Bravo, Bucket Head! Helen Lester. Illustrated by Lynn Munsinger. 2022. [September] 32 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence: Mousetta always walked backward. Ever since she was a week field mouse, she had felt terribly shy, and by walking backward, she didn't have to worry about meeting anyone. She often hit beneath her mother's skirt. This made her mother appear to have four hind legs. When Mousetta was with her father, she hid inside his jacket, giving him an embarrassing Big Tummy Appearance.
Premise/plot: Mousetta admires the "regular," popular mouse children....from a very safe distance. When she sees Dr. Gladpaw's advertisement in the paper, she decides to see if his tips can help her out. She wears a BUCKET on her head to this workshop. To her surprise, she's not the only one. Someone is wearing a lampshade! Someone is wearing a wastebasket! Someone is wearing a blanket on [his] head! She is super surprised to find out the identities of all her fellow "shy" mice.
During this workshop, a potential terrifying "trauma" appears...and it is Mousetta herself who is the bravest. Hence the bravo.
My thoughts: Helen Lester's books tend to the didactic. I don't mean that necessarily in a negative way. The difference between "didactic" and "great message" is all in the mind[s] of the reader[s]. All of her stories have morals or messages. The plot/story is driven by this moral/message. All are predictable to a certain extent.
© 2022 Becky Laney of Young Readers
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