A CRAFT Critter Series: YOU PLAY WHAT?

Book 1 in the CRAFT Critters series
By Dr. Brandon Currie, Founder & CEO of STRYV365

A story about big feelings, change, friendship, and figuring out what comes next.

Moosie likes knowing what comes next: morning, school, home, dinner, family. But when his family's routine begins to change and his friends invite him into a game he doesn't understand, the feelings get BIG. His face gets hot, his shoulders get tight, and his stomach twists.

In You Play What?, Moosie discovers that something new can feel uncomfortable without being bad. He learns that sometimes you can ask a question, sometimes you can watch, sometimes you can try, and sometimes it is perfectly okay to say, “I don't know yet.”

What is CRAFT?

CRAFT is a simple, practical tool from STRYV365 that helps children slow down, understand what's happening, and choose what comes next:

• C: Catch yourself. What am I feeling? What is my body telling me?
• R: Relax. What can help my body slow down?
• A: Assess. What really happened? What do I know?
• F: Focus. What matters right now? What choices do I have?
• T: Think, decide & act. What is one good next step I can take?

CRAFT doesn't interrupt the story. It grows out of it. Children see Moosie use each step before they are invited to practice it themselves.

Made for the people around the child

• Parents & families: a story that opens conversations about feelings, change, choices, and trying something new.
• Teachers: a story-based way to introduce emotional awareness, problem-solving, and resilience.
• Counselors & youth professionals: relatable characters and practical language children can return to in everyday situations.
• Schools & organizations: support for conversations around social-emotional development, confidence, and navigating change.

About the author

Dr. Brandon Currie is an athlete, coach, educator, guidance counselor and community leader whose work reflects perseverance, belief and opportunity. His love of family and commitment to youth inspired the CRAFT Critters series, with the hope that children will recognize pieces of their own lives and grow in confidence, resilience and hope.

STRYV365 is an award-winning non-profit that creates customized, non-clinical, trauma-informed programming that fosters positive childhood relationships, strengthens interpersonal skills, and builds resilience during challenging times.

Moosie is the first Critter you'll meet, but he won't be the last.