Alice Peel (text) and Beck Feiner (illustrator), How to be a (Fantastic, Sensational) Good Enough Kid, NewSouth, April 2025, 256 pp., RRP $29.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781761170188
Alice Peel is an Australian teacher and co-founder of the Grow Your Mind wellbeing program, a mental health initiative implemented across hundreds of primary schools. With decades of classroom experience and a heart for emotional literacy, Alice Peel delivers a practical guide that I highly recommend for middle to upper primary school students navigating a messy and emotional time of growing up.
The book introduces children to emotional regulation strategies, brain science and scenarios that are relatable to relationships. A highlight in this guide is the author’s creativity, connecting brain parts to animals as metaphors, such as wise owl (prefrontal cortex) and a noisy guard dog (amygdala), which helps children understand their brain parts and its functions.
The book is suitable for ages 8–12, and pieces together to bring readers a mental health manual, a journal, and an educational self-talk book. It will empower its readers to embrace imperfection, identify their emotions, and understand that being ‘good enough’ is actually more than enough in a world that is not a perfect one.
The book is great for the classroom, for wellbeing educators and for families. The opportunity for interaction through reflective questions, gratitude prompts and meaningful exercises is a highlight. Readers can expect to be exploring where jealousy and anger stems from, alongside other emotions and thoughts.
This book could be used for morning meetings, for health lessons, and for wellbeing displays. I love how it gives children the dialogue and the permission to talk openly about uncomfortable feelings without shame. Adults are not forgotten. This book will guide teachers, councillors, parents and other leaders through these challenges with their kids. The teacher notes and a student reflection journal resource for this book can be found online at the author’s website.
Reviewed by Chantelle Ciccotosto
