Rain Forest by Helen Cowcher (1988) is a scary story without a happy ending. Her large, brightly colored paintings introduce us to wildlife in the rain forest. Then, there are several pages of impending doom. "From afar, there came a terrible tale . . . something sinister in the air." Machines are cutting down trees. The animals are fleeing to higher ground. When floods come, "There were no trees to hold the soil in place, so the river burst its banks." I won't give away the ending entirely. I can say that generalized anxiety about future disaster is very real.
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Frederick by Leo Lionni values the imagination. While Frederick's family gathers food supplies for the winter, Frederick sit... -
Molly and the Sword by Robert Shlasko, (1996) is unoriginal and tedious. Molly is a good daughter who demonstrates qualities one mi...