Scared Stiff

by Katie Davis

A little girl must summon up the courage to face her fears when she discovers snakes in her closet, monsters in the bushes, and other terrifying things, in a hilarious picture book that will delight young children.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Katie Davis is the author/illustrator of over a dozen traditionally published books for children, from picture books to middle grade and young adult novels. They’ve sold over 755,000 copies worldwide, which is why she self-published How to Write a Children's Book and How to Promote Your Children's Book, both #1 Amazon bestsellers.

Because Katie’s secret superpower is her ability to teach writers about writing, tech, and marketing their books, she created digital courses and products for writers such as How to Create Your Author Platform (and Market Your Books without Being Pushy), Video Idiot Boot Camp, and Launch Your Book Blueprint. She’s also co-created the largest and first live online conference of its kind, Picture Book Summit.

Katie’s first podcast Brain Burps About Books is an interview format and focuses more on marketing. Her second podcast is Writing for Children and is bite-sized craft oriented lessons. Katie has been a regular guest on WTNH recommending children’s books and recently appeared on the TEDx stage.

Katie has been honored to speak everywhere from a maximum security prison, to elementary schools, to university level, including UCONN and Yale, and has keynoted conferences and fundraising galas.

Using her now not-so-secret superpower allowed Katie and her husband, Jerry Davis, to take over the 47-year-old Institute of Children’s Literature and its sister school, the Institute for Writers, where, as of this writing, 470,027 people have taken college level writing courses and learned to write for both children and adults.

Reviews

[Mother Goose Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Follow this young girl and see what she is afraid of, as she proclaims that she is "scared stiff!" From the neighborhood dog that she calls, "Ono" (because she says "oh, no!" every time she sees her) to her closet full of snakes. After deciding that being afraid is "no way to live," this spunky girl decides to become a witch (because "witches aren't afraid of anything"). Donning her witch hat helps her to realize that she has nothing to fear. Realistically told from a child's perspective. Davis' illustrations are whimsical and add to the child-like appeal.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

A young girl is scared of a giant dog, monsters in her backyard and snakes. But then she remembers the magic words and she feels better. She feels even better when she finds her witches hat. With her hat on she sees that the monster in the backyard is really only a shrub, the snakes in her closet are really just shoelaces and the giant dog in her backyard is only a mother dog and her puppies.

[Sherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is really how children view the world. It did a great job of addressing the fears children deal with every day.

[Jenna's Mom · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was ok; I don’t think Jenna liked it that much. The little boy was imagining that ordinary things were really very scary things and I think the concept was beyond her at this point.

[The Styling Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fears vs. reality. Very cute.