HOW TO BE BRAVE LIKE A SNAIL

Courage doesn’t always show itself in obvious ways, as Snail and best friend Stump demonstrate.

“I’m the kind of brave that’s kind of brave,” proclaims Snail, facing up boldly to anything that’s, well, not too noisy. But his courage fails when it comes to constructing properly made paper airplanes for a contest, because he’s afraid of asking for help and making mistakes. That’s why it’s good to have a friend like Stump, who “holds Snail’s feelings as carefully as he folds paper airplanes” while coaching him to a win. But wait…Stump, too, has entered the contest, and losing has left him with “prickly thoughts.” Time for Snail to rise to the occasion in return and, holding Stump’s feelings with equal care, show him how to write them down on a paper airplane and send them sailing away. Exaggerated expressions on the friends’ googly-eyed faces in Collier’s simply drawn illustrations make the emotional ups and downs apparent even for very young viewers in this third outing featuring a quiet-loving snail and his rooted, rambunctious neighbor. Hrab makes one lesson explicit at the end: “Sometimes, being brave just means telling your friend how you really feel.” Another, perhaps profounder message is embedded in seeing how these two true superheroes are sensitive to each other’s emotions and willing to support each other as needed.

Folds deep themes into simple words and pictures.