The most common thing parents say after reading the Ethan and the Seven Chakras series is some version of this: “I think I needed this book more than my child did.” That's not an accident.
The best children's books are written on two levels simultaneously. On the surface: a story a child can follow and ask for again. Underneath: something true about the human experience that adults recognize, often with a small shock of recognition.
Emotional intelligence — the ability to identify, understand, and manage emotions in yourself and others — is not something most adults were explicitly taught. Children's books that center it give families a shared vocabulary and a safe container for difficult conversations.
When a child asks “Why did Ethan feel scared even when he was brave?” they're not just asking about Ethan. They're beginning to map their own inner world. And when a parent really answers, they're doing that work too. The best children's books are not books for children. They are books for humans, written in a language children can enter first.