Well in Hand Learning

Gentle tools for growing up

From stuck to successful.

Gentle, practical tools that help children, and the grown-ups who love them, get unstuck and get back to learning what they love. Picture books and practices from Liz Hannibal Drury, a Harvard-trained educator of more than twenty years, and Davis, a one-eyed rescue dog who always tries again.

Meet the bookJoin the list
Davis, a black and white rescue dog in an orange harness, sitting in tall grass by the sea

  • Books

    Gentle stories about Davis for children ages 2 to 8, starting with Davis Goes Apple Picking.

  • Tools & Practices

    Short, calm practices and activities that help children settle, speak up, and try again.

  • Your Story

    Liz's notes from the drawing table on learning, making, and pushing past "not good enough."

It started with a room full of 8th graders.

"Great kids. I already knew them." Liz had been principal of their elementary school, before the pandemic took so much from them. In January she brought in her unfinished picture book about her dog, and it became something they made together. They became her editors. Working on a children's book, her book, made writing and editing feel doable instead of scary, and their help is what got the book finished. They learned, and she learned. By the last day of school the book was done, and two of them were in it, as squirrels.

Read Liz's story

The first Davis book

All books
Liz's drawing of Davis, a black and white dog with one eye drawn as a small x

Meet Davis.

Davis started life in Georgia. After an accident cost him an eye, he spent eight months as a rescue. Then he came to Maine and found his home in Hope. He never lost hope, and his whole story is the next Davis book. When something is too much, he lets you know, takes his break, and when he's ready, he gets curious and tries again. He always tries again.

See the books

From Your Story

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  • Liz's drawing of Davis, a black and white dog with one eye drawn as a small x

    The Tale Wagging the Dog

    How an unfinished picture book about my dog became a year-long collaboration with my 8th grade students, and what they taught me about finishing.