Boy Who Traded Shadows: A bedtime journey through fear, wonder, and bravery

The Boy Who Traded Shadows is a luminous picture-book quest about what happens when a little boy decides he's done being afraid-and discovers that bravery lives right where his fears used to hide.

Eli, a tender-hearted seven-year-old in a bright yellow hoodie with a playful dinosaur tail, is tired of the way his enormous, wiggly shadow spooks him at every turn. When a mysterious silver fox appears beneath a crimson moon and offers a trade-shadow for safety-Eli jumps at the chance. But in the glitter-soft realm called The Wane, he meets a tangle-haired Worry Monster, a cracked-wing Broken Bird, and an almost-invisible Girl who feel emptier than he ever imagined. As Eli listens to their stories, he begins to wonder: If I've given away my shadow, have I given away a piece of myself?

Rendered in dream-bright, hand-drawn digital art and sprinkled with gentle lyricism, this tale turns common childhood fears into shimmering wonder. Children will recognize their own worries in Eli's companions and cheer when he finally learns that shadows aren't meant to be thrown away-they're meant to dance beside us. Parents and educators will appreciate the book's subtle lesson in self-acceptance and emotional resilience, wrapped in a story that reads like a bedtime lullaby.

Perfect for ages 4-8, The Boy Who Traded Shadows invites every young reader to step into the twilight, face the wobbling shapes that follow them, and discover the quiet, dazzling courage that was inside them all along.