COURAGE

Veteran Waber moves from the stridency of Fast Food! Gulp! Gulp! (2001) to a more reflective tally of everyday situations that require courage. His clearest examples range from specific challenges, such as “Courage is riding your bicycle for the first time without training wheels,” to such general experiences as trying new foods, breaking bad habits, or “holding on to your dream.” Too often, however, he wanders confusingly afield; readers may wonder, for example, what’s courageous about admiring but not picking flowers, or “not peeking at the last pages of your whodunit.” Wobbly-lined cartoons add touches of humor, while clearing up some of the more elliptical references in the one-liner captions. More suitable for a discussion starter than independent reading, this develops a timely topic in simple, sensitive ways. (Picture book. 5-7)