Illustrated Chapter Book Series
Big feelings. Soft tools. One brave little heart.
Meet Goldie Feels, a 7-year-old girl who experiences the world in full color, full sound, and full feeling. Her stories help children understand their emotions, discover coping tools that actually work, and learn the most important thing of all: they are exactly right, just as they are.
Concept illustration
“My feelings are real. I can feel them and still be safe.”
Goldie, Book 1“I can be angry and still be kind.”
Goldie, Book 3“I can be kind and brave at the same time.”
Goldie, Book 11“There is nothing wrong with me. I am a wonder.”
Goldie, Book 12Set in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where the peaks are always visible, the air smells like pine and fresh snow, and everyone knows your name at the general store.
Full name Marigold Marie Feels. Called Goldie because Mama noticed she was like Goldilocks: everything has to be just right. The nickname is an act of love, not criticism. She sees patterns other people miss and misses things other people take for granted.
Warm, wise, slightly silly. Speaks only to Goldie in italics. He says the thing she already knows but hasn't let herself hear yet. Never commands. Always invites.
Paint behind her nails on good days. Bear puppet named Bernard. Makes warm milk in mushroom cups. Sometimes sings when Goldie needs silence. Catches herself. Adjusts.
Processes things slowly and carefully. Puts his arm around Goldie loosely, the way she likes. Says things like: "Big things are often two sentences."
Age four. Enormous eyes, small face, exactly like a cute little bug. Goldie filed this observation immediately and has never revised it. Only Goldie calls her Bug.
Worn, soft, smells like home. Goldie always sleeps with Eddy, and Eddy always keeps her safe.
A curious crow who appears on walks and reminds Goldie to look for patterns in nature and in herself.
Each with their own big feelings, beautiful brains, and brave moments. Together, they show children that there's no one right way to be a kid.
Each book tackles one real childhood challenge: sensory overload, loneliness, anger, grief, self-doubt. And introduces gentle, playful coping tools grounded in child psychology.
Goldie isn’t fixed at the end of each book. She’s learning. Just like your child.
The series is designed for neurodivergent, sensitive, and emotionally intense kids, but every child will see themselves in Goldie’s world.
Click a cover to read the back
One feeling at a time.
Can be read in any order. Each book is a standalone story with its own emotional journey.
Two preview sections from the manuscript
✨ A Letter from the Girl Under the Desk
Dear You,
I want to tell you about the bench behind the leafy plant.
I found it when the museum was too loud and too bright and too much all at once. I didn’t plan to find it. I just walked toward the quietest corner I could see and sat down and let the tears that had been waiting finally come.
That was not giving up. That was taking care of myself.
If you have ever needed to make yourself small somewhere — under a desk, behind a couch, in a bathroom, in a closet — that place is not a hiding place. That is a regulation station. That is where you go when your nervous system needs to catch its breath before you can be brave again.
And here is what I want you to know: the brave part always comes. Not because you forced it. Because you rested first.
Your feelings are real. You can feel them and still be safe. That is the whole thing. That is all of it.
Sometimes the bravest thing is a tiny sentence said from behind a plant. Version 1.0 is enough to start.
My feelings are real. I can feel them and still be safe.
Love,
✨ The Girl Under the Desk
(That’s me. Goldie. The one who found the bench behind the plant and then taught a stranger how to breathe.)
Goldie Feels was created to give neurodivergent, sensitive, and deeply feeling children a character who looks like their inner world and shows them it’s a beautiful place to live.
Every book ends with a Letter from the Girl Under the Desk. It’s the moment the story stops being about Goldie and speaks directly to the child reading. Not a lesson. A recognition.
The coping tools Goldie uses actually work. Dragon breath calms the nervous system. The Cloud Chart builds emotional vocabulary. The Task Train supports executive function. These aren’t made up. They’re research, dressed in story.
Written for the child who feels everything at full volume and the adults who love them enough to learn a different language.
If a child in your life connected with Goldie’s story, they are likely experiencing some form of sensory sensitivity, anxiety, or neurodivergence — whether autistic, ADHD, highly sensitive, or simply a child whose nervous system is well-calibrated to the world’s intensity.
When children become overwhelmed in busy environments, their nervous systems are genuinely struggling to process the volume of input arriving at once. This is not defiance, attention-seeking, or a lack of self-control. It is a physiological response. Their brains are working exactly as designed — they simply need different support.
Validation over minimization: “That sounds really overwhelming” instead of “You’re fine.”
Curiosity over judgment: “What does your body need right now?” instead of “Why are you acting this way?”
Tools over consequences: Teach coping strategies before and during difficult moments, not only after.
Prevention over reaction: Learn the early warning signs. For Goldie it’s shoulders creeping toward ears. For your child it might be something else entirely. Ask them when things are calm.
When children retreat to small quiet spaces, they are self-regulating. This is healthy. Forcing them out of these spaces usually escalates distress rather than resolving it. The goal is to create more regulated-feeling environments, not to eliminate the need for retreat.
Children who feel deeply and need soft exits often grow into remarkably empathetic, creative adults. Their sensitivity is not a problem to be fixed. It is a neurological difference that brings both challenge and gift. Your patience and curiosity make all the difference.
Goldie Feels is currently seeking representation. Leave your email and I’ll let you know when there’s news to share.
