Stories and emotional tools that fit the child you teach at home
Homeschooling gives you the chance to notice what your child needs in real time. The Little Pebble Books and Toby’s Toolbox™ offer gentle stories, regulation supports, printable tools, and simple routines you can use without adding another subject to your day.
Ages 3–10 · Pre-K–5th grade
Sometimes home is where a child can learn in the way they need
Families homeschool for many reasons. For some, it is flexibility. For others, it is finding the right support for a child who is neurodivergent, autistic, physically disabled, highly anxious, medically complex, sensory-sensitive, recovering from difficult experiences, or simply overwhelmed in a traditional setting.
Support the individual child
Slow down, adjust the pace, respond to sensory and emotional needs, and choose the story or tool that fits the child in front of you.
Protect a good education
Emotional support does not replace learning. It can help create the safety, connection, and regulation a child may need before they can fully engage with it.
Have tools ready for hard moments
Use a familiar story, breathing card, feelings tool, movement strategy, or quiet space when learning gets hard or emotions become too big.
I remember worrying about both the education and the child
I homeschooled some of my children for several years. One of my biggest concerns was making sure they were getting a good education while also getting the support and tools they needed as individuals.
That is what I want this page to make easier: not another complicated program to manage, but stories and practical supports you can reach for when your child needs help understanding a feeling, calming their body, finding their voice, or getting ready to learn again.
Help your child move from “something is wrong” to “I know what I can do next”
You do not need to turn emotions into a lesson. These four steps give you a simple shared language for difficult moments at home.
What am I feeling?
Help your child notice and name the feeling without requiring them to explain everything at once.
What is happening inside me?
Notice body clues, triggers, sensory needs, and what may be making the moment harder.
What do I need?
Give children words, pictures, or simple choices that make it easier to ask for help, space, movement, reassurance, or connection.
What can help me next?
Practice a calming, breathing, movement, sensory, or connection tool before returning to the next part of the day.
Recognize → Understand → Communicate → Regulate
Find a story for what your child is experiencing
Children don’t always have the words to tell us what they need. Start with what you are noticing at home — anxiety, big feelings, neurodiversity, disability, belonging, confidence, or simply a hard season — then meet the stories that may help open the conversation.
Big Feelings, Worry & Feeling Safe
When feelings seem bigger than the words your child has for them.
Crabby’s Big Feelings
For the child whose feelings sometimes come in like a wave.
Safe Inside Her Shell
For the child who needs to feel safe before they are ready to come out of their shell.
Little Lion, Big Roar
For the child learning that big feelings are okay—and what to do with them.
The Girl Who Thought She Caused the Rain
For the child carrying blame that was never theirs to carry.
Belonging, Identity & Being Different
For the child wondering, “Where do I fit?” or “Is it okay to be me?”
Where the Little Otter Belongs
For the child who needs reassurance that family and belonging can hold their whole story.
The Little Zebra Who Had No Stripes
For the child noticing that they are different and learning that different can belong.
The Ziggity-Zaggity Little Whale
For the child discovering that they do not have to move through the world exactly like everyone else.
That’s No Bee!
For the child figuring out where they belong while learning there is room to be exactly who they are.
Self-Worth, Confidence & Purpose
For the child who feels small, overlooked, unsure, or wonders whether they really matter.
The Pebble
For the child who needs to hear that even someone small can make a difference.
Simply Caby
For the child who keeps looking at everyone else and needs to discover that being themselves is enough.
Oliver the Smallest Bear
For the child who feels too small to be strong or important.
The Little Fox Who Matters
For the child learning that small acts and a caring heart can matter more than they realize.
Friendship, Trust & Connection
For the child learning how to reach toward others, trust, accept love, and find friendship.
How the Cat Got Its Purr
For the child who wants connection but may not know how to begin.
The Little Porcupine Who Wanted a Hug
For the child learning that protecting yourself and letting someone care can both be true.
Hope, Dreams & Seeing Things Differently
For the child learning to hold onto hope, believe in themselves, or see their situation in a new way.
The Moon Who Wanted to Stay
For the child who longs to be seen and needs reassurance that their place and purpose matter.
Juliana and the Dream in Her Pocket
For the child carrying a dream that feels much bigger than they are.
The Little Panda on the Hill
For the child learning that sometimes what we are waiting for looks different when we change our view.
Stories for Specific Needs & Experiences
Sometimes families are looking for a story that speaks more directly to something their child is experiencing. These stories can be another place to begin.
The Little Zebra Who Had No Stripes
For children who experience the world differently and may wonder why they do not seem to fit the same pattern as everyone else.
The Ziggity-Zaggity Little Whale
For children whose bodies may move or work differently, with reassurance that doing something differently does not make their way less valuable.
Safe Inside Her Shell
For children whose worries can make the world feel harder to navigate and who need gentle reassurance as they move through anxious feelings.
Want full descriptions, included tools, and purchase options?
Explore the Complete Book Collection →One familiar friend from story time to difficult moments at home
Toby helps the stories and home tools feel connected instead of like one more thing you have to teach.
Story Toby
The quiet, patient turtle children first meet in The Pebble and recognize throughout the Little Pebble story world.
Young Toby
A familiar helper for feelings, body clues, communication, calming strategies, and emotional regulation at home.
Meet Toby →
Stories open the conversation. Toby gives you something practical to do next.
Toby’s Toolbox™ is a growing collection of books, regulation supports, feelings tools, printables, Calm Corner resources, and hands-on activities you can use one at a time or build into your home routine.
Ready when your child needs support
Keep practical supports where your child can reach them and use them during transitions, hard subjects, sensory overload, or big feelings.
Turtle Shell Calm-Down Ring Cards · breathing and calming strategies · feelings supports · body-clue activities · printables and visuals.
Books and workbooks children can return to
Toby gives children a familiar character while they learn about feelings, body clues, communication, and calm choices.
Toby and Big Feelings · Toby’s Feelings Thermometer Workbook · more Toby books coming · Communication Cards in development.
Two hands-on places to begin
A place to reset—not a place to be sent away
A basket, corner, chair, tent, or quiet spot can give your child a predictable place to slow down. It does not need to look like a classroom Calm Corner.
Keep it simple: a favorite book, Toby cards, a feelings visual, a smooth pebble, headphones or another sensory support your child already uses, and one or two calming choices.
What am I feeling?
What is my body telling me?
What do I need right now?
What might help me feel ready for the next step?
You do not need the whole collection to begin
Start small. Use what helps. Add more only when it makes your home easier.
Choose one story
Start with The Pebble or choose the book that best matches what your child is experiencing right now.
Pick one regulation tool
Try Pebble Breathing, a Toby strategy, movement, or another calming support your child responds to.
Put it into a routine you already have
Morning read-aloud, before a hard subject, after lunch, transition time, quiet time, or bedtime.
Follow your child
Repeat what helps. Skip what does not. Choose the next book or tool based on what your child is showing you.
Try something useful before you buy more
Explore free printables, calming supports, and simple emotional-learning tools you can begin using at home.
A few things homeschool families often want to know
Do I need a curriculum background to use these resources?
No. You can use one story, one breathing tool, one printable, or one Toby resource at a time. There is no required order.
What ages are the books and resources designed for?
The books are designed primarily for ages 3–10, with home-learning use that fits roughly Pre-K through 5th grade. Adjust the conversation and tools to your child’s developmental level and needs.
Can I use these alongside our existing homeschool curriculum?
Yes. They are designed to fit around what you already do—read-alouds, transitions, quiet time, before a difficult subject, or whenever your child needs emotional support.
What if my child is autistic, neurodivergent, disabled, or highly anxious?
Use the stories and tools as flexible supports rather than a one-size-fits-all program. Choose what your child responds to, adjust the pace, and pair these resources with the educational, medical, therapeutic, or disability supports your child already uses when appropriate.
Do I need all the books?
No. Start with the book that best matches what your child is experiencing. The visual book guide above is designed to help you choose.
Is Toby’s Toolbox™ required?
No. The books can stand alone. Toby’s Toolbox™ gives you additional practical ways to help children recognize, understand, communicate, and regulate emotions.
You know your child better than anyone.
Start with one story, one tool, and one small moment of connection. Build from there.