The Bravest of the Brave
PreSchool-Grade 1–Walking quickly and thinking "brave thoughts," a young skunk makes its way home through a dimly lit forest and is startled by different woodland creatures. The rhyming story turns out to be a counting book, starting with "1 masked face" (a raccoon hiding in the shadows) and ending with "10 stars [that] twinkle while I sleep." After being frightened by ghosts (owls), trappers (spiders), witches (porcupines), and pirates (flying squirrels), the skunk sees "6 strong arms" and gets ready to raise its tail in self-defense, but soon realizes that the limbs belong to family members. Now safe, the traveler relates the tale to an appreciative audience of animals. Bowers creates a pleasant-looking protagonist with a fluffy crown of white fur and a lush white tail. The woods are filled with velvet greens and chocolate browns, reassuring colors that show youngsters that the landscape might be dark, but certainly isn't scary. Pair this story with Lauren Thompson'sLittle Quack's Bedtime(S & S, 2005) for some tranquil sleepy-time fun.–Lisa Gangemi Kropp, Middle Country Public Library, Centereach, NYCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.