Where children don’t have to rush to belong
A gentle children’s story world and book series exploring feelings, neurodivergent traits, and lived experiences — one animal, one story at a time.
What is The Wishing Barn?
The Wishing Barn is a gentle children’s story world created for neurodivergent children — and for anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed, misunderstood, or out of step with the world around them.
Through calm, emotionally safe storytelling, each book explores a single feeling, trait or experience through one animal at a time.
Rather than focusing on labels, The Wishing Barn begins with the child — creating stories that help children and the adults around them feel seen, understood and less alone.
It is a story world built on the belief that children’s needs deserve understanding, not judgment.
How The Wishing Barn works
Each Wishing Barn story begins with one animal and one experience.
Instead of trying to explain everything at once, each book gently explores a single feeling, trait, or way of experiencing the world.
That creates space for children to recognise themselves without feeling overwhelmed — and for adults to better understand what a child may be feeling beneath the surface.
Across the series, those small stories build into something bigger: a wider, gentler understanding of children, one story at a time.
Why families are drawn to The Wishing Barn
The Wishing Barn was created by parents of autistic children, shaped by a real family need: to create stories where children could feel safe, understood, and not overwhelmed by the world around them.
It reflects something many families already know — that children don’t need to be fixed.
They need to be understood.
Each story offers a gentle, shared way for children, parents, carers, and educators to understand a feeling, a trait, or a moment that might otherwise feel too big.
At its heart, The Wishing Barn is about meeting children where they are — and creating stories where they do not have to rush to belong.
Why We Created The Wishing Barn
We created The Wishing Barn from our own family experience, after seeing how overwhelming the world can feel for children who are sensitive, misunderstood, or expected to keep up with a pace that does not fit them.
Through Eva and David, we came to understand how much difference it makes when a child feels safe, understood, and not rushed.
The Wishing Barn grew from that understanding — into a gentle story world where children can feel safe, seen, and understood.
Start with Book One: Socks the Sheep Who Felt Everything
Socks the Sheep Who Felt Everything is the first story in The Wishing Barn series - a gentle introduction to a world where feelings are understood, not fixed.
A calm, emotionally safe starting point for children who feel everything deeply - and for the adults learning alongside them.
👉 A gentle first story
Stay connected to The Wishing Barn
The Wishing Barn is a growing story world of gentle books, new characters, and future possibilities.
Join us for new stories, early releases, behind-the-scenes updates, and news as The Wishing Barn grows.
Work With Us
The Wishing Barn is being developed as a gentle story world with room to grow across books, education, media, and wider storytelling opportunities.
We welcome conversations with publishers, agents, educators, media, and creative or commercial collaborators.
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