This was a very sweet and beautifully illustrated picture book. I love how selective mutism and anxiety is treated with understanding and compassion. The main character, works through her anxieties along with her parents and gains skills and bravery to use her voice. The authors also provide information for parents. I would recommend this book for kids 4-10. Thank you to NetGalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for this ARC, all opinions are my own.

Thank you to the author/illustrator, Brave Mighty Minds and Net Galley for the free early copy in exchange for my honest review.

The message of this book is as inspiring as the title suggests and will be great for the right reader. I do think that the audience is very niche, and that the rhyme scheme/design for younger readers is a mismatch with the length of the book, which would be for slightly older readers. And while some don’t mind this, the flexibility of the rhyme scheme and rhythm wasn’t to my taste.

Bravery Grows will speak to your heart. This is an important book that many of us can relate to. This story explores childhood anxiety and selective mutism. The pictures bring the story alive as the text dives into realistic life situations which can be a wonderful conversation starters. This book is gentle and encouraging and reminds us all that are feelings are valid. I'd highly recommend this book for all young scholars.

This book is wonderful not only because the main character gains bravery, but they also grow into themselves as part of this as well. I definitely found myself relating to certain parts in the book, like being shy at school, especially having gone to the middle school I went to. I would have loved this book and found it immensely helpful when I was younger, and I’m grateful to see it on its way to publication here! This is a great book.

Thank you for allowing me to read this eARC in advance of publication. This is my honest feedback I am leaving voluntarily.

Bravery Grows is beautifully written! As a preschool teacher, this book is perfect for students transitioning to kindergarten, or just nerves in general. I love that the story allows for ample social emotional discussions. I will be purchasing this book for my classroom once it's published, and it wil be a new classroom staple.

A brilliant reminder that we can do hard things, with encouragement and support!

This beautiful picture book offers delightfully rhyming prose, practical strategies to gentle support children with childhood anxiety and selective mutism, as well as encouragement that bravery grows with practice.

I appreciate the focus on practical coping strategies, the caregiver’s guide at the end of the book, as well as the identification of thoughts/feelings/bodily sensations that can accompany anxiety.

I adore the whimsical and colourful illustrations, that work well alongside the important message of this delightful picture book.

With many thanks to Jessica Kingsley Publishers, and NetGalley for the e-Arc, in exchange for an honest review.

This book would make a brilliant addition to any school, child psychology clinic, or home library, to share with all children about childhood anxiety and situational mutism.

Release date: 21st May 2025

This is a beautiful story about finding your voice by being brave. I love the way the book puts a positive spin on the steps it takes to become brave. Finding your way through struggles and being brave looks different for everyone. This book embodies being brave means trying something even when you are scared!

"Bravery Grows" tells the story of a young girl who is animated and expressive when she is at home and around her family members who make her feel safe and comfortable, but becomes quiet and uncertain in other environments where she does not feel as comfortable. Over time when the girl practices with her "brave muscles", she feels stronger and stronger over time and grows the confidence to speak up in social situations or when others are around.

As a child/adolescent therapist, another aspect of this book that I absolutely loved was the focus on use of thought & feeling identification, expression of emotions, and use of coping skills. The child's mom encourages her daughter to take space when she is upset and then provides comfort. Additionally, the book provides excellent descriptors of the child's experience of anxiety and distress, including words to describe her physical symptoms of anxiety and overwhelm. This book would be an excellent tool to help a child grow their vocabulary in terms of thought/feeling identification. The book provides some psychoeducation specifically related to Selective Mutism at the very end of the book for parents/caregivers, but this book would also benefit kids who struggle with general anxiety, social anxiety, separation anxiety, or general shyness!

This picture book is a beautiful tribute to anyone who has ever had or has cared for someone with selective mutism. I absolutely adored the support and love the parents in this book show to their daughter. I also love the educational materials at the end.

What I love most though is the idea of bravery muscles! I am so going to use that term moving forward. Sometimes we all just need a reminder that we need to strengthen our bravery muscles. Marvelous messages and gorgeous illustrations.

This was a beautiful storybook about selective mutism. I am happy to see representation of this disorder in a picture book. My main piece of feedback is to reinforce that it's okay to be selectively mute. This story does a good job of that, but at the end of the day, speaking does not always have to be the goal for selectively mute individuals.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

⭐️ 5/5
Publication Date: May 21, 2025
Children’s Illustrated

This is a colorfully, illustrated children’s book about a young girl who is confident, proud, and has no problem finding her voice while at home, but out in public like at the park or school, it’s not as easy. I read this with my 4 year old daughter and I was really impressed with the creative adjectives and appropriate words used in this story. The detailing in the pictures was engaging and fun. The young girl is given some mindfulness techniques with the help of her parents to find her voice again and grow her glow. This is huge for kids and even adults to learn about for how to handle anxiety; do we need space, to talk about it, a hug? Her parents were so supportive and encouraging, it was just such a heartwarming and resourceful book! The grown-up guide for parents to reference was an amazing idea to include too.

Thank you Jessica Kingsley Publishers for providing an advanced copy of this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This is such a cute book with an amazing message! If you talk about growth mindset in your classroom, then you need this book! I read this with my third graders and we had some great discussions about a time that they were nervous and had to grow their own bravery. Bravery is not usually discussed as something that needs to grow. But bravery is just like anything else that you need to work on and everyone has different times that they need to be able to “grow their bravery.”

This was a very cute book. The illustrations are lovely, the caregiver's guide in the back seems very useful and informative, and I really like the concept of "brave muscles" that need to grow. As someone who struggled with a lot of anxiety as a kid, I think stories like this are helpful. That being said, this book does follow a rhyme scheme and I felt like some of the phrasing was just a little clunky in parts.

I didn't know a lot about selective mutism, and this book was really informative on the subject. It was helpful to read about it from the perspective of the child in a fictional tale.

I really loved this book! It follows a young girl with selective mutism who struggles with talking outside the house. As she practices more and more, she finally finds the confidence to speak to a friend at the park. This was such a lovely representation of anxiety and I enjoyed the message of perseverance. I also really appreciated the guide at the end of the book that discusses what selective mutism is. The illustrations are also amazing! I liked the use of different tones to depict the different moods.

Overall, I highly recommend picking this one up!

I absolutely adored this book! It touched on ways to overcome anxiety and how to approach hard situations. The main character continues to try despite being unable to speak around anyone but her family. They are so supportive and encourage her to keep being brave. Eventually she finds her voice and is able to speak to her friend. It’s a great lesson in perseverance and how important a good support system is. The illustrations are beautiful and helped give the story life!

What a powerful book! A simple idea delivered so well. I loved the concept of bravery muscles that need to be developed. Really engaging illustration accompanied beautiful words and a pacy rhyme. The story itself taught me more about the experience of selective mutism than any training I have received. The guide at the end is also hugely helpful. A really powerful read!

I really loved this book. The support from parents was wonderful and the perseverance of the main character was awesome!

The message is fine but the attempts at rhyming are strained at best. The illustrations aren't great and are sometimes flat-out odd. My 5yo asked me at one section if "it was supposed to look like that." Overly long, too - we got bored.

The strategies are nice but you need a better kid-facing section in order for anyone to really get to see them.

Thank you for the ARC.

This was an adorable picture book about a little girl with select mutism. It shows how she can be communicative when she feels comfortable and safe. As a momma to an autistic kiddo who also has selective mutism, I wish I had this book for him when he was little.