My rating:

Have you ever lost your smile, and not known how to get it back? That's exactly what happens to Augustus, the tiger, in this book. So he sets off to look for his smile, and in his searching, engages with the world around him, swimming with fish, dancing in the rain. This helps him feel happy again, and finally he sees his smile reflected in a puddle on the ground. This is a thoughtful, calm, feel-good book about realizing that happiness is there, inside you, waiting for you to find it.

Rayner's brief, succinct, well-written text uses thoughtful word choices that make the story more powerful and dynamic. Rayner uses strong specific details that create visual pictures in the mind . . . .

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Billy is a worrier. He worries about all sorts of things, and though he receives reassurance from his parents, it doesn't stop him from worrying. Then he stays overnight at his grandmother's, and gets more worried--until she offers him a solution: worry dolls. Billy has a wonderful night's sleep, but after a few nights he begins to worry about the worry dolls holding his worry--until he comes up with the best solution of all. This is a reassuring, uplifting book about worry that encourages the reader to talk out their worries and to let them go.

Though Silly Billy is about a child who worries, it is a surprisingly comforting and cozy book, while still bringing enough understanding to resonate with worriers. Browne's (Willy the Champ; Willy and Hugh) text reassuringly opens by telling the reader that Billy used to be a worrier (hinting that he isn't a worrier any longer). . . .

My rating:

This is not a story, but rather a direct, gentle, and encouraging way of helping readers (young and old) cope with bad things that happen. This is an uplifting, feel-good book that doesn't dwell or focus on what's hard, but gently soothes. It is carefully crafted to leave the reader with a good feeling, and to understand that there are ways to cope and deal with painful events.

Jackson's (Earth Mother, Cinder Edna) text is strong and direct, and moves quickly from the brief, general reasons a reader might feel bad, to the turning-point suggestion that most people want to help the world, to a much longer section on how to feel better, and an uplifting ending. . . .

My rating:

You know that saying, "There's an elephant in the room"? Well, in this picture book, there really is. George comes home to find an elephant in his house, and no one believes him, so George starts to distrust his own perceptions and ignores the elephant. Things just keep getting worse and worse in George's house, with the elephant breaking his furniture, eating all his food, and his friends insisting they don't see anything—until finally someone admits they see the elephant, and George is freed from the situation.

This is a funny take on a physical manifestation of an elephant in the room—or of a problem that no one talks about. What Elephant? makes it clear, in an entertaining and funny manner, that it's far better to trust your own perceptions and instincts no matter what other people say or who denies them, because your instincts are often right . . . .

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What exactly is courage? And do you have it? Reading Waber's Courage, readers will come to see that indeed they do have courage—and many more levels of it than they may have thought. Waber (Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, Evie and Margie) tells readers that there are many kinds of courage—awesome kinds and everyday kinds—but that it all is courage, from standing up to bullies to keep your younger sibling from getting picked on, to breaking a bad habit, to being the first to make up after an argument. Courage is encouraging, reassuring, and poignant, as well as humorous (mostly through the illustrations, though some of the text items are simply silly).

Waber's text opens and closes with gentle, inspiring, and reassuring statements, while the middle—the bulk of the text—is episodic, listing what courage is. The items listed start off very concretely ("Courage is riding your bicycle for the first time without training wheels"), while near the end become more abstract and moving ("Courage is holding on to your dream") . . . .

My rating:

How does a bad day turn into a good one? A Good Day shows us how these characters do it—through a change in attitude or perspective, and small happy events.

Four creatures—a bird, a dog, a fox, and a squirrel, each have something bad happen—the bird loses his favorite tail feather, the dog gets her leash tangled, the fox can't find his mother, and the squirrel loses a nut. And then each of these losses are quickly reversed, as the creatures find something even better. In the end, a young girl finds the feather the bird lost, and recaps for all the characters, "What a good day!" A Good Day reminds the reader how quickly a bad day or bad feeling can change to a good one when something nice or comforting happens. It also suggests that if you just take a moment when something bad happens (or seems to happen) you may find there's something just as good or even better that you wouldn't have otherwise noticed. This is a soothing, happy, thought-provoking book.

Henkes' (Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, Kitten's First Full Moon) simple, brief text, well-chosen words, and pacing make the book fly . . . .

My rating:

When a young girl is out picking flowers with her dog, she comes across a little parrot sitting forlornly in a bush. She picks the bird up and encourages it to fly, but the little bird falls to the ground. So the girl picks the bird up and takes it home with her, and the bird sits on her knee, then her shoulder, and finally sleeps in a leaf-filled box on her dresser. The next day, the bird is with her through all her activities—sitting on her book as she writes, singing along with her as she and the dog sing, posing for her as she paints, and more—and that night, the bird is able to fly. The little girl and her dog are delighted—but the girl wakes up the next morning to find the bird gone (it flew out her open window), and upset, she chases after it with a net. But once she finds the bird, singing happily and flying with other birds, she sets her net down and encourages it to keep flying. That night, she goes to bed happy with her dog, the painting she did of the parrot placed above her head.

Fly, Little Bird is an enchanting tale about compassion, friendship, and knowing when to let go, told almost completely through pictures. One sentence is repeated twice in the book—"Fly, little bird," once near the beginning, and once at the end, bringing a sense of satisfaction and completeness. . . .

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When your peaceful home and routine are upset by a newcomer, how do you deal with it? In Some Dog! George looks on forlornly when a new dog, Zippity, arrives in the household, doing things he can't—until a crisis occurs, and George is the one to save the day. Once George gets praise from his owners again, he regains his sense of place and contentment, and gets along well with the new dog, Zippity.

This book subtly addresses many issues--change (which so many of us have a problem with, at least at first), jealousy or feeling like someone else is getting more attention, adapting to a new sibling, discovering that there's enough love in the one who loves you to share with others, and feeling good about who you are (or not trying to change to be like someone else). . . .

My rating:

A child wakes up in her bed, feeling like there's nothing to look forward to, a few dead leaves scattered around the room and falling from above accentuating this feeling. Things seem to keep getting worse as she moves through her day—before she manages to leave her room, she is waist-deep in dead leaves, and as she walks down the street, we see her walk in the shadow of a huge fish head. We see just how awful she's really feeling, both through the text and the art—and then, at the end of the book, we feel the hope that bursts through her as a tiny red sprout of a tree bursts into full bloom in the center of her room like a gigantic red dandelion puff.

Tan (The Lost Thing) has created a direct conversation with the reader that can provide understanding and an enjoyable perusal. Many readers, children and adults alike, will identify with the feelings described here—feeling like there's nothing to look forward to in a day, feeling alone, like no one understands, feeling like you're always waiting for something that doesn't happen....

My rating:

When Billy discovers a dragon in his bedroom, and tells his mother, his mother insists there's no such thing as a dragon—even when the dragon appears on the kitchen table, and eats all of Jack's breakfast. As the dragon is ignored, it grows bigger and bigger, creating havoc, until finally Billy dares to acknowledge it and pat it on the head—and the dragon shrinks back down to a cute kitten size.

This funny, magical story will make readers laugh as Billy's mother so consistently ignores the dragon as it does things almost impossible to ignore—sits on the table, eats all Billy's pancakes but one, grows so big that Billy's mother has to go through windows to get to other parts of the house, and even runs after a bakery truck with the house on its back. . . .

My rating:

This enjoyable book tells readers in a fun, kid-centric way, what it's like to feel grumpy, lonely, or out of sorts, things that can make you feel that way, and some concrete suggestions on what can help. Amusing photographs of animals help keep the light, fun tone to this book. The photos may also help readers more easily identify with the emotions and what is being said, since they are not as directly challenging as illustrations of people.

Greive's text uses colloquial and conversational language, with understanding asides ("Grown-ups don't always understand how hard it is to share." "How come no one makes you share your Brussels sprouts?") and insider comments ("Feeling like you don't fit in can really bring on a blue day, which is like being sick but not knowing what hurts."), to create an easy-to-understand awareness of a down day, and a fun way to absorb the information. . . .

My rating:

This book addresses worries—reminding readers that everyone has them, describing how a worry can feel, and showing some imaginative, creative solutions to worries, which can prompt creative problem solving. The outside-the-box fantastical solutions are reminiscent of Hazbry's How to Get Rid of Bad Dreams (1990). The book also has potentially reassuring reminders, such as that most of the time, a worry never happens, and that a worry is more easy to deal with if you deal with it as soon as you can.

Wolff and Savit's text gives a thoughtful, deep understanding of worry and its affects ("You can feel tired from a worry. Or sad. Or sick. A worry can feel like a heavy sack is on your back. Only it isn't there."). There is also a lighter silliness in this book. . . .

My rating:

This book tells readers through a young guinea pig why and when someone might feel sad ("When I really want to tell about something and nobody listens," "If something bad happens," "When someone is cross with me,"), what it feels like, and how to feel better.

Spelman's text is direct, simple, and never too wordy; it flows nicely, and offers both understanding and comfort. . . .