12 adventures. 12 ways to grow.

Six things the forest keeps returning to

• Friendship & Belonging

  Noticing who is alone, making room, and beginning again together.

• Feelings & Empathy

  Naming what characters feel, and wondering why they feel it.

• Confidence & Voice

  Quiet voices, big voices, and the right to be heard either way.

• Kindness & Cooperation

  Sharing, planning together, and choosing what helps everyone.

• Curiosity & Discovery

  Following clues, asking questions and looking twice.

• Courage & Resilience

  Small steps, second tries, and staying beside someone who is scared.

What each forest friend brings

• 

  Billy

  Curiosity with courage

  Billy notices how others feel, asks questions and helps without taking over. She models empathy, gentle leadership and the idea that courage can begin with one small step.

• 

  Mango the Monkey

  Welcome, play and optimism

  Mango is often the first to invite, include or turn work into fun. He shows how warmth and play can help people feel part of a group.

• 

  Rumble the Tiger

  Gentle strength

  Rumble looks powerful but can be hurt, afraid or in need of help. He helps children look beyond appearances and understand that strong people can be vulnerable too.

• 

  Sisi the Snake

  Foresight and care

  Sisi listens, notices change and thinks ahead for the group. She brings planning, calm observation and community care.

• 

  Bramble the Elephant

  Your own rhythm

  Bramble worries that his big feet make him wrong for the dance, then discovers the music needs exactly what makes him different.

• 

  Willow the Giraffe

  A quiet voice still matters

  Willow can see far across the forest yet struggles to believe her soft voice belongs. She represents quiet confidence, observation and self-expression.

• 

  Fern the Deer

  Gentleness and generosity

  Fern's kindness is active: she guides, shares and wishes for others. She brings loyalty, generosity and care.

• 

  Pip the Fox

  Curiosity and aspiration

  Pip wants to know, find and try. His flying adventure celebrates imagination while showing that self-acceptance and ambition can live together.

• 

  Kiki the Bird

  Communication and contribution

  Kiki spreads the word and helps the group coordinate. She shows that communication is one way of caring for a community.

• 

  Nutmeg the Squirrel

  Caution that can learn

  Nutmeg is quick to worry, but he also learns from new information. He gives children a way to explore fear, preparation and changing an assumption.

• 

  Clover the Rabbit

  Social courage

  Clover is shy and inexperienced with friendship. His story shows that hello, patience and one small paw held out can be enough for a beginning.

• 

  Ember the Horse

  Courage grows step by step

  Ember does not become fearless. He learns the path gradually and builds trust, showing persistence and supported courage.

• 

  Hugo the Hippo

  Confidence that makes room

  Hugo has a huge voice but does not need to be the only voice. He models expressive confidence and how to invite someone quieter in.

• 

  Luma the Pegasus

  Wonder, vulnerability and finding home

  Luma brings fantasy into the learning layer: she asks for help when lost and gives children a clear chance to compare real animals with imaginary creatures.

Why talking about stories matters

Billy and the Wild Forest has not been clinically tested as an educational intervention. The learning layer is informed by wider research on shared storybook reading and conversation with children.

• Shared storybook reading and word learning

  Flack, Field & Horst (2018), a meta-analysis of 38 studies with 2,455 children, reported that shared reading supported new-word learning, and that dialogic, interactive reading was one factor associated with stronger learning.

  PubMed · PMID 29595311 (opens in a new tab)

• Picture-book sharing and language

  Dowdall et al. (2020), a systematic review and meta-analysis of 19 randomized trials with 2,594 children, found that book-sharing interventions improved expressive and receptive language.

  PubMed · PMID 30737957 (opens in a new tab)

• Talking about emotions

  Grazzani Gavazzi & Ornaghi (2011), with 100 preschoolers, reported that emotion-rich stories combined with conversations supported emotion and inner-state language, and emotion understanding.

  PubMed · PMID 21426620 (opens in a new tab)

• Discussing characters' beliefs and feelings

  A preschool training study found that discussion of characters' beliefs and emotions improved false-belief understanding compared with simply reading the same books.

  Cognitive Development · DOI 10.1016/j.cogdev.2015.07.001 (opens in a new tab)

• Emotion discussion in primary school

  A study of 110 children found that discussion around illustrated emotional scenarios improved emotion comprehension, theory-of-mind and empathy measures, with emotion-understanding gains maintained at six months.

  PubMed · PMID 24280639 (opens in a new tab)

• Effort and persistence

  A 2024 study of 202 caregiver-child pairs found that emphasising effort during scientific storybook reading was associated with growth-mindset beliefs, hard-work attribution and greater persistence.

  PubMed · PMID 38698731 (opens in a new tab)

• Why we keep real facts separate

  Research suggests that anthropomorphic framing can sometimes affect what young children take away as fact about animals. That is why magical story behaviour and factual 'in the real world' cards are kept clearly apart on this site.

  PubMed Central (opens in a new tab)