THERE’S A BIG, BEAUTIFUL WORLD OUT THERE!

This prolific author/illustrator of some of the most beloved characters in picture books comments, through a pig-tailed young girl, about things children could be scared of. Besides the usual—spiders and crawly things, mean looking dogs and thunderstorms—she includes standing up in front of “a whole bunch of people” and “people who look different from you.” The illustration for this last scary thing is of people who are different ages and of different races. Then, there are scary stories in the news and the headlines in a newspaper say “Toy Stores Go Out of Business” and “No One Getting Along.” Her first solution to these scary things is to hide under the covers and never come out. But that would be boring, so each scary thing is rationalized—maybe the dog only looks mean, you’ll miss the rainbow, and you’ll miss your mother telling you everything is going to be all right. “And just think of all the new friends you’ll never meet! So, throw off those covers! There’s a big, beautiful world out there just waiting for you!” The illustrations for these lines depict a campground filled with the people who “are different from you” all having a good time. The last picture is of an American flag at half mast with the sentence: “This book was written on September 12, 2001.” Carlson’s (Smile a Lot!, p. 877, etc.) bouncy, colorful illustrations are simple and strong. The jacket welcomes all readers with the girl shouting out of a window decorated with cheery curtains and a window box of flowers. There are 16 sentences in all and many of the illustrations depict phrases of a sentence. With the country uneasy about terrorism and headlines adding to the tension, this will be a title that can be used for discussion with young children about their fears. (Picture book. 6-9)