Teaching our children from a young age to feel empowered and confident in who they are, is so important. Diversity in how we think and show up in the world, along with the unique skills that we bring, is what creates a rich environment of collaboration of ideas, curiosity and understanding.

Encouraging our young people to embrace the unique qualities that make them who they are, sets them up to have a strong sense of self and confidence as they navigate childhood and beyond.

This gorgeous book helps children to create awareness around recognising and accepting their own and others’ differences, build self esteem, confidence, resilience and healthy boundaries.

When I first heard my husband tell a version of this story as part of a Keynote Talk he gave to a group of Corporate Leaders, I knew that it was something that would be fabulous for him to expand on and share with children.

I couldn’t be prouder of him and this beautiful book that he wrote. It is such a gorgeous and meaningful gift to give to a precious child in your life and help them to grow up strong, brave, calm and uniquely, authentically, proudly sure of who they are!

The Monkey & The Rhino is a tale of overcoming adversity by being yourself and the follies of comparing ourselves to others. It follows the short journey of a Monkey trying to deal with a challenge and the poor advice of his friend the Rhino.

The story of the Monkey & the Rhino was inspired by the amazing and unique people Daniel worked with in his corporate career. So often, the most amazing people he worked with were simply told to toughen up. The leaders in his business made it to the top by being tough and expected everyone else to do the same. Daniel saw too many beautiful Monkeys weighed down with mud and clay, too many struggling to fit in and many feeling forced to leave.

Diverse teams are critical to overcome the challenges of the future. We need to help all the amazing creatures around us.

The Monkey & The Rhino is a simple little story about the misguided ways we try to help others be more resilient and the importance of embracing ourselves as individuals in challenging times. Now, more than ever, it is so important that we are helping each other through these challenging lockdowns.

This is a lesson that is so powerful to instill in our children now as they grow and flourish, to help empower them to be empathic future leaders of tomorrow in all that they do. It is one of our daughter’s favourite books and we hope it will be one of your family’s too.