Ruby Tui releases new children's book to help with mental health

Ruby Tui has put down the rugby ball and picked up a pen, to write an open letter to children about how to work their way through "real life mental health issues."

The Black Ferns star has just released her children's book Little Ruby and Friends.

The book discusses different coping strategies and the way that different children - each based on her real life friends - cope with fears and anxieties.

Tui said she wants the book to be a "catalyst for that conversation for a caregiver or a parent to have with that kid," when needed.

All the character's in her book are friends she has known since she was 12.

"It kind of got more in-depth and detailed and I think they were like 'ooh our faces are going to be in this kid's book,'" she told Seven Sharp.

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This is Tui's second book — her first, Straight Up, was a biographical bestseller that made its way on to the Whitcoulls Top 100 2023/2024 list.

Seven Sharp's Sacha McNeil caught up with Ruby Tui to find out more about her new book in the video above.