This story reflects our family's personal experience with nervous system regulation and anxiety.

If we feel dysregulated at home we say we have 'spiky trees', having likened the nervous system to lots of little trees sitting in a forest. This is demonstrated visually in the book through my son's illustrations by our main character's hair standing on end.

The book seeks to promote the importance of emotion awareness and validation, while offering practical strategies to support self-regulation such as spending time in nature and focussed breathing.

Just like our other publications, this has been stitched together from a place of love and vulnerability. It is something that has helped our family and we share it in the hope of helping others.