All children deserve the tools to fight off whatever dragons they encounter and move happily through life.

In Happily Ever Resilient Dr. Stephanie Goloway uses current trauma research and beloved multicultural variants of classic children’s fairytales to create joyful, playful learning experiences for young children.

Part one of the book covers why using fairytales in early childhood classrooms supports resilience and literacy in all children, especially important for children who have experienced trauma and toxic stress, including those living with family substance use disorders. Part two covers how to do this. Each chapter includes

Story Magic: information about the fairytale and its multicultural variants, how the story connects with the protective factors of resilience, and suggestions for storytelling and storyacting

Caring Magic: activities that help children make connections with each other and adults in their lives, related to the story

Doing Magic: suggestions for adapting classroom learning centers to support children’s engagement with both the fairytale and resilience, along with projects that promote initiative and executive functions

Superpower Magic: activities, songs, and games related to the story that foster self-regulation as well as ways the story can be used to support calm, integrated transitions and routines

By tapping into the extraordinary magic of fairytales early childhood educators can create the ordinary magic of resilience.