I'M BRAVE! I'M STRONG! I'M FIVE!

A feisty 5-year-old wants to prove to herself that she can handle the nighttime terrors in her room alone.

At first, Sasha’s just not tired after “Mama’s stories and Papa’s jokes and coffee kisses on both my cheeks.” In a fantastical double-page spread, the little girl grows wings, the ears and legs of an Australian marsupial, and a scaly body as she declares, “I wave like a bird and swim like a fish and bounce on my bed like a girl kangaroo that doesn’t want to sleep. A phone rings like a marching parade, a baby cries, and a piano plays.” There is an explanation for the noises: It’s the neighbors. But then things start to get worrisome, and as Sasha looks around, she notices some things that are truly frightening: a “giant eye staring down” from the moon, a shadow “with six arms,” and more. The young white girl figures out how to cope with these strange occurrences, chanting the title words several times and turning on her flashlight to reveal the commonplace sources of these manifestations. The multimedia illustrations, with their interesting lighting effects, crosshatching that creates a rich surface effect, and deep nighttime colors, provide an appropriate setting for this engaging bedtime story.

Just creepy enough to validate both fears and bravery.