I’m Melissa from Enlighten Press. I’m an author, artist and a student of positive psychology. I’m also a big believer in education, but I don’t believe that means telling kids what we think they need to know...

Real learning is about developing an empowered mindset. You don’t need to have all the answers; you only need to believe you have the capacity to discover them.

I believe education is letting children know they already possess the intelligence, the creativity and the choice to make their own way in the world.

Technology now means that we cannot even imagine how the future might look. We can't teach children how to work with technology that doesn't exist or to how to navigate a changing world, and we don't need to. Our only task is to assist children in developing the mindset to create their own futures, and love and appreciation for others and the world around them. Learning is about training your mind into seeing opportunities wherever you go.

And why would kids want to learn? Irrespective of an often overly rigid education system, learning is our natural state of being. We learn because we are curious, we learn because we are passionate. We don’t all love the same things, but we all have something that excites us that makes us interested in life. And the key to living a satisfying life is to find the things that ignite our passions.

And that is what books have done for me, and why I love what I do. I make books that I enjoy reading and that I believe in. I make books of what I want to know and what I want my child to know.

Books on multiculturalism because seeing the ways other people live is transformative to my own worldview.

Books on science because my world expands delightfully when I find out about the vastness of the universe or the infinitesimal world of minibeasts.

Social-emotional and inclusive learning because kindness is not something I should do to make others happy but something I get to do because it feels good for me.

Books on mindful practice because the most important thing I can learn is how my thoughts and feelings create my experience of the world, and that’s something I have the power to change.

Books can be a window into another world for children. Regardless of your learning style, capacity or history, there will be something you can learn that will light up the world for you.... What more could be better than that?