Brightlight Orchard is live on Kickstarter! Pre-order the first book by September 10.
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What If You Could Try Again?
Have you ever wished you could go back and make a different choice?
Maybe you reacted before you had time to think.
Maybe you stayed quiet when you wanted to speak.
Maybe you misunderstood what someone meant.
In real life, we cannot go back.
✨ But in a story, we can. ✨
Brightlight Orchard gives children the opportunity to return to a choice point, explore another path, and discover what changes.
WHAT IS BRIGHTLIGHT ORCHARD?
An interactive storybook world for big feelings and meaningful choices
Brightlight Orchard is more than a story children read once.
It is an interactive experience where children and the grown-ups beside them can notice thoughts, body cues, feelings, needs, choices, and outcomes together.
Readers safely explore different paths, see how each choice changes what happens next, and return to try again without real-world consequences.
Along the way, the stories create opportunities for curiosity, understanding, connection, regulation, and repair.
"The goal is not to find the perfect answer. It is to become curious about what shapes a choice in the first place."
The Story Beneath the Behavior
Behavior is often the part we can see
The feeling, experience, perception, or unmet need underneath it may be harder to notice.
A child may yell because something feels deeply unfair.
They may pull away because their body is overwhelmed.
They may freeze because they are afraid and do not yet know how to ask for help.
Brightlight Orchard invites readers to look beyond what a character does and wonder what they may be feeling, believing, experiencing, or needing underneath.
The goal is not to excuse every behavior or pretend choices do not have an impact.
It is to understand the story beneath the behavior so there is more room for boundaries, connection, repair, and growth.
Sometimes behavior makes more sense when we understand the story underneath it.
Meet Angry Apple
The first story begins at Recess Ridge Playground
Apple is next in line for the tallest slide when Bouncy Banana goes first.
What happens next?
Apple’s anger rises, and readers choose what he does next.
Different choices lead to different paths and four possible endings.
The goal is not to judge Apple for having a strong reaction.
It is to become curious about what is happening underneath it.
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For the Grown-Ups Beside Them
The stories are written for children, but children are not the only ones who may find meaning in them
No grown-up has to have the perfect words.
The story creates a place to begin.
Seeing Ourselves and Understanding Others
Different people can experience the same situation differently
🌟 What's inside:
The characters give children a way to see themselves without being reduced to a label. They also give readers an opportunity to understand someone whose reactions may be different from their own.
My Story
The feelings wheel grew out of my clinical work.
The storybook world grew out of my parenting.
I became a therapist because I am a big feeler.
I know what it is like to experience emotions deeply, react before fully understanding what is happening, and look back later wishing I had responded differently.
Watching my daughter grow into a big feeler too has brought up both frustration and deep compassion.
I know how intense those moments can feel for the child and for the grown-up beside them.
I also know that choices do not come from nowhere.
They are shaped by our thoughts, our bodies, our emotions, our perceptions, our experiences, and what we need in that moment.
Brightlight Orchard grew from the hope that children could have something many of us needed when we were young:
✨ A place where every feeling belongs.
✨ Room to make choices, discover what happens, and try another way.
✨A reminder that their light is always there.
Why Kickstarter
The story is ready. Now the orchard needs its art.
The manuscript for Angry Apple and the Playground Problem is complete. The story paths, four endings, characters, and world have already been developed.
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Featured Support
Tools to help you understand what you're feeling.
Choose the path that fits what you need today.
Printables
Worksheets and reflection tools for everyday support.
Feelings Wheel
A visual tool to help find words for what you're feeling.
Frameworks
Feel → Pause → Choose and IRULE tools for real-life use.
For Kids
Fun, engaging tools to explore feelings together.
Community
Stay connected as BIG Feelings World grows.
Sign up for updates on new printables, tools, Brightlight Orchard, and future resources for families and helping adults.