MADISON’S PATRIOTIC PROJECT (Star Bright Books/October 2007/$14.95/ ISBN 978-1-59572-109-9) and MADISON AND THE TWO WHEELER (Star Bright Books/October 2007/ $14.95/ ISBN 978-1-59572-110-5) are the third and fourth books in the well-received Teach Your Children Well series.

In MADISON’S PATRIOTIC PROJECT, Madison finds herself in yet another struggle. In celebration of President’s Day, Madison is confident that her beautiful patriotic scrapbook will win her the first prize and free pizza. Despite her self –assurance, her classmate Jonathan wins the prize and Madison is devastated. With gentle counseling from her parents and stuffed animal Courage the Lion, she does the right thing and congratulates Jonathan for winning. The story highlights an important lesson: sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you don’t win. Trying your best and accepting that you won’t always win are what truly counts.

In MADISON AND THE TWO WHEELER, Madison is determined to learn how to ride her bicycle without training wheels so she can ride with her best friend Emily, but one bad fall makes her lose confidence. Her parents and her guide, Hope the Bluebird urge her to continue practicing, and eventually, Madison accepts the challenge. With renewed determination, she gets back on her bike and learns to ride as well as Emily. This simple tale emphasizes the crucial lesson that determination can make any goal achievable.

The Teach Your Children Well series is a unique tool to help young children ages 4-8 develop moral values and confidence through self-reflection and decision making. Children will relate readily to Madison, a realistic and lovable protagonist on whom they can model their own behavior, and through the characters of Madison’s mom and dad, Dr. Braver offers parents positive and appropriate responses for turning childhoods troublesome scenarios into teachable moments.  
 
According to Dr. Braver, “character and morality are not innate gifts, but assets we develop through modeling. After all, character is destiny.”