Stage 1 · Ages 7–11
The Hole in the Fence
A 10-book series of illustrated stories, read by parent and child together. Every book ends with Let's Talk conversation prompts.
AvailableShop the booksThe Radish story
Three generations. One mission.
Radish is built on fifty years of research and one family’s conviction that the conversations between parents and children are more powerful than any content, filter, or restriction. We are pro-childhood, not anti-tech.
1970s
A father's idea
Kate's father created the original Hole in the Fence stories for Health Canada as part of a national anti-drugs programme — not the kind that used fear, but one built on the radical idea that children make better decisions when they understand why, not just when they are told no. A team of more than 50 researchers, educators, and writers built the programme together. And starting at age 7 was deliberate and, at the time, revolutionary: the belief that you prepare children before the pressure arrives, not after.
1980s
A mother's research
Kate's mother studied the original programme at the University of Kent, researching what made it effective. The answer: not the stories themselves, but the conversations they prompted between children and the adults in their lives.
Today
A new challenge, the same approach
Kate and co-founder Alex rebuilt the programme for the defining challenge of modern childhood: growing up online. The motivation was personal. When Kate's son was eight, a game ad showed him something no eight-year-old should see. There was no language for it, no prior conversation, nowhere to take it together. Radish is the answer to that moment. The vegetable characters are back. The Let's Talk questions are back. The underlying belief, that conversation is the most powerful tool a family has, has not changed.
Our mission
A world where growing up with technology doesn’t mean growing up too fast.
Every product we build is designed to start a conversation between a parent and their child. None of them survey, restrict, or replace. They open a door.
The pipeline
One journey, from age 7 to 16.
Stage 2 · Ages 11–14
Radish Learning
33 lessons across 11 modules. SkillzBot guides your child through each topic as a conversation. Every module includes parent prompts.
Now in betaTry module 1 freeStage 3 · Ages 13+
Radish Social
Scenario-based content on navigating social media, group-chat pressure, and talking to a parent when something goes wrong.
Planned 2027