Our Commitment to YoungMinds
Eliza Allen is committed to promoting children’s mental health and well-being by donating 10% to YoungMinds with every book sold via Work for Good. Every child deserves access to the support they need to thrive and succeed, and YoungMind’s mission is to ensure no young person feels alone with their mental health. Join us in empowering young minds and creating a brighter future for all.
Eliza Allen’s Story
As an identical twin, sharing has always been second nature to me. Now, I want to share my own unique journey with you.
Throughout my life, I have developed a deep appreciation for the power of words, whether written or spoken, in shaping our lives and mental well-being. Personally experiencing the challenges that come with bipolar disorder, I understand the struggles faced by individuals dealing with mental health issues.
With over a decade working with young children, my passion lies in supporting them with their own mental health difficulties through children’s stories.
Testimonials
We are thrilled to share that Christ Church had an amazing time hosting Author Eliza Allen, who came to talk about her mental health book, *One Branch at a Time*. The children thoroughly enjoyed her reading and were deeply engaged in discussions about the themes of the book. It was incredibly heartwarming to see everyone so enthusiastic!
We feel very honoured to have been Eliza’s first school visit, and we cannot wait for her next book to be released so we can invite her back to inspire our students once again.
Thank you for your support in nurturing our students love for reading and mental health awareness!
Eliza’s storytelling captivated our children and they loved meeting the characters from the story too. It helped our children understand a really ‘big’ emotion of sadness and Eliza followed this with teaching the children a strategy for how to help themselves when they are feeling sad.
Eliza also inspired our children about becoming an author and the skills they needed to practise to be able to follow this dream. Our children thoroughly enjoyed their visit and Eliza put extra effort into dedicating enough time to visit each of our classes individually. Thank you Eliza!
Eliza read her beautiful book, ‘One Branch At A Time’ which promotes positive mental health, friendship and wellbeing, and spent time with the children afterwards guiding them through some mindfulness and breathing exercises.
It was amazing to see the children so engaged, embracing the calming activities and joining in with real enthusiasm. It created such a peaceful and uplifting atmosphere — a truly special moment for everyone involved.
Thank you, Eliza, for such a thoughtful and inspiring visit
Staff:
World Book Day 2026
We absolutely loved welcoming Eliza back into our school as our guest author for World Book Week 2026! Eliza came in on World Book Day to deliver some special sessions for our Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 cohorts. Being a large, 4-form entry school, Eliza had her work cut out but she was amazing, engaging and super organised. The children in Reception loved hearing Eliza’s story, ‘One Branch at a Time’ alongside her puppets, and year one and two had a fantastic time listening to Eliza chat about how she wrote her book, and then designing their very own front cover of a story! Here are just some of the positive things children and staff said about her:
“Eliza the author was so cool…she even let us illustrate our own front covers!” – Year 2 Pupil “I like Eliza’s story…the sloth is my favourite character. I’m going to write a story about a
sloth!” – Year 1 Pupil
“The children absolutely loved listening to Eliza speak about how she wrote her book and were inspired for the rest of the day. Even after Eliza had left, some children chose to create their own books in their choosing time!” – Year 1 Teacher