Cover Image: What If Wilhelmina

What If Wilhelmina

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Member Reviews

Joseph Belisle's What If Wilhelmina is a story book in which the girl's indoor cat is accidentally allowed outside. There are a lot of what-ifs going on in this book as the girl worries about what may happen to her cat while it is out. On the positive, the book centers a non-white child with two dads, giving needed representation. I love how the story just happens to be about a family that happens to have two dads, normalizing families with same sex couples. However, that was the highlight of the book for me. The story itself focused on a lot of blaming regarding whose fault it was that the cat got it. The illustrations did not do the story justice. The drawings are more crude, and frankly the cat looks like it may have mange. This book was not a hit with my young co-reviewers.

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I like the completely nonchalant featuring of a mixed-race family with two dads. That is exactly what I want my students to see on the page--just one more group of humans living their lives.

The illustrations are very animated and lively. The book has a lot of potential for interactive reading, so I would probably choose it for one-on-one or small group reading over circle time. Some of the imagined scenarios for the missing cat imply potentially mortal peril, so I would just be aware of that if a child winds up genuinely scared for Wilhelmina.

This is a great springboard to discuss anxiety and "what-ifs" with kids, but I really, really would have loved to have seen some discussion of age-appropriate coping strategies. The main character is told not to worry and that the problem will resolve itself and that's basically what winds up happening. Discussing how to manage the "what-ifs" would have been awesome, but parents and teachers can always add those to the conversation on their own.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

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Princess Fuzzypants here: Silly Wilhelmina. There are lots of dangers out in the big world which is why being an indoor cat is for me. But sometimes there are temptations beyond our endurance and we felines must go chase after it. Like Wilhelmina and the squirrel. What the kitty does not realize is how worried her human would be. That is where the what ifs of the title come into play.

All ends well and has some charming pictures as well as a subtle inclusion theme. But humans can be hard to train so at the end Wilhelmina has the last laugh on them all.

Four purrs and two paws up.

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What If Wilhelmina is a creative, inclusive, and engaging children’s book in which one little girl can’t stop thinking about all of the what ifs. I especially loved how the illustrations were engaging for both children and adults but alluding to and including famous art from history!

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