Description

Alligator Courage

A Children’s Book about Courage, Big Feelings & Relational Safety.

What if courage isn’t about being fearless?

What if children can feel scared and courageous at the same time?

Aubree knows what it feels like when butterflies in her tummy make something new or difficult seem really scary. Her story doesn’t ask those feelings to disappear before she takes a step.

Instead, Alligator Courage explores what can become possible when children have supportive people beside them, access to their own courage tools, and room to decide what they are ready to try.

Sometimes courage is doing something really big. Sometimes it is one tiny step. Sometimes courage can even mean deciding that something isn’t right for you.

Aubree’s courage belongs to her.

Meet Aubree

Aubree is brave, funny and full of big feelings.

Sometimes those feelings arrive as butterflies in her tummy, especially when something is new, unfamiliar or hard.

During an adventure to a reptile zoo with her Child and Youth Worker, Kailie, Aubree watches the animals, learns about alligators and eventually finds herself facing a surprising choice.

Does she stay where things feel comfortable, or does she try something that feels really hard?

With Kailie nearby and her own courage tools available to her, Aubree begins to discover what bravery can look like for her.

That experience becomes her Alligator Courage — a way of understanding courage that she can carry with her into the adventures still to come.

Relational Practice Foundation

Created through a relational, trauma-informed, neurodiversity-affirming and inclusive lens, Alligator Courage invites adults to stay curious about what a child may be experiencing rather than rushing them toward bravery. The story creates opportunities to explore feelings, support, choice, confidence, co-regulation and the relationships that can help difficult experiences feel more manageable.

Why Adults May Choose Alligator Courage

• Centres a relatable child rather than presenting courage as a lesson adults deliver
• Shows a Child and Youth Worker supporting rather than directing Aubree
• Gives children accessible language for physical experiences such as “butterflies in my tummy”
• Makes space for fear and courage to exist together
• Emphasizes choice, support and small steps
• Can open conversations at home, school, counselling, Child and Youth Care and community settings
• Includes full-colour illustrations and an engaging story rather than functioning like a workbook

Created for sharing with children, chronilogically and developmentally, under 10 by

• Parents, caregivers and family members
• Teachers, educational assistants and early childhood professionals
• Child and Youth Care Practitioners
• Counsellors, psychotherapists and other helping professionals
• Social workers and family support practitioners
• Libraries, schools and community programs

Product Details

Title: Alligator Courage
Author: Tara Winney
Main character: Aubree
Supporting character: Kailie, Child and Youth Worker
Illustrator: AI Supported
Publisher/Imprint: RelationalWise Inc. – The Reach
Publication date: October 2026 (day to announced)
ISBN-13: Forthcoming
Recommended age: 4-10 years
Language: English
Format: Full-colour children’s picture book
Length: 30 pages
Trim size: 8 X 11.5
Print edition: Soft cover
Digital edition: Interactive, Accessible, and Tablet-friendly
Country of publication: Canada

About the Author

Tara Winney is an Ontario Child and Youth Worker and the author of Alligator Courage. Her work with children in the school system has given her a close view of the ways anxiety, uncertainty and big feelings can make even safe new experiences feel difficult.

The idea for Alligator Courage grew from a real family experience. During a trip to Florida, Tara watched her neurodivergent daughter unexpectedly choose to sit on the back of an alligator at Gatorland — something Tara herself says she would never have done.

After that moment, her daughter began approaching other experiences with a new sense of possibility. Their family started calling those moments her “Alligator Courage.”

That experience eventually inspired Aubree, Kailie and the world of Alligator Courage.

Tara’s work and writing are grounded in the belief that children don’t have to face difficult things alone, and that courage can grow in many forms when people feel supported, valued and able to make meaningful choices.

You are loved. You are important. You matter.