The Library
The growth-mindset bookshelf 📚
Every book I recommend across the blog, gathered onto one shelf. Use the filters below to find books for your child's exact challenge.
For the kids 🎨
You Are Awesome
Matthew Syed
The growth-mindset book for older kids: effort beats talent, every time.
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Ada Twist, Scientist
Andrea Beaty
A picture book for relentless question-askers, curiosity as a superpower.
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The Pout-Pout Fish
Deborah Diesen
A sneaky-perfect read-aloud for sparking a fixed-vs-growth chat.
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What If…
Samantha Berger
For the child who says “nope” to anything new, a gentle nudge to try.
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The Big Race
David Barrow
A heart-warming race story about having fun rather than just trying to win.
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The Invisible String
Patrice Karst
A reassuring read for hard goodbyes: you're always connected to the people you love.
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Barbara Throws a Wobbler
Nadia Shireen
Puts words and pictures to big meltdowns, so kids can recognise and talk through them.
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You Choose
Pippa Goodhart
An imaginative, no-wrong-answers book for sparking conversation and decision-making.
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The Get Movin' Activity Deck for Kids
Jennifer D. Hutto
Quick movement-break cards for kids who find it hard to sit still.
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How to Catch a Star
Oliver Jeffers
A gentle story about trying different approaches when the first one doesn't work.
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The Lion Inside
Rachel Bright
A tiny mouse finds the courage to speak up — perfect for nervous, shy moments.
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Critical Thinking Activities for Kids
Taylor Lang
Fun, challenging games that get kids questioning and problem-solving.
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Bitter and Sweet
Sandra V. Feder
A gentle look at the mixed-up, bittersweet feelings around big life changes.
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What Do You Do With a Problem?
Kobi Yamada
Reframes problems as something to face, learn from and grow from.
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Jabari Jumps
Gaia Cornwall
About working up the courage to do something scary — and feeling proud either way.
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The Magical Yet
Angela DiTerlizzi
Turns “I can’t do it” into “I can’t do it yet” — growth mindset in one sentence.
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Step-By-Step: Drawing People
Fiona Watt
Shows kids that drawing well is a skill you build step by step, not a talent you're born with.
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What If Everybody Did That?
Ellen Javernick
A simple, funny look at why small choices matter when everyone's watching.
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Don't Worry, Little Crab
Chris Haughton
A sweet, brave-the-big-wave story about facing something new together.
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A Whale of a Mistake
Ioana Hobai
Turns a giant mistake into something beautiful — a lovely talking point after mishaps.
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The Dark
Lemony Snicket
Being brave doesn't mean not feeling scared — it means trying anyway.
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Almost Anything
Sophy Henn
For the child who's too scared to try something new in front of their mates.
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The Colour Monster: The Feelings Doctor and the Emotions Toolkit
Anna Llenas
Hands kids (and grown-ups) real tools for calming big feelings.
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Aaron Slater, Illustrator
Andrea Beaty
For kids who feel behind — because practice, not talent, is what gets you there.
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Beautiful Oops!
Barney Saltzberg
Every smudge, tear and wonky line is the start of something, not the end.
Buy on Hive →You've Got This, Little Pangolin
Tola Okogwu
For the child who wants to be brilliant at it NOW, and won't be shown how.
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Room For Us All
Lu Fraser & Sarah Warburton
The squirrels realise they've been unkind, own it, and put it right.
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Lost and Found
Oliver Jeffers
Changing your mind isn't giving up. Knowing when to adjust is its own skill.
Buy on Hive →The Great Paint
Alex Willmore
One very funny frog who paints for the joy of it, then owns it when he messes up.
Buy on Hive →Tiger, Don't Worry!
Daishu Ma
Tiger breaks things and bolts. Owning up turns out to be the easier way.
Buy on Hive →I Am Not An Eggbox: The Recycling Project Book
Sara Stanford
Ten things to do with an eggbox, for when you're out of ideas and they're bored.
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A Great Big Cuddle
Michael Rosen
Poems short and funny enough to win over any poetry-sceptic. No 'doing it wrong'.
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The Wobblysaurus
Rachel Bright
She wibbles, she wobbles, she falls. Grannysaurus: it's a journey, not a race.
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The Artist
Ed Vere
Not about the going-wrong bit, but how she finds her way back afterwards.
Buy on Hive →For the grown-ups 💛
Black Box Thinking
Matthew Syed
For the grown-ups: why treating failure as data changes everything.
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Mindset
Dr Carol Dweck
The original growth mindset book — the research that started it all, made readable.
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Find Your F*ckyeah
Alexis Rockley
For the grown-ups: reconnecting with what actually lights you up.
Buy on Hive →Why we link to Hive, not Amazon 🐝
When you buy through Hive, you can support a local independent bookshop of your choice. Money stays local and helps keep brilliant little bookshops alive. It's a kinder alternative to Amazon, and a small commission supports Noisy Book Club too, at no extra cost to you. Same lovely books, a better story behind them.
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