Teaching Emotional Intelligence & Resilience Through Storytelling
Children's imaginative rhyming books about big feelings, anxiety, loss and grief, and empathy.
Thea and the Dizzy Waggle
Purple Dizzy Waggle Brite makes friends with a tūī bird named Thea, who can often be heard singing from the blossoming pohutukawa tree. One day, Brite notices Thea isn't singing and learns the tūī is sick. When Thea tells Brite her body won't always be here, the Dizzy Waggle has important questions about death.
What did the tūī mean
about going away?
Aren’t those we love
always meant to stay?
“But I’ll be sad if you leave me,”
Brite said to the bird.
“I don’t want a world
where your song isn’t heard.”
Thea and the Dizzy Waggle is a heartwarming and insightful tale about love, loss, and the magic of nature for anyone navigating grief.
The Dizzy Waggle Who Lit the Dark
A 'feel-good' children's book about emotions and mental wellness. The Dizzy Waggle Who Lit the Dark teaches kids practical tools for resilience and emotional regulation.
Meet Zozo, the adorable Dizzy Waggle changing the way the world understands deep feeling kids!
Zozo is a Dizzy Waggle with a heart so big it can light the sky. When Zozo is happy, it glows bright like stardust. But when the fuzzy creature gets overwhelmed by big emotions like worry, anger, fear and sadness, life doesn't feel so easy.
When Zozo decides to hide away, it takes a dark storm to remind the glowing-hearted Dizzy Waggle that authenticity and empathy are powerful enough to change the world.
Join Zozo and the other Dizzy Waggles on a warm and uplifting journey that is bound to inspire.
'Lulu and the Forest Troll: an inspiring tale about bullying and self-love'...OUT LATE 2023!
Keep an eye out for our upcoming new book in the series, featuring a forest troll and yellow Dizzy Waggle, Lulu!
Fun and full of feelings, it will teach children about why others might bully and the deeper feelings behind their behaviour. This tale explores self-acceptance, forgiveness, and empathy.
Sign up to our emails for updates on its release and a VIP subscriber's only discount!
The Author - Cloe Willetts
Cloe Willetts is an award-winning New Zealand journalist with a passion for human interest, creative writing, and the mental wellness of our kids.
Once a deep feeling child herself, Cloe often poured her heart into writing poetry and short stories, choosing rhyme and imagination as a way of finding her feet in the world.
After working in newspapers, Cloe turned to magazine journalism, but children’s writing is what the mother of one loves most.
Before writing Thea and the Dizzy Waggle, Cloe wrote The Dizzy Waggle Who Lit the Dark - a story she wanted to tell for half her lifetime.
Learn more about Cloe's work over at her writing and publishing company, EQ Storytelling.
The Illustrator - Fabienne Joni Sopacua
Fabienne Joni Sopacua is a detail-obsessed, self-taught artist originally from the Netherlands.
As founder of FJS-Art, Fabienne has built a loyal following and exhibited at New Zealand Art Trails and the New Zealand Art Show for six consecutive years, where she was named a finalist for the People's Choice award 2021.
Much of Fabienne's work is inspired by her deep love for animals and different cultures around the world. She especially pays close attention to the eyes of her characters, trying to capture the soul of every human and creature she draws or paints.
Thea and the Dizzy Waggle is Fabienne’s second book, after she illustrated The Dizzy Waggle Who Lit the Dark in 2021.
Learn more about Fabienne's work over at FJS-Arts and Design.
Dizzy Waggle Books & Life Education Trust
This year, Life Education Trust is supporting Dizzy Waggle Books by distributing copies of Thea and the Dizzy Waggle: a heartwarming tale about loss and grief to primary schools throughout New Zealand!
Forty-four educators around Aotearoa are taking the book into schools as part of Life Education Trust's esteemed
Healthy Harold Programme, which runs to teach children to;
"Develop life skills relating to their health and wellbeing.
Understand how to make healthy choices.
Gain knowledge about health and their bodies.
Develop self-esteem and a positive understanding of themselves.
Develop strategies for relating to others."
Also, a huge THANK YOU to Mainfreight New Zealand who sponsored the distribution of the books to the Life Education Trust educators.
