A Journey to Become

“Here you are. We have been waiting for you. Show us who you are.” A grandmother turns a newborn round to face the family and says the three things every child deserves to hear. A Journey to Become follows that last sentence through 108 short stories, from before birth to the day a young person walks out into their own life.

A grandad of sixty-three, bringing up his baby grandson on his own, learns the four cries, and one night hears a fifth. A foster carer keeps her hands in her pockets so a seventeen-year-old mother can learn to hold her own baby. A boy of ten reads the number on the front of the bus for his nan, whose eyes are failing. A teacher crosses out eleven detentions in ordinary blue biro: These were my mistake, not Ollie’s.

Most of the stories are imagined, and eleven are true. None of the grown-ups gets everything right. Each story takes about ten minutes to read and ends with a question to carry through the day.

For parents, grandparents, foster and kinship carers, teachers, and anyone who has ever had a child placed in their arms, their care or their path, and for the child you once were.

The Four Parts

• Part One — Before You Arrive · before birth and the first year
• Part Two — The Garden Years · birth to seven
• Part Three — The Finding Years · eight to fourteen
• Part Four — The Leaving Years · fifteen to twenty-one

The stories grew from the same ground as Thesis Ten, Education for the New Age of Aquarius, but they need no knowledge of it. They are written for anyone, in plain words, about ordinary family life.

These are stories, not guidance. If a child is in danger, call 999. If you are worried about a child, the NSPCC is there on 0808 800 5000.

If you have a story of your own you would like to share, please write through Inner Reception.