When You're Scared

by Andrée Poulin, Joffre Véronique (Illustrations)

It's a bright and beautiful day at the lake where a boy and his mother are camping. The boy is just a little scared of jumping into the water. At the same time, not too far away, a hungry bear cub is a little scared of diving deep into a dumpster, where tasty snacks await.

Later, when the boy encounters a distraught mama bear sniffing around the dumpster, he's very scared. But so is her bear cub, who is trapped inside! Bold, graphic artwork moves the narrative along in this mostly-wordless book full of sound effects and simple variations on a single phrase full of so many meanings ("He was scared"). Parallel stories of the mother and son, and mama and cub, come together when the campers, despite being scared, help rescue the cub from the dumpster.

This simple, moving story invites readers to observe expressions, body language, and details hidden in the illustrations to follow the narrative. It's a sweet summer read that normalizes fear and encourages acting with courage and compassion--even when you're scared.

Genres: Picture Books, Nature, Animals, Childrens, Fiction, Adventure, Emotion

48 pages, Hardcover

Published March 15, 2019

About the author

Andrée Poulin is a former journalist and current award-winning author of children's books who lives in Québec, Canada.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly a wordless story. The only thing said is ‘He was very afriad.’ It’s mostly told with pictures. A beginning picture book. Once my nephew figured this out, he began to read it and felt like he was reading. A family is camping and some bears are around. Both are scared.

The thrust of the story is basically that everyone is scared and we still don’t let that stop us. We push through our fears and its normal to be afraid and then we aren’t so afraid. Interesting right. It has a great message in a simply delivery.

The niece appreciated this, but it was a little too simple for her. She did give this 3 stars. The nephew loved how they got the bear cub out of the garbage bin. He said he would have gone in there and got him out, but the tree in there so he could climb out was much safer. The nephew gave this 4 stars.

[jess ~has abandoned GR~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book deserves 5 stars for the artwork alone. The vividly colorful pages tell the story with the aid of only a few words. This tale of empathy and cause and effect is recommended for one on one sharing, where readers can make inferences and discuss what they would have done in that situation.
arc received from the publisher

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the one hand, I really liked the concept here. It's mostly wordless and shows the parallels between a little boys and his mother and a baby bear and its mother as they both navigate situations that are frightening. It shows that we can be very scared and very brave at the same time. My only concern is that I'm not sure it shows the most safe or appropriate human-bear interactions... The baby bear is stuck in a dumpster and the mother bear is worried trying to get him out... the human boy tells his mother about this and they both go back and try to help get the baby bear out. They first frighten the mother bear away by honking their horn very loudly then put in a large log for the baby bear to climb out. So, while I appreciate the overall message of the book, I'm a little uncomfortable with showing humans approaching bears in the wild like they do.

[Etienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost a wordless book. There is not many words, more or less three sentences that are repeat about 3-4 pages. It’s nonetheless a good book that cans, again, a discussion about what it means to be brave. That being said, I must admit, not something I said often, but rally hate those illustrations, there well done in their own style, but for personal preference I didn’t find them pretty at all.

[Carla · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you're scared is a story about a family going camping and encountering a mother and baby bear. They are scared. When the baby bear gets trapped in a garbage container, the mother is worried and the baby is scared. How will he get out and be reunited with his mother?

This is pretty much a wordless story. The only thing text is ‘He was very afraid.’ The illustrations are very simple, but they tell the story. The message is that even though everyone is scared, they don't let this stop them solve a problem. A good message, but without a lot of discussion and prodding from me, my grandchildren didn't really understand the message and were not interested in a reread of this one. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book upon request. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.

[Genevieve Trono · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very sweet story. The book is primarily illustrations, which are beautifully done. It is a compassionate story about worry, the human connection with animals and how we all have feelings. Although the book doesn't have a lot of words, it allows for discussion while reading it which is great for a book about worries. Our kids really enjoyed this one and especially loved the ending. Thank you to NetGalley and Owlkids books for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

[Ana Calabresi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost a wordless picture book. The words are the same, basically. The illustrations (gorgeous, by the way!) add meaning to the story and actually tell the story of the boy and the bear who are afraid. It's a great story to talk about fear with children.

[Lindsi (Do You Dog-ear?) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes I use are from an unpublished copy and may not reflect the finished product.

I love books that can tell a story without words, but I think When You're Scared would have benefited from more dialogue -- even grunting, snuffling bear sounds. It was like looking through a photo album and having no idea where the pictures were taken. You can appreciate them for what they are, but you don't really know the stories behind the images.

When the young boy takes garbage to a dumpster, he quickly flees to find his mom when he encounters a large bear. However, he and his mother immediately try to find something that will help the baby bear, but the boy didn't know the small bear was trapped. He didn't stick around long enough to find out. If the boy had heard scratching, or even the baby bear's crying, that might have made more sense. Instead, he and his mother find a solution for a problem they didn't know they had.

I think this book had the potential to be more than it was.

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[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 4 out of 5]

When You're Scared by Andrée Poulin illustrated by Véronique Joffre PICTURE BOOK Owl Kids Books (Bayard) 2019 $18.00 9781771473651

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not best practices for bear interactions, but a well-designed picture book with a compelling narrative. Recommended for ages 4-6.

[Michael Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fantastic! I loved how the pictures told the real story in this book. It gave a great concept of how wildlife are to be treated with respect, and it's alright to be scared. They're just as afraid as we are.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story was too...abstract.

[MaryLibrarianOH · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting - sparse text - on how we react and what we do when we are scared.

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little boy is scared to jump down into the water from a branch, even with his mother waiting below to catch him. A little bear cub feels the same way as he considers jumping from a branch into a dumpster. The mother and son each lunch together after swimming. The cub has lunch too, in the dumpster. When the boy goes to throw away their bag of garbage, he meets the mother bear standing outside the dumpster. The boy is scared of the bear, the cub is scared that he can’t get out. Mother and son decide to help the bears and bring a big log so that the cub can climb out, they are all very scared. Their plan works and the day ends with darkness and no one scared at all.

This Canadian picture book addresses the different aspects of fear. It uses the perspectives of both a human child and a bear cub to show that fear is universal. It also demonstrates that fear can be overcome and that doing so can make a positive difference in the world. The book uses words sparingly to tie the two perspectives together, allowing the story to really be told in the illustrations.

The illustrations are done in collage. They are bright and bold, showing the forest setting of the camping site and the dumpster. In certain images, the emotion of fear is shown as obliterating the sunny day entirely. It’s a very effective use of illustrations to convey emotion.

A book about fear that also encourages moving beyond fear to action. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A boy and his mother are camping in the woods. When the boy goes to throw their trash away he runs into a mother bear. The two humans are pretty scared but so is the mother bear and her cub. Can anything be done to help?

The words in this are sparse and to the point, but they don’t need to be anything more than that. The amazing illustrations and the actions of the characters in them speak loud enough to convey the heart of this story of kindness (done wisely) triumphing over fear. There aren’t a whole lot of camping books out there for kids and it is such a memorable experience for a child. I’m sure this story will remind many readers of their own nostalgic camping experiences or make others long to experience it. It’s also a great read for the example of wise kindness (the mother is quite smart about how to help the bears in a way that doesn’t put herself or her son in unnecessary danger…of course the wisest course of action would be to alert rangers but that doesn’t come up as an option). Definitely recommended.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Moriah Conant · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful illustrations and easy to follow storyline. Good for young children who love animals.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mother and her boy are camping, the boy is scared of jumping into the lake. A mother bear and her cub are scavenging, the cub is scared about jumping into a dumpster. But when the boy takes a load of trash to the dumpster, he discovers that the baby bear can't get out and the mother bear is worried. So the boy and his mom come up with a plan.

Told mostly through the illustrations, this nearly wordless book can spark great discussions about empathy, fear, even cause/effect.

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[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

When You’re Scared
By: Andree Poulin
I liked and disliked this book. The pictures needed to be more expressive since there were no words. I liked being able to be creative and use our imagination to create dialog while reading since there are no words. It allows an open-ended conversation to begin with your kids and helps you understand their perspective. I see the bear family and boy and mother connection but it was not always exactly clear how they were mirrored to me.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion which I share here.

[Katra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Owlkids Books and NetGalley for making an advance copy of this title available in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

What a wonderful book! I grinned from cover to cover as the parallel problems of bear and human connected. This multi-species mother and child tale is sure to please anyone who has every been outside their comfort zone and anyone who's ever wanted to come up with creative solutions to their own or other's problems. A delight!

[Tiffany Neal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a digital ARC from Netgalley to review.

This picture book unravels nearly wordless through bold and beautiful illustrations. To be honest, I believe this book could have been more powerful without any words, allowing the reader to tell the story solely through the illustrations, which are strong enough as a stand alone.

Good book for inferring and even writing lessons in the younger grades K-2.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

When You're Scared is a nearly wordless picture book about a mother and son who encounter a bear and her cub while on a camping trip. The experience of mother and son is compared and presented in alternating spreads with that of the bear and cub until their experiences overlap. This is a sweet book and the illustrations offer lots of fun details to find and talk about.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Owlkids (Owlkids Books) and NetGalley for providing me with a copy to read and review.

I really liked this story. It was super cute and very engaging. This is a good book to help child reader make inferences from pictures. There are very little words so the reader must rely on actions to discern the story. I loved the illustrations. They were just so colorful and quaint. It must have been a fun challenge for the illustrator to interpret the authors story.

[***Book Lady *** · Rating 3 out of 5]

A children's picture book with very few words. This book is about a family camping in the woods and a mother bear and cub. It's about the degrees of being scared, slightly scared, scared and very scared. The words only portrayed these degrees. It's a great 'talking with your child book' , and definitely what would be discussed in my home is how dangerous it is to get between a mama bear and her cub, indeed between any mama animal and her baby.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced reader copy!

A beautifully illustrated children's book with vibrant colors shared a camping story about a boy and his mom and a bear and its cub. The boy and mom encounter the bear and cub and are scared.
This short story shows what happens when animals need our help.

A wonderful story to share with kids!

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely little story about being afraid but Doing The Thing anyway. Few words, great full-bleed illustrations.

[Isabella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Screening books to pass along to my nieces.

I loved this one! But I think this is a children's book that is not for every child (and not for every adult "reader" that might perform reading for their kiddos), because it is very illustration-heavy. In fact, this book is 40 pages long and only has 9 full sentences (on nine pages). Over 50% of this book is JUST illustration.

The illustrations are beautiful and immersive. I could see reading this book with a child and adding in narrative or dialogue, asking questions, and observing different aspects of and details in the pictures. The author and illustrator create a lot of space for conversation with this book.

I also love that there is this message of humans and animals being equals in their abilities to experience the world around them. Giving emotions to the bears in the story reminds readers that animals have involved experiences just as we do and, often, they are as afraid of us as we are of them. Good environmental lessons.

[BiblioBeruthiel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Owlkids Books and Net Galley for access to this ARC.

This is not an artistic style that I personally prefer - I feel it looks weirdly outdated and just generally awkward. But that is definitely just a personal preference. The simplicity of the words in this are good and straightforward. It gives a positive idea about how even 'scary' animals should be cared for. However, the idea that a mother and child should take it upon themselves to approach a distraught mother bear is really very very bad advice.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, so, sweet! I loved this mostly wordless story! A mom and her son go camping and are scared by an encounter with a mother bear and her child. Both sets of parent/children are frightened until little bear falls into a trash dumpster! Then it's human mom and her son to the rescue! I lived the illustrations. Lovely!

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little boy on a camping trip has to face his fears, as does a baby bear on the other side of the campground. The two parallel stories come together as the adults face their fears to help the bear cub out of a bind.

Limited amount of text with very detailed illustrations to pick up the thread of the story.

[Jarrett Richard · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very few words. Mostly pictures, but we’ll done and unique illustrations. I guess that could be a good thing if you’re looking for a book that guides the reader to help make up their own story, but really the biggest con of all is there’s no lesson learned or valuable takeaway from the story which is what I was expecting.