The Tiny Cave and the Magnificent Creatures is a children’s book created by CRIF – a storybook that grew out of something we noticed, and found uncomfortable.
When we sat with children and young people to dream, the energy was extraordinary. Bold, joyful, boundless. But the moment funding entered the room, something shifted. Young people became careful. The openness closed in.
We’d created the tiniest caves for their ideas to live in.
The book follows a child protagonist into activism, making visible how donor practices – even well-intentioned ones – can quietly shrink what youth movements might become. It’s part reflection, part reckoning, and very much an offering to the field.