Hey, I'm Trent Talbot.
I'm the founder and CEO of BRAVE Books, and before that, I was an ophthalmologist. Probably not the typical background for someone running a children's book company, but that's kind of the point.
When my first daughter was born in the summer of 2020, something shifted. I started paying attention to the stories and media that were going to shape her world, and I didn't like what I saw. As a Christian, the content that was available wasn't teaching my kids the same values that I believed, and almost nobody was doing anything about it.
I kept thinking: somebody should fix this. Eventually I realized that somebody might have to be me. So I walked away from a career I'd spent over a decade building, and started a children's book company from scratch.
The Journey So Far
Every big thing starts small. Here's a look at the key moments that shaped BRAVE Books into the company it is today, and the milestones that still drive us forward.
The Moment That Started It All
What started as a gut feeling became a company. I founded BRAVE Books in 2021 with a simple mission: create stories that forge character and wonder in children, while building a brand parents can trust with their children's imaginations. I wanted the stories that my kids read to actually matter.
The Book Club Launches
The first BRAVE book was called Elephants Are Not Birds. That book became the foundation for a monthly book club, where families would get a new book delivered to their door every month, each one set in the same universe and each one built around a different value. It was the very first thing BRAVE ever shipped, and honestly, I had no idea if anyone would sign up. Turns out, families were hungry for this.
Authors Who Changed Everything
From the start, we knew we didn't want to build this alone. We wanted to partner with people who already had the trust of the families we were trying to reach. Voices who shared our values and had something real to say to the next generation. Kirk Cameron was one of our earliest and biggest partners, alongside names like Bethany Hamilton and Graham Allen. Since then, we've worked with well-known names such as Kevin Sorbo, Ben Carson, Riley Gaines, and many more.
A Movement Bigger Than Books
Kirk Cameron tried to read his BRAVE book As You Grow at public libraries across the country, and over 50 of them said no. The American Library Association even circulated guidance on how to shut down our story hours.
So we pushed back. On August 5th, over 10,000 families showed up to "See You at the Library" events across 46 states. The crowds were so big that many locations had to hold multiple readings just to fit everyone in. That day changed what BRAVE meant.
300,000 Families and Counting
By 2024, BRAVE had put books into the hands of hundreds of thousands of families, and the numbers kept climbing. What started in my living room had become something I never could have planned for. Over two million copies sold to more than 300,000 families across the country. That's over a quarter of a million households where a kid is reading a story that was built to instill real Christian values in a fun and engaging way.
BRAVE+ Brings Stories to Screen
In 2025, we made the jump from page to screen. BRAVE launched its first children's television series, Iggy and Mr. Kirk, starring Kirk Cameron alongside an adorable puppet named Iggy. It instantly became a staple on our own streaming platform, BRAVE+. Watching families go from reading our books to watching our shows with their kids was the moment this stopped feeling like a book company and started feeling like something bigger.
This Is BRAVE Today
What started as one dad's frustration is now a company with books on shelves across all 50 states, a streaming service growing day by day, a monthly book club that families have stuck with for years, and a catalog of plushes, games, and activities that kids love.
But what gets me the most excited are the messages I get from parents who say their kid asked to read a BRAVE book for the third time that week, or the mom who told me her son finally understood what it means to be brave because of a story we published. That's the whole point.
That's the story so far. Every month brings new authors, new stories, and new families joining this thing we're building.
If you're the kind of parent or grandparent who cares about what's on the bookshelf, I think you're going to love BRAVE Books.