Emerald Green Forest Shop the series
The Emerald Green Forest

Five stories that help small hearts do hard things.

Picture books about two piglet sisters, Penny and Mia, and the ordinary-sized troubles that turn out to be practice for something bigger — Stoic calm, a little shadow work, and the plain old courage it takes to keep going. Written for the read-aloud years, ages 3–5.

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Five books — one forest, ready to read in any order

Penny and Mia standing together at the very top of the mountain, looking out over the whole forest.
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One forest. Two sisters. A little philosophy, worn lightly.

Penny and Mia live in the Emerald Green Forest, where the hills are big, the stream has stepping stones, and growing up happens one ordinary morning at a time. Across five books, each sister faces something a little bit hard — a mountain, a storm, a shadow, a first day alone — and underneath every story is something a bit older: Stoic acceptance, Jungian shadow work, a trace of Nietzsche's "grow through what you go through," translated into a language a three-year-old already speaks.

"We cannot stop the thunder. We cannot hush the rain. But right here — inside us — we can always choose what we do." — Benny Turtle, to Penny
A page from each book

Peek inside the series

One spread from every story — swipe through the way your child will, book by book.

Penny and Mia standing on the mountain path, looking up at how steep and long it is.
Book One · I Can Do Hard Things!
"What if I slip? What if I fall? What if I'm not big or strong enough?"
Mia standing worried in a clearing, her dark shadow stretched out on the ground beside her.
Book Two · Mia Meets Her Shadow
"Shadow is part of you. All those big feelings live inside you. And everyone has them."
Penny and Mia dancing and splashing in the mud puddles as the rain falls around them.
Book Three · Penny Listens to the Storm
"I couldn't make it go away, but I could be in it — and that felt okay."
Mia standing alone at the top of the hill, looking out over the whole forest.
Book Four · Mia's Own Day
She still wished Penny were beside her. But she looked anyway, and it felt good.
Penny meeting her teacher Miss Puddlejump and the class frog Sir Ribbit on her first day of Piggy School.
Book Five · Penny's First Day
"The jitters mean you care about doing this well. They're just walking beside you for a bit."

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The Series

Five stories, one forest.

Every book stands alone, so families can start anywhere. Books Four and Five are a matched pair — the same morning, told from each sister's side.

Why it's not just a nice story
Penny and Mia standing together at the very top of the mountain after the climb.

Real ideas, at a three-year-old's eye level.

Every book starts from an actual philosophical idea, then asks what that idea looks like on an ordinary morning for a small pig who doesn't want to do the hard thing in front of her.

Book One

Growth through effort. Penny slips on the mountain and cries — then climbs anyway, one small step at a time.

Book Two

Shadow work. Mia's own shadow copies her big feelings until she stops running and says hello to them instead.

Book Three

Stoic calm. Penny can't stop the thunder — but Benny Turtle shows her what she can still choose.

Book Four

Quiet independence. Mia crosses the stream and climbs the hill alone for the first time, and finds she's still okay.

Book Five

Sitting with the jitters. Penny learns that nervous and excited can both be true at once — and neither has to leave before she starts her day.

Meet the forest
Lila Fox, Benny Turtle, Mia, and Penny sitting together on log benches in the forest.

Mia

Notices things other people rush past. Counts the stepping stones — all eleven of them.

Penny

First through every door, backpack bouncing, feels things big and says so out loud.

Benny Turtle

Steady in a storm. Doesn't ask if you're okay — just moves a little closer, or teaches you to breathe.

Lila Fox

Fast as a flash, always somewhere to be — and always asks the one question that actually helps.

Plus a few faces you'll only meet inside the books: Miss Puddlejump, the Piggy School teacher who thinks jitters are a good sign; Sir Ribbit, the classroom frog who's been there longer than anybody; and Pen Pen, the new friend who shares Penny's name.

Start anywhere

Every book stands on its own. Start with whichever hard thing sounds familiar tonight.

A mountain, a storm, a shadow, a first day alone — five small pigs finding out they're braver than they thought. Read one together before lights-out.

Shop the series
Penny and Mia reading together on a log with a mountain in the distance.