I Can Do Hard Things
What if the things that feel impossible today could become easier tomorrow?
I Can Do Hard Things is a visually powerful children’s book about courage, persistence, effort, and growth. Through the students of Vanguard Academy, young readers explore what it feels like to face challenges that seem too large, too frightening, or too difficult.
In this imaginative collection of microstories told through rhyme, emotions and obstacles come alive through memorable visual metaphors.
What Children will explore
Hard things can feel scary, frustrating, uncomfortable, or even impossible at first.
I Can Do Hard Things helps children discover that being strong doesn't mean something feels easy. It means learning how to keep going when it doesn't.
Through the book, children explore courage, resilience, perseverance, problem-solving, patience, and the confidence that grows from trying again. They learn that mistakes and struggles are not proof that they can't do something. They can be opportunities to learn, adjust, practice, and grow stronger.
Most importantly, children begin to understand that they don't have to wait until they feel fearless or completely confident to face a challenge.
Hard things take courage.
Mistakes help us learn.
Trying again makes us stronger.
The hard thing may not get easier, but we can get stronger as we do it.
look again. think deeper
The illustrations are designed to do more than show what is happening.
Emotional metaphor and personification help make invisible ideas visible.
A lawn can become a path of follow-through. A tempting present can call from a closet. Peer pressure can gather like a storm.
Children are encouraged to notice details, explain what they see, consider different perspectives, and connect the images to their own lives.
Read it. Talk about it. use it.
Read the poem first without explaining the meaning. Then look closely at the illustration.
Ask:
“What do you notice?”
“What do you see that makes you think that?”
“What choice is the character facing?”
“What might happen if they choose differently?”
“What would you do?”
“Did you notice something different when you looked again?”
Two or three thoughtful questions are often more powerful than trying to explain the lesson for the child.
A generation grounded in grace and guided by purpose.
Our Mission
We are dedicated to helping raise strong humans by partnering with parents, educators, and communities to intentionally develop the social, cognitive, emotional, and life skills children need to thrive in the modern world.
Through faith, character, resilience, and intentional human development, we help children learn to think deeply, dream boldly, communicate effectively, overcome challenges, and live with purpose.
Our K–12 educational resources provide practical tools, life-skill supports, parenting insights, and specialized strategies for exceptional children — empowering families and educators to build stronger futures, stronger relationships, and stronger communities.
Because strong humans aren’t built by accident.
