The Little Pebble Books
About The Little Pebble Books
Gentle stories and practical emotional-support tools created for the child who needs to hear: you matter, you belong, and you are not alone.
Our Mission
We exist to notice the invisible and give hope—helping children feel seen, heard, understood, and deeply loved, one gentle story and one caring tool at a time.
Every book begins with one question: what does this child need to hear right now?
Meet the Founder
Meet Trish Iiams
Author, illustrator & founder of The Little Pebble Books
I am a mother, a grandmother, a foster parent, and an adoptive mother. Long before The Little Pebble Books had a name, I knew what it felt like to be the child who wondered if she mattered. I remember what it was like to feel small, quiet, and easy to miss. That little girl is still part of every story I write.
Then my husband and I opened our home to foster care. I began seeing familiar things in the children who came through our door — the silence, the uncertainty, the fear of not belonging, and the need to know that someone would stay. I wanted to give them stories that could say the things children sometimes cannot say for themselves.
I live in Colorado, where I still pick up pebbles, still notice the small things, and still believe that something tiny can create a ripple much bigger than itself.
The Origin Story
I wrote The Pebble for the child I had been.
The Little Pebble Books began with one story, one ache, and one quiet hope: that a child who feels unseen might finally hear, you matter.
I know what it feels like to wonder if you matter — if anyone really sees you, and if there is a place in the world where you belong. I carried that quiet ache for a long time.
I wrote The Pebble for that little girl. I was not trying to create a collection or build a program. I was writing one story for the child I had been.
Then my husband and I opened our home to foster care. In the children who came through our door, I recognized something familiar: the silence, the uncertainty, and the deep need to know they mattered and that someone would stay.
You are seen.
You are wanted.
You are enough.
I started reading to them, and I watched what could happen when a child met a character who felt something they felt. A story could give them a way to recognize an emotion before they had the words for it. It could quietly say, you are not the only one.
That changed the way I understood storytelling. One story became another, and the collection kept growing — stories about belonging, anxiety, adoption, big feelings, self-worth, neurodiversity, trust, hope, and the experiences children sometimes carry quietly.
The books began growing into tools too — ways to breathe, calm, notice body clues, name feelings, and create a bridge between children and the adults who are trying so hard to reach them.
I matter.
I am seen.
I belong here.
That is why I keep writing: to place one gentle truth into a child’s hands at a time — you matter exactly as you are, and you do not have to carry everything alone.
What It Became
One story grew into a wider circle of support.
I never set out to build a collection, a program, or a mission. I wrote one story because there was something I desperately wanted one child to know. That one story became another — and slowly, The Little Pebble Books grew into something much bigger than I ever imagined.
Stories
Picture books that help children recognize themselves, feel understood, and know they are not alone.
Toby’s Toolbox™
Child-friendly emotional-learning tools that help children recognize, understand, communicate, and regulate feelings.
Support for Caring Adults
Resources for families, foster, kinship and adoptive caregivers, educators, counselors, and other adults walking beside children.
Programs & Partnerships
Workshops, school visits, care-kit initiatives, and partnerships that help bring support beyond the page.
Beyond the Books
Stories open the conversation. Toby helps children know what to do next.
Toby’s Toolbox™ grew from the same place as the books. I kept meeting children with big feelings and very few words for them — and caring adults who were trying so hard to help. I wanted to give both of them something simple they could use together.
So Toby became more than a character. He became a bridge. The growing Toolbox includes Toby books, visual supports, calming tools, emotion and body-clue activities, Calm Corner resources, and simple ways children can practice what to do with a feeling once they recognize it.
The Little Pebble Philosophy
Small things matter.
A story can be small.
A card in a child’s hand can be small.
A few words from a caring adult can be small.
But small things can create ripples.
That is the heart behind The Little Pebble Books. I cannot take away every hard thing a child carries. But I can keep placing small things in their path that say, I see you. I am here. You matter.
Beyond Storytime
Meeting children where they are.
My hope is that these stories and tools can meet children wherever they are — at home, in a classroom, in foster care, in counseling, or in one of those hard in-between moments when a caring adult is simply trying to help.
Homes & Caregivers
Gentle ways to talk about feelings, create connection, and practice emotional skills together.
Schools & Classrooms
Story-based resources, Calm Corner supports, and Toby tools for emotional learning and everyday classroom use.
Foster, Adoptive & Kinship Care
Stories and resources that can support children navigating belonging, separation, transition, safety, and change.
Child-Support Settings
Supportive story-based resources for counselors, social workers, caseworkers, residential programs, and other child-serving settings.
The Ripples Are Already Starting
From one story to real moments of connection.
What began quietly at my kitchen table is already reaching far beyond it — into community events, family-support spaces, hospitals, conversations with professionals, and first-responder settings.
Community Events
Meeting families, sharing resources, and listening to the real needs children and caregivers bring with them.
Foster & Family Support
Joining community conversations that center children, caregivers, connection, and belonging.
Reading With Children
The heart of the work is still simple: sitting beside a child and letting a story create a safe place to begin.
Book Signings & Personal Connections
Sharing the books one-on-one creates another kind of ripple — a chance to encourage a child, a family, or a caring adult with a message they can carry with them.
Hospital Connections
Sharing stories in hospital and family-support spaces can create small moments of encouragement, comfort, and connection when families are carrying a lot.
First Responders
Exploring child-centered tools that can help adults offer something familiar, calming, and approachable in hard moments.
First-Responder Outreach
Bringing Toby and emotional-support resources into community safety conversations opens another path for helping children feel understood during stressful moments.
Toby in New Settings
Adapting Toby’s message so more children can recognize feelings, feel safer, and know what to do next.
What began as one story is already finding its way into classrooms, community events, hospitals, family-support spaces, and first-responder conversations. Every time a child feels seen, a caregiver finds a new way to begin a conversation, or a professional sees another way to reach a child, the ripple grows.
Why This Matters to Me
Why this work matters to me.
I spent years not knowing I mattered.
I do not want any child to spend that long finding out that they do.
One pebble. One ripple. One child who finally believes they matter.
My hope is to keep creating the kinds of stories and tools I wish someone had placed in my hands when I was little — something that helps a child feel seen sooner, find their voice sooner, and know they matter sooner.
you are seen.
you belong here.
you matter.
The stories keep coming because children keep needing stories that see them.
Where the Ripples Are Reaching
The ripples are already moving beyond the bookshelf.
The Little Pebble Books began with one story. Today, those stories and tools are beginning to reach children in the moments when they may feel the smallest, the most uncertain, or the least able to explain what they need.
Foster Care & Family Transitions
A child entering foster care or moving through a difficult family transition has something warm, reassuring, and child-centered to hold onto.
NICU Babies & Families
A baby and family in the NICU can receive a story that honors just how small — and how mighty — that little life is, while offering comfort during an uncertain time.
Classrooms & Calm Corners
Children have practical, welcoming tools that help them recognize feelings, find calm, communicate needs, and know they belong.
Counselors, Social Workers & Caseworkers
A caring professional has another gentle way to begin a conversation, build emotional language, or reach a child when words are hard.
First Responders & Difficult Moments
A first responder arriving during one of the hardest moments in a child’s life has something simple and child-centered to offer — a book, a calming tool, or a small point of connection.
Care Kits & Community Impact
Community partners can place books, Toby tools, comfort items, and Care Kits into the hands of children and families who need them most.
That is how the ripple is growing — one child, one caring adult, and one small moment at a time.
Because even the smallest heart can make a difference.