Auricorn

A feeling arrives long before the word does.

Hot cheeks. A tight tummy. A heart going boom-boom-boom. Auri finds feelings where children meet them first, in the body, and gives each one a name and something gentle to do.

Auri the unicorn smiling and waving, with Flummy the flying squirrel gliding happily beside her

The Feelings Forest

Every feeling has a place in the body, and every place has a story. Auri walks into one at a time.

Coming very soon
The Storm Inside, a story about anger
Anger Hot cheeks, drumming feet
The Little Squeeze in My Tummy, a story about worry
Worry A tight little tummy
The Shivers in My Fur, a story about fear
Fear Shivery skin, held breath
The Whirly-Twirly Day, a story about feeling overwhelmed
Too much at once A whirling, spinning head
The Drip-Drop in My Eyes, a story about sadness
Sadness Drip-drop eyes, heavy chest

The forest is the first world. Others are still growing.

A gift from Auri

Colour with Auri, free

A coloring book to print at home, and five of Auri's pictures fully coloured to keep as a guide. One file, sent to a grown-up's inbox.

We send one confirmation email first. Your address is never shared. See our privacy notice.

Nobody hands you the manual.

You learn it in your own living room, on the evenings when a small person is having an enormous feeling and neither of you has the words yet. These books are what we learned there.

How a story works

The same three beats every time, so a child knows the shape of the story before they know the feeling.

1

Find it in the body

Before a feeling has a name it has a place. That is where Auri starts looking, and where a child can point.

2

Say it out loud

Auri names it plainly. Putting a feeling into words is one of the best supported ways to turn the volume down.

3

Try one gentle thing

A bear breath. One lantern at a time. Never a lecture, just one small thing a child can do with someone beside them.

What the research says

Every book ends with notes for grown-ups that name their sources. Where the research contradicts popular advice, the notes say so plainly.

Naming a feeling helps Putting emotions into words measurably lowers the brain's alarm response. Lieberman et al., 2007 · Torre & Lieberman, 2018
Letting it out does not A 2024 review of over 10,000 people found that venting keeps arousal high. What works is bringing it down. Kjærvik & Bushman, 2024

Auricorn books offer general information and gentle practices for families. They are not a substitute for professional medical or psychological advice.

“Every story is read aloud at home before it is read anywhere else.”

Auricorn is a small family studio making picture books about the feelings children have before they have the words.

How these books are made

We build Auricorn with AI tools alongside us, and we would rather say that plainly than have you wonder.

  • Us The world, the characters, the stories and every decision about what a book says.
  • AI + us Illustrations are generated with AI image tools from our own character designs and art direction. Every picture is then chosen, corrected or thrown away by a person.
  • AI + us Text is written with AI assistance, then edited, read aloud and approved by us before it goes anywhere.
  • Us Every claim in the notes for grown-ups is checked against published research, and every story is tested on a real sofa with a real child.

The same is true of the coloring book and everything on this site. You are choosing a book for a child, so you should know how it came to be.

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Contact us

Questions, feedback, or a note about a book? Write here or to stories@auricorn.com. We usually reply within 24 hours.