Being Brave

May 15, 2023
Practical tips for toddlers dealing with difficult feelings. This board book tackles childhood situations such as feeling left out, becoming angry with someone, or feeling different from everyone else. In each scenario, Jin offers a useful suggestion that begins with being brave starts with.... "When you're feeling anxious or worried, being brave starts with...taking one deep breath," the text explains, while the accompanying illustrations show a little bear appearing nervous about jumping into the water before doing a cannonball. Notably, Jin not only identifies different emotions, but also gives readers realistic strategies for dealing with them. Rather than suggesting distractions, the text points to concrete coping skills and first steps a child might take--among them asking for help or apologizing. The illustrations depict simple, cutesy animals engaged in various scenarios. There is just enough detail to appeal to readers while keeping the focus on the action. This simplicity of the images clearly communicates how the character is feeling and, with a flip of the page, what approach they take to move forward. While there is, of course, so much nuance to all of these situations, this book serves as a starting place for young readers in identifying, discussing, and hopefully normalizing what are very common, uncomfortable feelings. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A helpful option to spark conversations with little ones about emotions. (Board book. 2-5)

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Starred review from July 1, 2023

PreS-K-Jin turns typical advice on its head, by offering nuts and bolts suggestions for children for anything that may be frightening for them. "When you're feeling anxious or worried, being brave starts with taking one deep breath./ When you're feeling left out or alone, being brave starts with saying 'Hello' first." These small doses of courage can snowball into something larger or may fall flat, but they are all excellent starting points. A navy blue skunk and rusty-colored fox are some of the brightly colored characters enacting these scenes, as if playing roles to show children the steps to being brave. VERDICT Start here, preschoolers; this is the book to hand children who need a bit of a nudge when it comes to socializing.

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