This week I'm sending you a book called The Little Engine That Could.
"I've got a hundred growth mindsets and I'm going to get to the top of this hill!"
That was my five-year-old, shooting past me on her scooter.
Forty-five seconds earlier, it had been: "Mummy, this hill is too steep. I can't do it."
Yes, it was a big hill for a five-year-old who'd done a full day of school. We weren't late, exactly, but we did need to get to the dentist. Halfway up, I could feel myself holding my breath and bracing. Please, please can we just get to the top.
You know when you feel like if you can keep going it'll be fine, but if you stop, there'll be no coming back?
Just as I was scrambling for something to say that wouldn't amount to "hurry up", out of nowhere, barely even to me, she said: "I have two growth mindsets and I'm going to use one. Actually, I've got ten. Actually, I've got a hundred!!"
And off she went.
I have been banging on about Growth Mindset for 12 years… and even I have moments of wondering if it's going in. Then sometimes it bursts out and surprises me. This was a good reminder of why it's worth being a broken record.
This week's book:
The Little Engine That Could (Random House) by Watty Piper.
I think I can. I think I can.
Do you know this one? It's one of my earliest memories of reading, at my grandparents' house in New York.
A train full of toys needs to get over a mountain, and every big, shiny engine says no. Then the little blue engine, who's never done anything like it, decides to give it a go. She chugs up the mountain saying: "I think I can, I think I can" all the way.
She doesn't know she can. She just decides to try, and she talks herself up the hill as she goes. Which is exactly what my daughter did, minus the train and toys and with a little extra volume.
If you've got a kid who's quick to say, "it's too hard," this is a lovely one to read together. And if you're the grown-up halfway up your own hill this week, I think it works for you too.
Ask your kid this:
- The little engine said, "I think I can" over and over. What do you say to yourself when something feels too hard?
- Why do you think the big, shiny engines said no, but the little engine said yes?
- Is there a hill you're climbing at the moment? What's one bit that feels steep, and what could help you get up it?
Something's coming for Christmas
I've been quietly squirrelling away on something, and I'm really excited about it.
It's called Noisy Book Club at Home. It's a way to bring what we do in the clubs into your house: a book, a chat, and ten minutes of you connecting with your kid. No jazz hands required.
It's also designed as a present. For the partner who's annoyingly impossible to buy for, the grandparent who's always keen to be more involved, or honestly, for you.