When You Dream Big!

Via heartfelt signature-style cartoons, Reynolds emphasizes mindfully moving forward over knowing exactly what’s next. During a classroom craft for “Dream Big” week at school, Charley struggles to answer the prompt “Where will your wings take you?” When other students share ambitious career-oriented goals, Charley balks, and despair sets in on the walk home until Charley’s feet provoke a revelation (“Ten toes—all pointing in the right direction”). The next day in class, wiggling her toes reminds her to be brave as she shares “I don’t exactly know WHAT I want to be when I grow up... but I do know what KIND of person I want to be.” Following suit, peers begin to offer their own character-trait-based hopes, modeling an easily emulated approach. Loose, thick-lined-outlining spotlights the protagonist and her classmates, portrayed with various abilities and skin tones; white backdrops with muted shading aptly melt into sunnier coloring to signal Charley’s emergent confidence. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)