The Modest Tortoise & the Horrible Hare: Child Counsellor Releases Therapeutic New Book to Boost Self-Belief & Confidence in Children
John Mill’s ‘The Modest Tortoise and the Horrible Hare: Homework, Bullies and the Secret to School Survival’ puts a compelling new spin on Aesop’s timeless ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’ fable in a way that combats low self-esteem and self-worth in modern children. Through a powerful story and a series of therapeutic questions, children can learn to embrace the high confidence they were born with and use it to triumph throughout life. Mill himself never really knew where he fitted in and after a colourful past, turned his own life around to become a renowned child counsellor and hypnotherapist, he is confident no child has to suffer at the hands of societal/peer pressure.
For almost 3000 years, Aesop’s ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’ has epitomized the importance of understanding that, no matter one’s starting block in life, great things are never unachievable. It’s a message that transposes perfectly to the modern child born into a world of societal pressure to be “perfect”, a fierce bullying epidemic and demands that make many youngsters feel that they’re simply not enough.
Having worked with thousands of young children through his work as a counsellor and hypnotherapist, John Mill knows that every child is perfect just the way they are and, if they believe in themselves, there is nothing they cannot emerge victorious from. In a wholly-unique new project, Mill has taken Aesop’s fable and adapted it into a life-changing children’s book.
‘The Modest Tortoise and the Horrible Hare: Homework, Bullies and the Secret to School Survival’ has the ability to grab any child’s attention before society skews their perception of their own self-worth and teach them to live with abundant confidence.
Synopsis:
A colourful, heart-warming tale based on the classic fable in a modern day school setting. We follow the story of Modest Tortoise who feels different from the other children at school. He is shorter, his skin a different colour and he has a hard shell for a coat that he can’t take off even in summer. He is every one of us at our most vulnerable, thinking we are not enough. Horrible Hare is the cool kid in school, the one we all wanted to be but he is devious, manipulative and ultimately a bully. The book touches on bullying, self-esteem and confidence and the last pages are filled with open therapeutic questions so that a parent, grandparent or teacher can explore with the child how the story made them feel and whether any parts of the story touched them based on their own lives. We are all born perfect with great self-value and confidence but school life, negative adults and early messages we are told change us and make us question our abilities.
“This book is the complete package; a stunningly-illustrated story for children that also includes a message that could potentially change their lives,” explains Mill, who perfectly demonstrates the power of self-confidence, rising from his days selling ‘bootleg’ copies of the latest films at markets and living hand to mouth to become a respected counsellor. “After the story I present a series of therapeutic questions that adults can discuss with children to further explore the story, their own lives and ultimately guide them through a bold journey of learning to believe in themselves and their abilities.”
Continuing, “The problem is that we live in a world where children are taught to not speak out, to accept what society throws at them and still somehow try to find the space to forge their own success. As you can imagine, this leaves many children feeling like they’re not enough, evidenced through the hundreds of calls I took during my time at Childline from youngsters at breaking point and face to face in my daily practise. This book is about teaching them that they possess all they need to be great and that their voice is as important to the world as anyone else’s. With the story and its follow-up questions working together, I firmly believe this book can mould any child into a person that is brimming with confidence and ready to take on the world with gusto.”
‘The Modest Tortoise and the Horrible Hare: Homework, Bullies and the Secret to School Survival’, from Matador, is available now: http://amzn.to/1YPk181.
About the Author:
John is a passionate hypnotherapist and counsellor who worked for 3 years in Harley St and now runs a very busy practise in Surrey. In the early days John trained in telephone counselling children at Childline’s London office and during his weekly voluntary shift counselled over 400 children. Children that rang often discussed bullying as well as other problems and there were a few calls during this time where children had to be talked out of hurting themselves, suicide in some cases. These calls struck a chord with John. John later trained for 3 years at university studying hypnotherapy, psychotherapy and counselling. He has since helped literally thousands of clients make empowering life changes. John also has written 5 other children’s books covering bereavement, being disabled, sibling rivalry and more.
Thoughts on The Modest Tortoise and The Horrible Hare
I found this to be a delightful, well-illustrated and well-told story. I felt empathy for the tortoise and even recognised in myself times when I have identified with him. I also saw people I have let treat me like the Hare – and through the story I could see that it is the “Hares” and not the “tortoises” of this world who should feel bad. I think it is a great way to build self-esteem and such a short story that it would not take much time up to read (and talk about) the important messages often. The book suggests that it can be read by those ages 7+ alone but I feel that this book warrants time together – especially if it does bring to the surface any issues that may need resolving.
ISBN: 978-1-78589-015-4
@matardorbooks
£9.99
I received a free copy of the book for purposes of review. All opinions are my own.
i would love this book for my children x
I would love to win this book so that it can help my children boost their self esteem.
this looks a great book for the kids and myself
My children would love this 🙂
I would love this book for my two chidren – it looks a great book!
this sounds like a excellent book to give children confidence
This book sounds great
The twins are suffering with confidence since my daughter split with her husband and, at just four, are finding the transition difficult. This would be a great help.
Would love this for my daughter to help her have a good self esteem and confidence
For my Niece and Nephew
Would love to win this for my little boy 🙂
I tutor lots of children who could do with a big boost in self esteem
I would love to win this book so that it can help my eldest son and eldest daughter boost their self esteems (they are very much like me – more on the shy and less confident side). My other son and daughter, however, are so much more confident!
Seems like a great book, I know children and some adults who could benefit from it’s theme. I would love to win the book and share it with them.
It looks wonderful for my grandchildren
I would like to give this to my grandson we could read it together.
something i always worry about and hope my son has no problems at school, i think this would help him if he has any worries
I would love this for my boys. It looks very interesting
Would love this book for my granddaughter, she’s very shy
I want to start reading to the boy so he gets a love of books
This looks so lovely! Would be perfect for my niece!
For my niece
For my young grandson who struggles and needs confidence, lovely little man
It looks a good read for me and my son to share!
Oh, this sounds like a brilliant book. I’m not sure whether my eldest is old enough for it yet but I’d love to give it a go with her and if not, save it until she is ready. I am so worried about bullying and self esteem when my girls start school. I’m a terrible role model for them when it comes to being kind to myself and I would hate for them to grow up like me. Self esteem is so important, as is the confidence to be yourself and know that you are better than the bullies. Any book that can help with that is an important resource for any parent.x
I would love the book for my godson. He is currently being badly bullied in school and his confidence has take a huge hit. Maybe something like this would help. Thank you
I would like the book to read along with my 3 year old niece.
Love to win the book to read with my granddaughter Shaylen
I’d love this for my little neice who’s a bit nervous about going up to the bigger school.
I would love to see my son shine and not be bullied, like I was at school.
This would be a great pressie for my niece as she loves to read xx
I would love this for my daughter.
Fantastic. Thanks
I think thay my grandaughter woud love this book x
I would love this for my girls. It looks really interesting.
A great idea and a book that I would love to discuss with my son after reading
this is such a great idea for a kids book! i suffer from anxiety and as a result have no confidence and i’m really shy and introverted. one of my biggest fears is for me to pass that onto my children and letting it have a negative effect on their lives.
Where do you begin to describe just how important self-esteem is in the young? It affects their entire life. The little people in our house would all be reading this if we were lucky enough to win.
I would be interested to see if this could help my 2 boys
My children love books and I like to find them books that have a meaning to the story or are educational as well as being fun and engaging.
it would be great for my Middle son’s confidence issues, he doesn’t believe in himself
I think it sounds like a good worthwhile story and I’d love to read it to my cousins
Sounds like a great story and my nephew would love it.
I think this would be an excellent book to instill confidence in my Grandchildren
I think my little girl would love this. We’re struggling with potty training and I think that it’s a confidence issue so this book may help.
My 2 youngest children would like this book and I think it would help them be a bit more confident 🙂
This looks a great edition of the popular story – very educational.
this would be a brilliant addition to my little girls bookshelf
I would like to win the book to share it with my daughter we would enjoy reading it together.
I’d love this book for my children Mathew and Lizzie
I would love to donate this to my children’s school. x
This would be perfect for my little boy who is having some issues with another boy in his class.
This looks like a very important worthwhile book – hope to WIN for my children
fingers crossed 🙂
traditional story that always makes you think about life
My son would love this book
It would be great for my kids to build on their confidence
love this book – my 2 kids would love it!!
Now my son is at school I’d love this to build up his self-esteem & help him cope with bullying.
This sounds a wonderful book and I’d love to read it with my children. Cyber bullying is happening in primary schools every day, anything that helps children who are so vulnerable in today’s over connected society is worth a try.
This would be great for my goddaughter and her siblings
fingers crossed xx
My granddaughter loves reading and this would be very beneficial to her.