WILLOW AND THE WILDFLOWERS

Don’t let fears ruin your enjoyment of the world.

Willow, a bear with an oblong head and tiny ears, typically stays at home. Though she’s often invited to events, she’s scared of so many things (water, the dark, and heights, to name a few) that she declines them all—until her love of flowers pushes her to say yes to a viewing of wildflowers at the seaside fields. To get there, Willow must travel by raft, which gets stuck on some rocks. A frog tells Willow to jump into the water to help him push the raft. With his encouragement, the wary Willow eventually wades in, the raft is freed, and the frog joins the trip. As night falls, Willow shivers with fright, but a nearby raccoon hops on the raft and points out constellations and other phenomena in the sky. Then seagulls carry the new friends away from a treacherous waterfall, and Willow sees a beautiful view from high in the sky. The trip complete, Willow considers what it means to be brave. Though a bit purposeful, the narrative gently encourages readers to venture outside their comfort zones, especially when doing so yields great rewards and new experiences. Richly illustrated landscapes in marvelous speckled color shine on the page, while characters have an appealingly childlike cuteness to them, with big eyes and rounded heads.

A worthwhile journey that may convince young worriers to overcome their own fears.