CREATOR WITH THE REACH
Tara Winney
Author • Child and Youth Worker • Podcaster
Tara Winney is an Ontario Child and Youth Worker, writer and author of the children’s picture book Alligator Courage.
Her work is grounded in relationship, curiosity and the belief that children need people beside them who help them feel loved, important and that they matter.
Based In Ontario, Canada
Practice
Child and Youth Care
Writes about
Relationship • Courage Big Feelings • Belonging
Featured Work
Alligator Courage
About Author
Tara Winney is a Child and Youth Worker based in Ontario, Canada, who works with children and young people in the school system. Through this work, she sees how big feelings, uncertainty and change can shape everyday experiences for children.
In addition to her professional practice, Tara brings together professional practice, lived experience, writing and storytelling into her work. A graduate of Fleming College’s Child and Youth Care program, she is especially interested in what becomes possible when children feel supported, valued and understood.
Her approach is deeply relational. Rather than seeing courage as something adults give children or push them toward, Tara is interested in what becomes possible when children have supportive people nearby. As a result, her writing often focuses on relationship, choice, curiosity, and the conditions that help children discover what feels possible for themselves.
That belief sits at the heart of her first children’s book, Alligator Courage.
Author Snapshot
Professional practice
Child and Youth Worker in Ontario’s school system
Education
Child and Youth Care, Fleming College
Other work
Creator and host of CYC Evolving
Writing
Child and Youth Care, relational practice, courage, belonging and the everyday experiences of children and practitioners
Featured Book
Alligator Courage
Meet Aubree, a brave, funny little girl who is full of big feelings. During an adventure at a reptile zoo with her Child and Youth Worker, Aubree faces a choice: stay where things feel familiar and safe, or try something that feels really hard.
Explores:
Big Feelings • Anxiety • Choice • Support • Courage
Story Behind the Story
A real moment. A surprising choice. The beginning of a story.
Meet Aubree, a brave, funny little girl who is full of big feelings.
Inspired by a real experience Tara shared with her neurodivergent daughter, Alligator Courage follows Aubree and her Child and Youth Worker, Kailie, on an adventure that helps Aubree begin discovering what courage can look like for her.
The idea for Alligator Courage grew from a real family experience. During a trip to Florida, Tara watched her daughter unexpectedly choose to sit on the back of an alligator. Afterward, she noticed her daughter approaching other experiences with a new sense of possibility. Eventually, those moments became the inspiration for Aubree and her adventures.
Writing and Other Work
I Am Not Enough: A CYC’s Healing Journey
CYC-Online, December 2024
A deeply personal reflection on the lasting impact of being told we are “not enough,” and how those messages can shape confidence well into adulthood. Tara connects her own healing journey with the responsibility caring adults have to remind children that their worth is never determined by performance.
Let Them Sleep
CYC-Online, September 2024
Drawing on experiences in schools, Tara explores what behaviour can communicate when children are carrying trauma, instability, fear, or unmet basic needs. She asks practitioners to look beyond expectations and consider the safety, co-regulation, rest, and relationship a child may need first.
Matterings of a Novice CYC
Relational Child & Youth Care Practice
Volume 37, N.2
A personal reflection on entering Child and Youth Care practice and working alongside young children in education. Tara explores the emotional realities of becoming a practitioner and the everyday relational moments that begin to shape who we become in the work.
CYC Evolving
Podcast on Spotify
A podcast where Tara brings together her backgrounds in radio and Child and Youth Care for candid conversations about practice. Through stories, everyday moments, and practitioner voices, CYC Evolving explores the good, the hard, and everything in between in the world of Child and Youth Care.
What Tara wants Children to Know
You are loved.
You are important.
You matter.
Discover more from The Reach
Books and resources created from practice, lived experience, curiosity and care.