Every worry explored in The Blooms is one my daughter and I have moved through together. They’re the small, everyday worries that surface in early childhood — the kind that can feel overwhelming to a young person, yet are often difficult for adults to address without brushing them aside or unintentionally making them feel bigger than they are.
As I began speaking with other parents, I realised just how common these moments were, and how many of us were quietly unsure how best to respond.
I remember having worries of my own as a child — worries that felt too small to raise out loud, yet big enough to carry quietly. I didn’t always know how to name them, and I often felt embarrassed for having them, especially when they made me feel different. I worked through many of those feelings internally, assuming everyone else was coping better than I was. Looking back, I can see how isolating that can feel, particularly when you’re young and still learning how emotions work.
That memory stayed with me, and it shaped how I approached my own child’s worries — with more gentleness, more openness, and a desire to let her know that worrying doesn’t mean something is wrong with you. It simply means you’re human.
What became clear to me, both as a parent and through conversations with other families, is that it’s often the smallest worries that children carry most quietly. Things that can seem insignificant from the outside — a fear of getting something wrong, of being left out, of not knowing what comes next — can feel very real and very heavy to a young child.
When these everyday worries are acknowledged calmly and without judgement, something important happens: children begin to understand that worrying doesn’t mean they’re failing or fragile, it simply means they’re learning how to navigate the world in their own way. Addressing these moments gently, and early, can be deeply comforting — and can shape how children approach future worries with more confidence, language, and self-trust.The way we speak to children about worries matters just as much as acknowledging them in the first place. If the tone is too heavy, children can feel overwhelmed; if it’s too light or dismissive, they can feel unheard. I wanted a middle ground — something calm, gentle, and quietly reassuring, without being babyish or didactic. A tone that respects children as emotionally capable, while still meeting them where they are.
When conversations about worries feel safe and approachable, children are more likely to stay open to them, rather than shutting them down or feeling singled out for having them. Creating that emotional safety — through language, tone, and modern, vibrant visuals — became central to how I approached the story.
The Blooms grew out of that desire to create a gentle, reassuring presence children could return to — characters who acknowledge worries without amplifying them, and who model moving through those moments with kindness and confidence. Rather than positioning worries as problems to be fixed, the story treats them as part of everyday life, something we all experience in different ways. The characters themselves were intentionally designed to be different from one another — imperfect, individual, and expressive — reflecting the idea that difference is not something to hide or outgrow, but something to be embraced. The visual world aims to feel friendly, calm, and quietly encouraging, offering children companions they can recognise themselves in, and reassurance that being different is not only okay, but what makes friendships, and people, interesting.
Worry is something we all carry at different points in our lives — children and grown-ups — and learning how to sit with it kindly is an important part of growing. When children are given language, reassurance, and the quiet understanding that they’re not alone, even in their smallest concerns, they begin to trust themselves and their ability to move through uncertainty. My hope is that by acknowledging everyday worries early, and doing so in a calm and approachable way, we help children feel seen, supported, and capable — not because their worries disappear, but because they know they don’t have to face them alone, or be anyone other than who they already are.
Miranda Sheppard is a Sydney-based author and illustrator, and the creator of The Blooms: Helping Kids Grow Through It, a contemporary picture book series designed to gently support young children through everyday worries. The idea for The Blooms grew from her experience as a parent, and from noticing how common early emotional milestones can feel both significant to children and difficult for adults to navigate. Miranda creates stories and visual worlds that aim to help children feel seen, reassured, and understood, using warmth, humour, and expressive illustration.
You can find Miranda at mirandasheppard.com or on Instagram @mirandasheppard.art .
I wanted to create something that gently acknowledged these feelings — not to fix them, but to normalise them — and to do so in a way that felt reassuring, contemporary, and emotionally safe, like a steady, familiar voice stepping in to remind children they’re not alone - that they’re normal, and that they belong exactly as they are.
I remember having worries of my own as a child — worries that felt too small to raise out loud, yet big enough to carry quietly. I didn’t always know how to name them, and I often felt embarrassed for having them, especially when they made me feel different. I worked through many of those feelings internally, assuming everyone else was coping better than I was. Looking back, I can see how isolating that can feel, particularly when you’re young and still learning how emotions work.
That memory stayed with me, and it shaped how I approached my own child’s worries — with more gentleness, more openness, and a desire to let her know that worrying doesn’t mean something is wrong with you. It simply means you’re human.
What became clear to me, both as a parent and through conversations with other families, is that it’s often the smallest worries that children carry most quietly. Things that can seem insignificant from the outside — a fear of getting something wrong, of being left out, of not knowing what comes next — can feel very real and very heavy to a young child.
When these everyday worries are acknowledged calmly and without judgement, something important happens: children begin to understand that worrying doesn’t mean they’re failing or fragile, it simply means they’re learning how to navigate the world in their own way. Addressing these moments gently, and early, can be deeply comforting — and can shape how children approach future worries with more confidence, language, and self-trust.The way we speak to children about worries matters just as much as acknowledging them in the first place. If the tone is too heavy, children can feel overwhelmed; if it’s too light or dismissive, they can feel unheard. I wanted a middle ground — something calm, gentle, and quietly reassuring, without being babyish or didactic. A tone that respects children as emotionally capable, while still meeting them where they are.
When conversations about worries feel safe and approachable, children are more likely to stay open to them, rather than shutting them down or feeling singled out for having them. Creating that emotional safety — through language, tone, and modern, vibrant visuals — became central to how I approached the story.
The Blooms grew out of that desire to create a gentle, reassuring presence children could return to — characters who acknowledge worries without amplifying them, and who model moving through those moments with kindness and confidence. Rather than positioning worries as problems to be fixed, the story treats them as part of everyday life, something we all experience in different ways. The characters themselves were intentionally designed to be different from one another — imperfect, individual, and expressive — reflecting the idea that difference is not something to hide or outgrow, but something to be embraced. The visual world aims to feel friendly, calm, and quietly encouraging, offering children companions they can recognise themselves in, and reassurance that being different is not only okay, but what makes friendships, and people, interesting.
Worry is something we all carry at different points in our lives — children and grown-ups — and learning how to sit with it kindly is an important part of growing. When children are given language, reassurance, and the quiet understanding that they’re not alone, even in their smallest concerns, they begin to trust themselves and their ability to move through uncertainty. My hope is that by acknowledging everyday worries early, and doing so in a calm and approachable way, we help children feel seen, supported, and capable — not because their worries disappear, but because they know they don’t have to face them alone, or be anyone other than who they already are.
Miranda Sheppard is a Sydney-based author and illustrator, and the creator of The Blooms: Helping Kids Grow Through It, a contemporary picture book series designed to gently support young children through everyday worries. The idea for The Blooms grew from her experience as a parent, and from noticing how common early emotional milestones can feel both significant to children and difficult for adults to navigate. Miranda creates stories and visual worlds that aim to help children feel seen, reassured, and understood, using warmth, humour, and expressive illustration.
You can find Miranda at mirandasheppard.com or on Instagram @mirandasheppard.art .
