What's Wrong with Timmy?
When 8-year-old Kate meets a boy who seems somehow different, she feels  funny inside. After talking with her mom, though, Kate begins to understand that  Timmy is just like her in many ways. Timmy has special needs; he takes longer to  learn than Kate, and can't walk or run as well. But he also "loves his family,  he wants friends, he goes to school, and he dreams about what he wants to be  when he grows up." Kate and Timmy meet, and the seeds of a friendship are  planted.For all those children who ask their parents why someone looks or acts  "different," author and journalist Maria Shriver'sWhat's Wrong with  Timmy?provides a base for discussion. Kate's mother models appropriate  behavior, speaking to her daughter calmly and directly, and providing examples  from her own life to help Kate understand about Timmy. Illustrator Sandra  Speidel's soft, intentionally hazy pastels are lovely; bold, enlarged phrases on  the opposite pages of text act as captions. Shriver and Speidel collaborated  previously on the tremendously popularWhat's Heaven?, also starring  Kate and her mother. (Ages 4 to 8)--Emilie Coulter