well, Trudy, I honestly could keep talking to you for hours about all your books, so I hope you’ll come back sometime in the future and hopefully pretty soon. But before we go, I’m just curious if there was one thing you hope The Growing Reader’s listeners take away today. What would that be?

Trudy Ludwig: I think what listeners can know is that empathy can be learned, and children’s literature is a wonderful supplemental tool to promote empathy. And the reason why I want these kids to have more empathy is because I firmly believe that kids are change-makers. We’ve got a lot of bad adult role modeling going on in our world, and the kids are seeing this, the kids are seeing this. And I don’t believe kids are just our future. They’re our present and we need them to be change-makers. And I’m focusing my efforts on recruiting more kindness warriors. And I’m doing it through my work.

Bianca Schulze: Yes. Okay, everyone, you heard Queen Trudy. We need more change-makers and kindness warriors. And we can encourage, empower, and inspire our youth with my personal favorite tool: books. So please, please go and order all of Trudy’s books. I’m not just saying that. Order all of them, including a copy of Brave Every Day, which really has the power to encourage a young reader. Thank you so much for coming on today, Trudy.

Trudy Ludwig: It was truly a joy. Thank you so much for having me, Bianca. And by the way, I love your books. You’re doing great work.

Bianca Schulze: Stop. Thanks, Trudy.

About the Book

Publisher’s Synopsis: From social-emotional learning expert Trudy Ludwig and award-winning picture book illustrator Patrice Barton (co-creators of The Invisible Boy) comes a story about managing anxiety and finding the courage to stand up for yourself and others.

Most kids love hide-and-seek, but Camila just wants to hide. Hiding is what she does best when she worries, and she worries a LOT. What if… I can’t… I’m scared!

A class trip to the aquarium causes her worries to pile up like never before. But when an anxious classmate asks for help, Camila discovers that her heart is bigger than her fears.

From social-emotional learning expert, Trudy Ludwig and award-winning illustrator Patrice Barton, this tale of courage and compassion will embolden readers to face their own fears.

“A sweet and powerful gem of a book sure to help young worriers.”

Dawn Huebner, PhD, author of What to Do When You Worry Too Much

Buy the Book

Show Notes

Visit Trudy Ludwig at trudyludwig.com

Follow her on Twitter at @TrudyLudwig

International Bullying Prevention Association

Committee for Children

https://www.connectsafely.org/

Dawn Huebner’s Ted Talk: Rethinking anxiety: Learning to face fear

What to Do When You Worry Too Much: A Kid’s Guide to Overcoming Anxiety

Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors by Rudine Sims Bishop

Why American Teens Are So Sad by Derek Thompson, for The Atlantic

Discussion Topics:

• About Brave Every Day
• Find out what motivates Trudy Ludwig to write books for children
• The social-emotional impact that children’s books can have on kids and adults
• Addressing anxiety, fears, and worries in children
• The experience of bravery
• Accommodative parenting
• The picture book illustrations created by Patrice Barton
• The affirmation that can help children cope with anxious feelings
• Calling the Wind: A Story of Healing and Hope, Trudy’s upcoming book with illustrator Kathryn Otoshi
• How reading transformed Trudy Ludwig’s life and the story that opened her world
• Raising changemakers and kindness warriors

Thank you for listening to the Growing Readers Podcast episode: Trudy Ludwig Discusses Brave Every Day. For the latest episodes from The Growing Readers Podcast, Follow Now on Spotify. For similar books and articles, you can check out all of our content tagged with Anxiety, Bravery, Kindness, Social-Emotional, and Trudy Ludwig.