I did not have time to download and read this book before it was archived, so I'm unable to leave a review.

I love books that can tell a story without words, but I think When You're Scared would have benefited from more dialogue -- even grunting, snuffling bear sounds. It was like looking through a photo album and having no idea where the pictures were taken. You can appreciate them for what they are, but you don't really know the stories behind the images.

When the young boy takes garbage to a dumpster, he quickly flees to find his mom when he encounters a large bear. However, he and his mother immediately try to find something that will help the baby bear, but the boy didn't know the small bear was trapped. He didn't stick around long enough to find out. If the boy had heard scratching, or even the baby bear's crying, that might have made more sense. Instead, he and his mother find a solution for a problem they didn't know they had.

I think this book had the potential to be more than it was.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The pictures in this story are beautiful and bright. They really make it worth checking it out. The story is not as fulfilling but is a good lesson about facing fear.

When you're scared is a story about a family going camping and encountering a mother and baby bear. They are scared. When the baby bear gets trapped in a garbage container, the mother is worried and the baby is scared. How will he get out and be reunited with his mother?

This is pretty much a wordless story. The only thing text is ‘He was very afraid.’ The illustrations are very simple, but they tell the story. The message is that even though everyone is scared, they don't let this stop them solve a problem. A good message, but without a lot of discussion and prodding from me, my grandchildren didn't really understand the message and were not interested in a reread of this one.

Too simple for what it is supposed to be. I don't think this will really help anyone who is dealing with being scared of things.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful illustrations and easy to follow storyline. Good for young children who love animals.

A little boy is scared to jump down into the water from a branch, even with his mother waiting below to catch him. A little bear cub feels the same way as he considers jumping from a branch into a dumpster. The mother and son each lunch together after swimming. The cub has lunch too, in the dumpster. When the boy goes to throw away their bag of garbage, he meets the mother bear standing outside the dumpster. The boy is scared of the bear, the cub is scared that he can’t get out. Mother and son decide to help the bears and bring a big log so that the cub can climb out, they are all very scared. Their plan works and the day ends with darkness and no one scared at all.

This Canadian picture book addresses the different aspects of fear. It uses the perspectives of both a human child and a bear cub to show that fear is universal. It also demonstrates that fear can be overcome and that doing so can make a positive difference in the world. The book uses words sparingly to tie the two perspectives together, allowing the story to really be told in the illustrations.

The illustrations are done in collage. They are bright and bold, showing the forest setting of the camping site and the dumpster. In certain images, the emotion of fear is shown as obliterating the sunny day entirely. It’s a very effective use of illustrations to convey emotion.

A book about fear that also encourages moving beyond fear to action. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book is a simple easy to read text about a family camping outing. It is about the kid being varying degrees of scared and also a bear and cub. Since there were few words it would be nice to have more expressive pictures to balance it out. It gives the feeling of nostalgic camping trips growing up. It is a good storyline and message with the bear and mother.

In terms of text, this is a very simple book. Most pages have a single short sentence. That makes it very accessible for a child struggling with reading .The key to this book is visual interpretation. The child reads "he's scared" and then discusses with the adult the cause for the fear, what's happening in the image.

This book is about a family camping outing. The boy is afraid to dive into the lake and to take the trash to the dumpster. Bears are living in the woods and go to the dumpster to scavenge food. The boy is afraid of the bear. The bear is afraid of the boy.

This is a good premise and some of the illustrations are cute. I would prefer a bit more dialogue but it is good for a first reader that needs repetition.


I received and ARC from Owlkids Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book.

I absolutely love the images in this book. It reminds me of my childhood and the one I hope I am creating for my kids by showing the independence found in the outdoors, no matter how little you are. All children will face fear but what makes this book unique is the perspective that its not just kids who get scared, its parents and even animal! It normalizes the feeling for children. wonderful book.

When you're scared, is a children's book written by Andree Poulin and illustrated by Veronique Joffre.

The book blurb: What will they do when they're scared?
A boy and a mom go camping on a beautiful day.
A bear cub and his mama are not too far away.
When they meet unexpectedly, all four are afraid.
But the bears need help!
Created with bold, colorful illustrations and simple variations on a single phrase, this sweet story encourages acting with courage and compassion - even when you're scared.

This book has a few words and beautiful and easy to follow pictures. It is perfect for 3-5 year old kids. The art in this book is bright, bold and beautiful. It is a must buy. This is a book that makes your kids to think and teaches them to be compassionate. When you are scared, it does not mean you do not act, you act in spite of being scared.

A children's picture book with very few words. This book is about a family camping in the woods and a mother bear and cub. It's about the degrees of being scared, slightly scared, scared and very scared. The words only portrayed these degrees. It's a great 'talking with your child book' , and definitely what would be discussed in my home is how dangerous it is to get between a mama bear and her cub, indeed between any mama animal and her baby.

Almost a wordless picture book. The words are the same, basically. The illustrations (gorgeous, by the way!) add meaning to the story and actually tell the story of the boy and the bear who are afraid. It's a great story to talk about fear with children.

Beautiful illustrations with very simple narrative. I enjoyed reading this story with my four year old as we looked at each page and pointed out what was going on. A boy is scared, but his mother helps him overcome a fear. A baby bear is scared and trapped. The mother and son work together and carefully (and safely) help the baby bear escape.

Looking at the other reviews, I feel a little bit guilty and wondered for a moment if I missed something, because — despite the evident popularity of this galley among reviewers — I thought it was really poorly crafted. I found the artwork very off-putting and bland, and don't think it would appeal to most of my regular patrons. The text bits are so few and far between that it's mostly just a book of pictures, and what text does exist is extremely boring and repetitive (how many times can you say the words "he was scared" or "they were scared"?).

Thank you to Owlkids (Owlkids Books) and NetGalley for providing me with a e-ARC to read and review.

I really liked this story. It was super cute and very engaging. This is a good book to help child reader make inferences from pictures. There are very little words so the reader must rely on actions to discern the story. I loved the illustrations. They were just so colorful and quaint. It must have been a fun challenge for the illustrator to interpret the authors story.

This book is a visual delight, especially for those who enjoy camping and the outdoors! It is a book of very few words, The story, is told mostly in pictures, detailed, colorful cut-out style illustrations. A boy arrives at a campground with his family, at the same time as a young bear cub and his mother. The boy and the cub each encounter scary situations, but eventually things work out. This is a book to be "read" over and over again. Something new will be discovered each time.

When You’re Scared
By: Andree Poulin
I liked and disliked this book. The pictures needed to be more expressive since there were no words. I liked being able to be creative and use our imagination to create dialog while reading since there are no words. It allows an open-ended conversation to begin with your kids and helps you understand their perspective. I see the bear family and boy and mother connection but it was not always exactly clear how they were mirrored to me.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion which I share here.

A boy and his mother are camping in the woods. When the boy goes to throw their trash away he runs into a mother bear. The two humans are pretty scared but so is the mother bear and her cub. Can anything be done to help?

The words in this are sparse and to the point, but they don’t need to be anything more than that. The amazing illustrations and the actions of the characters in them speak loud enough to convey the heart of this story of kindness (done wisely) triumphing over fear. There aren’t a whole lot of camping books out there for kids and it is such a memorable experience for a child. I’m sure this story will remind many readers of their own nostalgic camping experiences or make others long to experience it. It’s also a great read for the example of wise kindness (the mother is quite smart about how to help the bears in a way that doesn’t put herself or her son in unnecessary danger…of course the wisest course of action would be to alert rangers but that doesn’t come up as an option). Definitely recommended.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.