Brave as Can Be: A Book of Courage

Following appearances in Hello in There! (about expecting a new sibling) and In My Heart (about emotions), Witek and Roussey’s heroine returns in a book about fear. Drawn in pencil and accented with bright red cheeks and a polka-dot frock, the girl describes how she overcame each of her fears, which are personified as large, scribbly monsters embellished with die-cut holes—a row of pointy triangles serves as teeth for both an anthropomorphic night sky, reflecting her fear of the dark, and a noisy neighbor’s dog, which is pictured as large as a field. The girl’s upbeat self-assurance, as she defangs each conquered fear (singing a song during a thunderstorm or imagining a strict, angry teacher as a feathery owl) may help readers put their own fears in perspective and give them tools to face them head-on. Ages 2–4. (Sept.)