Fear

Goodnight, You

In this heartwarming title from the Piggy and Bunny picture book series, the two friends explore what scares them as they prepare for their first campout together. When Bunny admits to being frightened of monsters, Piggy responds that “even if there WAS a monster, I wouldn’t scream like you!” When Bunny asks, “What if the monster GROWLS at you?” Piggy answers, “PWAAT! I can be loud, too!” Then, one by one, all of Bunny’s questions about what to do if a monster came near are countered confidently by Piggy.

My Palace of Leaves in Sarajevo

In 1991, ten-year-old Nadja begins writing to her cousin in Minnesota, and over the next four years, her letters reveal the horrors of war in this former republic of Yugoslavia, while her cousin’s letters give Nadja and her family some hope.

Scaredy Squirrel Has a Birthday Party

Lovable worrywart Scaredy Squirrel would rather celebrate his birthday alone quietly in the safety of his nut tree and avoid any pesky party animals. But despite his detailed plans, things get out of control when the party animals arrive.

 

I Dreamt . . . A Book about Hope

In many parts of the world, children live with violence. Wars, gangs, guns, crime, bullying, harassment, and fear keep kids from living the full, free lives every child should enjoy. This book was created in Mexico, where for the past six years a vicious war has brought fear and insecurity to many children’s lives. Their dreams have become nightmares. Some of Mexico’s best illustrators have donated their art to create a book that gives children a way to talk about their fears, a reason to hope, and the inspiration to resist falling into grief.

Nobody Knows

It’s autumn in Tokyo, and twelve-year-old Akira and his younger siblings, Kyoko, Shige and little Yuki, have just moved into a new apartment with their mother. Akira hopes it’s a new start for all of them, even though the little ones are not allowed to leave the apartment or make any noise, since the landlord doesn’t permit young children in the building. But their mother soon begins to spend more and more time away from the apartment, and then one morning Akira finds an envelope of money and a note. She has gone away with her new boyfriend for a while. Akira bravely shoulders the responsibility for the family. He shops and cooks and pays the bills, while Kyoko does the laundry. The children spend their time watching TV, drawing and playing games, wishing they could go to school and have friends like everyone else. Then one morning their mother breezes in with gifts for everyone, but she is soon gone again. Months pass, until one spring day Akira decides they have been prisoners in the apartment long enough. For a brief time the children bask in their freedom. They shop, explore, plant a little balcony garden, have the playground to themselves. Even when the bank account is empty and the utilities are turned off and the children become increasingly ill-kempt, it seems that they have been hiding for nothing. In the bustling big city, nobody notices them. It’s as if nobody knows. But by August the city is sweltering, and the children are too malnourished and exhausted even to go out. Akira is afraid to contact child welfare, remembering the last time the authorities intervened, and the family was split up. Eventually even he can’t hold it together any more, and then one day tragedy strikes…

Franklin in the Dark

In the Franklin Classic Storybook that started it all, poor little Franklin has one of the most common childhood afflictions – he is afraid of the dark. This is particularly distressing for Franklin as he happens to be a turtle, and the darkness he fears is, of course, inside his own shell. Bravely, with shell in tow, he sets forth to seek help and in the course of his travels discovers a bird who is afraid of heights, a polar bear who is afraid of the cold, and even a hydrophobic duck. In the end, Franklin discovers that everybody is afraid of something, even his own mother, and his response to what he has learned is guaranteed to draw a smile.