A family project that got out of hand.

Every summer, we drive from England to Croatia. Right across Europe, the whole family in one car, more hours on the road than we'd care to admit. We break up the journey with music, podcasts, and stories, and we stop along the way at some of the most beautiful places on the continent: mountains, lakes, old towns, the sea.

Somewhere on those long drives, we noticed something funny about our own kids. They were asking to tune into our church service or see previous recordings of their favourite pastor doing a children's story. They didn't want to miss it. A good storyteller could hold their attention better than any screen or app could.

That stuck with us. The power of storytelling above other entertainment.

We saw an opposite side to stories, too. One of us leads worship at our church, and knows the weekly struggles: who's telling the children's story this week? It's harder than it should be. Good storytellers are rare, easily missed, and never quite enough to go round. 

And yet, all around us, there were people whose stories were pure gold. The mischief they got up to as children, even as adults (we heard stories about swimming with baby sharks in the church service). The trouble they found, and how they got out of it. The lessons they learnt the hard way. These are exactly the stories our children need to hear. Stories from other people's childhood. We want our kids, and kids everywhere, to learn from them.

There was one more thing. On those drives, we listened to a lot of stories, and many were wonderful. But we found ourselves wanting something slightly different. More than folk stories. Stories to guide the day. Almost devotional. The kind that strengthen a child's faith, stir a little more kindness, show them why we pray, remind them they're braver than they feel when they know Who stands next to them.

That's what Brave & Bright became. The storytellers are parents, teachers, grandparents, pastors, elders, missionaries, friends, the people children already love the most. They bring the stories we could never have told ourselves.

We hope your kids love it. We're sure you will, too.

The Pilley Family