The Great Trait Mates FAQ

First of all, thank you for all of the love you've shown The Great Trait Mates!

I've received lots of questions about The Great Trait Mates, so I thought I'd collect all of them and share here for everyone.

1. What is The Great Trait Mates Series?

   The Great Trait Mates are 12 cute animal characters in a series of books who help kids develop a better understanding of character traits that can help them be successful in life.

2. Where did the idea for The Great Trait Mates come from?

   The Great Trait Mates are inspired by the IB Learner Profile traits. As a former IB Coordinator, I worked alongside many, many teachers who were brand new to IB. One of the questions they asked quite often was, "I don't know how to incorporate IB into my classroom. Where should I start?" Wanting to help them feel as comfortable as possible, I would recommend the Learner Profile. In IB, the Learner Profile are 10 character traits that IB schools focus on to help their students grow. These traits are balanced, caring, communicators, inquirers, knowledgeable, open-minded, principled, reflective, risk-takers, and thinkers.

3. But there are 12 Great Trait Mates. Why?

   The Great Trait Mates are not endorsed by or a part of IB at all. The team at Inquiry Lane added two additional traits to make ourselves IB adjacent, but unique in our own right. We added authenticity and resilience, which are two character traits that we value highly.

4. How are The Great Trait Mates books meant to be used?

   First of all, please use them however best suits your needs. Our goal when we wrote them was for them to be engaging poems and fun visual references for character traits. Written as poems, each one shares the importance of their particular trait and encourages children to try to incorporate them into their lives. Each book includes reflection questions that can be used as a resource to spark more in depth conversations with students regarding each character trait.

5. What age are they appropriate for?

   While the character traits are appropriate for any age person, the artwork used in the books definitely skews more early childhood/primary grade range. However, the reflection questions in each book could be used for any age range.

6. What else do you have in the series?

Recently, the team at Inquiry Lane created resource activity books with 20+ ready

made activities for students. There is a resource book for ages PreK-3rd grade and

another one for grades 3-8.

7. Where can I buy The Great Trait Mates Series and Activity Resource books?

Currently, all 12 of the books, plus the two activity resource books are available on

Amazon. Soon, you will be able to purchase a bundle book set and an activity bundle

through the website here.

8. Do you do author visits?

Yes, we will be available for author visits starting in October 2024. More information

regarding these visits and all they that include will be coming soon.

9. Is there anything else I should know?

These books are not just for IB schools. Character traits are an incredibly important

thing to teach children about and help them implement in their lives.

The Activity Resource books will save you time and money when it comes to preparing

and implementing quality, reflective activities with your students with regards to

character trait and values development.

Stay tuned to this website and our Instagram page (@inquirylane) for announcements and updates about The Great Trait Mates book series.

Thank you!