The Guard Dog and the Wise Owl
Coming 2027
The Guard Dog and the Wise Owl
Coming 2027
Siena trips, and her Guard Dog presses the big red button. But she has a trick: three slow breaths, a hand on her heart, and a picture of her Wise Owl. What follows is a magical journey through Brainland and the Memory Garden, where every flower holds a brave moment she’d forgotten. A picture book about the alarm in every child’s head, and how to answer it.
For ages four to eleven, by Claire Gaffney. Illustrations underway.
One email when the book is out, and a note when the free poster and cards are ready. Nothing else.
My daughter Siena has fragile skin. A fall that another child would brush off can end, for her, in a hospital with stitches. It has happened more than once.
After a while I noticed something. The part of her brain that keeps her safe had learned a lesson: falling means hospital. So it sounded the alarm at everything. A small knock. A scraped shin. A trip on the path. Each one set it off as though it were the big one, and no amount of “you’re okay” from me could talk it down.
What she needed wasn’t reassurance. She needed a way to talk to that part of herself. So we gave it a name, the Guard Dog, and we gave her a Wise Owl to answer it. Three slow breaths, a picture in her mind, and a Memory Garden full of the brave things she kept forgetting she’d done.
It worked. This book is that trick, told as a story, so that other children can find it too.
Claire Gaffney, Siena’s mum
The part of the brain that shouts Danger! when something hurts, scares us, or just looks like something that went badly before. It is loud, it is fast, and it is only trying to help.
The part of the brain that can look at the Guard Dog and say, gently, “I know you’re trying to protect us. But this is new, not the same as last time. We’re safe right now.”
Children can learn it from the book in one reading. A free poster and cards are on the way for home, school and clinic. Join the list and we’ll tell you when they’re ready.