How to be brave like a snail

In this third in the series of tales about the humorous mollusk, Hrab reveals to young readers just how brave Snail and his friend Stump really are. Though Snail admits, "I'm the kind of brave that's kind of brave," there are only three things that really frighten him: "asking for help, making mistakes, and believing in himself." When a paper airplane contest is announced, Snail wants to enter, but he's afraid he won't do well. His good friend Stump encourages him, so Snail decides to sign up, and the two of them practice until the day of the contest. Snail wins a blue ribbon in the competition, while Stump doesn't do well at all. Now it's Snail's turn to cheer up his friend and help him overcome the bad feelings he's experiencing about not getting a ribbon. True bravery is shown when honest feelings are shared between the friends, and together they create a wonderful new use for paper airplanes that helps anyone who wants to overcome negative emotions. Fun and insightful.

Gr 1--3--Snail and Stump are bastions of cuteness readers can really root for in this encouraging tale of friendship. The book details the bravery in confronting feelings, of facing fears head-on and instead of pushing them down. Snail and the wooden Stump support each other through a paper airplane folding contest, working through nervousness and anger. The narrative is cut through with amusing speech bubbles letting Snail and his friend Stump insert jokes or emotional details. Throughout, it emphasizes how good friends "hold feelings as carefully as [they] fold airplanes." VERDICT A perfect relationship guide, demonstrating how to help others acknowledge and work through emotions while giving space for their own feelings.

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.(Picture book. 5-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.