THE RESILIENT HUB PODCAST · SEASON 11, EPISODE 6
SHOW NOTES
— James, age 8, on how to talk to children about periods
This episode is something very special.
We are joined by two guests — Malou, founder of Period Reality and a previous guest on The Resilient Kid, and her eight year old daughter James, who is, without question, the star of the show.
Together they have written The Woo Cycle — a beautifully illustrated children's book about periods, designed for children aged four to eight, that does something most books for this age group simply don't. It introduces periods not as something scary or shameful, but as part of a natural, monthly cycle. In language that children came up with themselves.
The name? The Woo Cycle came from James herself — a child's beautiful mishearing of the word womb. And the book's central metaphor — the womb making a bed for a baby, and changing the sheets when no baby comes — came not from Malou, but from James, explaining it to her younger sister Bowie at the age of six.
That is the whole point of this episode. That children, when given the space and the information, find their own language. And that language is often better than ours.
This episode is warm, funny, joyful, and deeply practical. James is an eight year old who already knows more about how to talk to children about periods than most adults. And she is not shy about sharing it.
This episode is suitable for children aged 8 and over, ideally listened to alongside a parent or carer. It contains age-appropriate discussion of periods and the menstrual cycle using gentle, child-friendly language. There is no explicit content.
If you would like to listen first before sharing with your child — please do. But we think you will find it is perfectly pitched for the conversation you may have been putting off.
00:00 Introduction — meet James and Malou
02:00 James introduces herself — actor, singer, future famous person
05:00 What is The Woo Cycle? James explains
08:00 The metaphor that started it all — the womb making a bed
11:00 Where the name came from — and why cycle matters
14:00 Malou on why she wrote the book — and what Period Reality does
19:00 What the research phase found — dads, boys, and the response
23:00 James on her favourite part of the book
25:00 Is there a book two? Plus — James' future plans
27:00 How to get the book — and James' advice for parents
29:00 Closing thoughts from Malou and Ashley
Eight years old. Actor, singer, future famous person — her words, and we believe her entirely. James played Hera in Achilles and Zazu in The Lion King the week this episode was recorded — on her birthday. She is co-author of The Woo Cycle, a gifted explainer of complex things, and the reason the word woo exists in the title. She came up with the book's central metaphor at the age of six whilst explaining periods to her younger sister Bowie. We interviewed her first. Remember that.
Founder of Period Reality, an organisation dedicated to educating about and advocating for living in sync with the natural rhythms of the menstrual cycle. Malou is a previous guest on The Resilient Kid — link to her first appearance in the resources below. She is also James' mum, and the person who had the wisdom to write down what her daughter said and turn it into a book.
Illustrator of The Woo Cycle. This is her debut illustrated book, and the illustrations are, in Ashley's words, exquisite. Find her work in the links below. Remember this name too.
The Woo Cycle is a children's book for ages 4–8 about periods, the menstrual cycle, and the body's natural rhythms.
It tells the story of Lena, a young girl who walks into the bathroom and finds her mum bleeding. Worried, she asks if her mum is hurt. What follows is a gentle, age-appropriate explanation of what periods are, why they happen, and why they are nothing to be afraid of.
"The womb is making a bed for a baby. And if no baby comes to stay, it just changes the sheets."
The book also introduces the concept of the cycle — the idea that the body moves through different phases, and that this rhythm is natural and normal. There is a beautiful page with moon phases to introduce the concept of cycles gently, and a page that normalises rest: "Some days Mummy rests. Some days she runs."
The book is designed to be read by parents, carers, grandparents, and educators with children. It has been read by dads to daughters, by parents to sons, and by grandparents who found it gave them the language they had never previously had.
It rhymes. James' favourite example:
"Lena ran to the loo. Mum was bleeding. What should she do?"
One of the most consistent findings in research on puberty education is that preparation before puberty begins is significantly more protective than information delivered after the fact. The PSHE Association and Brook both recommend beginning age-appropriate conversations about bodies and cycles in early childhood — well before periods begin — so that when they do, they arrive in a context of knowledge rather than shock.
The Woo Cycle is built on exactly this principle. The target age of four to eight means that girls — and boys — encounter this information years before they need it personally. And as Malou notes, children at this age take new information as simple fact and move on. It is adults who make it complicated.
?? PSHE Association — PSHE Association | Charity and membership body for PSHE education
?? Brook — Sexual Health & Wellbeing - Brook
One of the most striking things about this episode is how consistently James' own language — woo for womb, the room making a bed, changing the sheets — is clearer and more accessible than the clinical language adults reach for. Malou makes the point explicitly: the metaphor in the book did not come from her. It came from James, translating what she had been told into something her younger sister could understand.
This reflects something we talk about across The Resilient Kid — that children are not passive recipients of information. They process it, translate it, and make it their own. Our job is to give them the information. Their job is to find the words that work for them. As James herself said when asked what parents should do: "Make it sound easy."
Malou shared something from the research phase of the book that is worth highlighting. Dads who read The Woo Cycle with their daughters reported feeling unexpectedly included in a conversation they had unconsciously assumed belonged to mum. One dad said he was now excited about the possibility that his daughter might come to him with questions.
The book has also been read widely to boys — with, Malou reports, exactly the same response across the board. Boys do not need to have a menstrual cycle to benefit from understanding one. The research on empathy, healthy relationships, and consent all points to the same conclusion: boys who understand female bodies and experiences — from an early age, in age-appropriate terms — are better equipped to be respectful, empathetic partners, friends, and colleagues.
This connects directly to everything we are covering in Season 11. The conversations are not separate. They build on each other.
?? See also: S11E02 — Growing Up Boy | S11E05 — Teaching Consent From the Start
Ashley raises a point in this episode that is worth dwelling on. Grandparents — often from a generation where these conversations simply did not happen — can find The Woo Cycle gives them the language and the context to have conversations with grandchildren that they might otherwise have avoided entirely. The book does the heavy lifting. All they have to do is turn the pages.
For context in show notes and wider conversations — period poverty remains a significant issue in the UK. One in ten girls in the UK has been unable to afford menstrual products. One in seven has struggled to access them. Normalising conversations about periods is not only emotionally protective — it is part of a wider movement to reduce the stigma that makes period poverty harder to address.
?? _Bloody Good Period — _bloodygoodperiod.com
?? Free Periods — Free Periods
?? Plan International UK — Home | Plan International UK
Start earlier than you think you need to. Children aged four to eight accept information about the body as simple fact. The embarrassment is ours, not theirs.
Let children find their own language. Give them the information. Trust them to translate it. Listen to what comes back — it is often better than what you gave them.
Dads — this book is for you too. You do not have to leave this conversation to mum. The Woo Cycle gives every adult in a child's life a way in.
Read it to boys as well. Understanding periods is not just for people who will have them. It is for everyone who will share a world with people who do.
Share it with grandparents. It gives a whole generation the language they never had.
When in doubt — make it sound easy. James said so. She's eight and she's right.
The Woo Cycle by Malou and James — available on Amazon | https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1066699100
Illustrated by Maya Moore | https://www.instagram.com/mxllomaia_design
Malou's organisation — educating about and advocating for living in sync with your cycle
Did this episode make you smile? Did James say something that you are going to use verbatim with your own child? We would love to hear about it.
And if you have read The Woo Cycle with your child — or your grandchild, or a child you work with — please share how it went. These are the stories that help other parents feel brave enough to start.
?? Email: ashley@theresilientkid.co.uk
?? Instagram: @?theresilientkid
?? **Website:**www.theresilientkid.co.uk
Use the hashtag #TheWooCycle and #TheResilientKid — and tag https://www.linkedin.com/in/marloucornelissen/ and https://www.instagram.com/periodrealityofficial/ so they can see the love.
YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/-31c8C_eo6s
Spotify Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3ACAtCojiHvoF1CYe7E32N?si=hdi7LR6pRRWxCYWgP-aY0Q
If you’d like to know more about how we work with young people, families, and schools together, or if you have a young person in your life who needs support, we’d love to hear from you.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/resilientkiduk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theresilientkid
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/resilientkid
Teachers’ Guide Waitlist: ashley@theresilientkid.co.uk
This episode was recorded to coincide with the launch of The Woo Cycle on 9th July. James and Malou are real people, not composite characters, and they have given their full permission for this episode and these show notes. James is eight years old and is, we can confirm, going to be very famous indeed.
The Resilient Kid Podcast | Season 11 — The Talk
Produced by the fabulous Chantelle Venter from maddatu.com - The Resilient People | Trading as The Resilient Kid and The Resilient Teen
• An Educator's Guide to Raising Resilient Learners (Waitlist): https://theresilienthub.co.uk/educators-guide-waitlist
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The Resilient Kid Podcast is produced by Chantelle Venter at maddatu.com on behalf of The Resilient People, trading as The Resilient Kid, The Resilient Teen and The Resilient School.
Topics: anxiety, resilience, parenting, education, identity and belonging, personal growth, sleep and routines, careers
