Big Brave Brian tackles common childhood fears: Something is under the bed or something is in the closet, for example. However, brave Brian quickly deals with all obstacles. There is only one thing that scares him and that revelation will cause adult readers to chuckle. Robertson has a wonderful way with alliteration (“bottom-biting bog monsters that terrorize the toilet” and, “teddy gobbling goblins . . . don’t give Brian the collywobbles”). The text calls for dramatic reading and will surely appeal to storytime groups or lap readings. The pictures, on oversized pages, are very funny: The bog monster in the toilet has a dinner plate at hand, and the things that go bump in the night are in the attic playing in the world’s noisiest band. Intrepid Brian does sometimes allow a bit of fear to show, but it is nothing in comparison to the look on his face when readers see what his greatest fear is. The monsters are silly enough that they should not scare little ones, and the greatly detailed, enormous “incy-wincy” is enough to engage any budding naturalist. This fits well into the pantheon of scary stories for younger children. (Picture book. 4-7)
