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Seeing your parents angry, being scolded can be scary! People laughing at you & you don't know why - ah, I've known that one!

A good book to raise the subject of scary things, probably not one to read just before bed, however! Perhaps after a particularly trying day at school. Or just before Halloween! Or when something scary happens in your family's life.


Scary is Beautiful   January 9, 2001
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Florence Parry Heide is one of the great children's authors. And teamed with Jules Feiffer, she's even better. This book is heartwarming and funny at once, and full of familiar surprises. For adults, it will bring back childhood memories of scary moments that are now just tender memories. Children will relate to their current childhood fears and will learn something in the process. For all, it's a sharing in the human condition of being a kid and the explorations of a kid's new world.


Some Things Bring Back Great Memories   December 11, 2000
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Aaagh, this is not a new book. I read this when I was 6 years old! It was one of my absolute favorites. I've been keeping an eye out for it for my children. One "scary" thing that I remember most from this book is holding an adult's hand on the escalator, only to realize it is a stranger. That illustration has set in my mind for 30 years. What is especially funny, now, is that little children do that. They will hold my hand or grab my shirt, thinking I am their parent, only to look up at me with terror when they realize I'm the wrong "mommy". Gotta get it for yourself as well as the children.


A Winner!   December 6, 2000
Do you remember what it was like to be hugged by someone you didn't like or thinking you weren't going to be picked by either side for a game on the playground? What about holding on to someone's hand that isn't your mother's when you thought it was or having people looking at you and laughing and not knowing why? Fortunately for us, Florence Parry Heide does. This collection of childhood fears really captures the essence of the young mind in a clever, funny and light hearted way so that kids will be reassured that they're not alone out there in the world (the SCARIEST thought of all). Jules Feiffer's humorous, imaginative, expressive artwork adds just the right touch to the text and together they let all kids know that everybody's afraid of something sometimes and it's okay. This masterpiece is perfect for those as young as 4 or 5 and will have even more meaning to 8-10 year olds. So think back and remember what it felt like to watch in the mirror while getting a bad haircut and smile...


AMUSING AND REASSURING - A WINNER FOR KIDS!   October 1, 2000
This award winning children's book author and the iconoclastic Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Jules Feiffer have found an amusing and reassuring way to allay children's normal fears. How helpful to confront what children may dread rather than ignoring or glossing over it!

Starting with the premise that some things really are frightening, youngsters are hilariously reminded that "Seeing something on your plate you know you're not going to like is scary" and then allowed to acknowledge that "Skating downhill when you haven't learned how to stop is scary."

In other words, children are taught that it's okay to be afraid sometimes. Parents may elicit some helpful information by reading this book with their child, and encouraging the young one to relate his or her own fears.