I Am a Courageous Cub

K-Gr 2–Two children at a park want to go down the slide, but it is big and scary. One has an idea: they should move their bodies and pretend to be something else, like a “calm and courageous” lion cub or a “strong and bold” mountain. After trying out a few fun, creative poses, they feel brave enough to use the slide—and it’s delightful. Text is simple, a handful of sentences on each spread. The text describes the pose, and the illustrations show the little kids trying it out and transforming in their imaginations. The artwork is ridiculously adorable, featuring characters with large, round faces and tiny, sweet features. Characters are endearing in their imaginations, too, as they transmogrify into mountains, dragonflies, shooting stars, and more. A variety of races are depicted, and the children are joined by a lovable anthropomorphic frog. The story demonstrates how imaginative play can help children build confidence. Back matter includes an author’s note encouraging readers to create their own courageous poses.