Made for reading together.
Angry Apple and the Playground Problem is designed for readers ages 4 to 9 and the grown-ups reading alongside them.
It can fit naturally at home, in classrooms, libraries, counseling offices, and other spaces where stories help start conversations.
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A story where readers decide what happens next.
Angry Apple and the Playground Problem is an interactive picture book for ages 4–9 where readers help Apple navigate a frustrating playground moment, make choices along the way, and see how each path changes what happens next.
Many choices. Four possible endings. No "perfect" path. Just room to notice, wonder, and try another way.
The playgroud moment is where the story begins.
Apple is waiting for his turn on the tallest slide when Bouncy Banana bounces ahead and goes before him. Apple doesn't realize what happened at first.
Then it clicks.
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His thoughts get louder. His body starts to react.
What happens next?
The reader decides Apple's next steps.
At choice points throughout the story, readers decide what Apple does next and follow the story to see what changes.
Sometimes Apple reacts right away. Sometimes he pauses.
As the story continues, each choice can lead to new interactions, new decisions, and different outcomes.
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There is no "perfect" path to find. Readers can explore what happens when Apple makes different choices.
One choice leads to another.
Readers make choices along the way, reach four possible endings, and can go back to see what changes.
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At the end of each path:
“This path ends here. Go back to explore Apple’s other choices.”
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.
Sometimes what a reader notices first is the behavior.
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Want to explore this idea a little further?
I wrote more about what it means to look beneath behavior with curiosity in
The Story Beneath the Behavior: What Curiosity Helps Us Uncover.
Brightlight Orchard helps readers notice more than a character’s behavior.
Throughout the story, readers get glimpses of what the character is thinking, feeling, and noticing in their body.
They can see what happens after different choices and how other characters respond along the way.
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Readers can notice what the character is experiencing, make choices, and see what happens next.
What’s inside Angry Apple and the Playground Problem
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32 pages • 8 × 8 in. • Full color • Paperback
Reader choices • Multiple story paths • Four possible endings
The interaction is built right into the story. Readers make choices on the page and follow different paths to see what happens next. No app, screen, or additional materials are needed.
Coming November 2026
For the grown-ups reading along
Brightlight Orchard is meant to be read together.
The grown-up can help slow things down, ask questions, and keep the conversation going while readers think about what Apple might be feeling, why a choice made sense in the moment, and what could happen next.
You might ask:
What do you think Apple is thinking right now?
What do you notice in his body?
Why do you think he made that choice?
What do you think might happen next?
Would you choose the same thing, or try something different?
The conversation does not have to end when the page does.
Sometimes readers will talk about Apple. Sometimes they may connect the story to something they have experienced. Sometimes they may just want to go back and choose another path.
You are invited to wonder together.
Welcome to Brightlight Orchard
Angry Apple and the Playground Problem is the first story in a growing world of characters, feelings, choices, and places to discover.
Each book explores a different emotional experience while giving readers room to notice what characters are thinking, feeling, and doing along the way.
The stories are connected by the same idea:
Big feelings. Big choices.
And the same belief:
Every feeling belongs. Every choice matters.
“I truly believe Brightlight Orchard can help bring about more understanding and connection as we teach one another and the younger generation more about emotional development.”
Jennifer Skorch, LMFT
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and longtime professional colleague
Meet Dr. Missy
I’m Dr. Missy Kleinz, a licensed therapist and creator of BIG Feelings World and Brightlight Orchard.
I became a therapist because I’ve always been a big feeler myself. 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. As a therapist, I've seen how often behavior is misunderstood when we only look at what happens on the outside.
Becoming a parent made that even more personal. I wanted my daughter to grow up knowing that big feelings did not make her too much, and that she could feel her feelings before deciding what to do with them.
That same idea runs through everything I create: feelings are real, people are not broken, curiosity comes before judgment, and every choice has a story.
Brightlight Orchard brings those ideas into stories, characters, choices, and experiences readers can explore together.
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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What happens next depends on the path readers choose.
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.
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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.
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