Lucy worries about everything. Her imagination is so wild, she worries about things that others wouldn’t even dream of.

These worries stop Lucy from doing so many things – until she sees a poster for the school musical.

But what if there are too many people and the stage collapses?

Despite her worries, a tiny bit of brave blooms deep down.

The auditions were so full of clever kids, Lucy worries that they’ll be nothing different she can do.

The brave builds a little more because she really wants to be in the play.

Holding onto this, she finally asks the teacher if she can be in the play.

‘Can you be Courageous?’ asks the teacher.

Lucy is given the perfect part in the play. After everyone says it’s the best play ever, Lucy knows that even though she’s still a worrier, she can take tiny steps forward to be courageous too.

Many children are watchers – those who stand on the sidelines of the fun watching others for a while before they tentatively join in. Although it’s difficult to watch from an adult perspective, each child has to find their own courage and confidence in their own way.

Courageous Lucy is a gentle way of approaching this topic with a watcher or young worrier, to ask if they are worried about anything or even step carefully about why they worry. Books like Courageous Lucy are so important to supply a safe bridge to these concepts and challenges.

Author  – Paul Russell

Illustrator – Cara King

Age – 5+

See Teacher’s Notes here

Find more excellent books on Children’s Challenges here

(2021, EK Books, Exisle Publishing, Bravery, Courage, Fear, Worry, Worries, Feelings, Children’s Challenges)