Picture Books About Courage

a guest post by Sarah from Can We Read?

Hello! I have a special treat for you today: Sarah from Can We Read? has written a post for us about bravery! Her newsletter is a total gold mine of children’s book suggestions and thoughtful commentary on her favorites. Sarah is such a special person and I love what she wrote for us today!

(P.S. Though I intend to only send out one email each week—on Mondays—I made an exception for this guest post! 😊 I hope you enjoy!)

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‘You have plenty of courage, I am sure,’ answered Oz. ‘All you need is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger when you are afriad, and that kind of courage you have in plenty.’ 

From The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Bravery and confidence aren’t things that come naturally or easily to some kids (or even grown-ups). Thankfully, we can learn courage, self-possesion, and nerve from the plethora of great stories about the same, dating back to the most ancient of tales – think of the many examples in Beowulf or The Iliad, not to mention traditional myths and fairy tales the world over. There’s an ocean of options for this evergreen topic.

It’s not always easy to find picture books with particular themes, though. Sure, you can dip into your local library catalog and browse by subject – something I recommend if you know how to do it (and if you don’t, I also recommend asking library staff to give you a tutorial). You can also take to the wide waters of the internet, search, and hope for the best. But both choices leave you wading through a sea of flotsam – there will be some treasure, indeed, but there will also be a bunch of rubbish, and distinguishing between the two is time-consuming and often frustrating.

P: Good thing you have Family Scripts, which regularly offers tried-and-tested titles to check out on your own. Hope and the team have generously allowed me to hop on board today and be your guide to a handful of excellent picture books about bravery and confidence. 

(Though there are an enormous number of fantastic nonfiction and biography picture books that also highlight this theme, for our purposes here, I have focused solely on fiction.)

Tasty Baby Belly Buttons by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Meilo So (1999)

I keep making and revising our “desert island” list of children’s books in my head, but this one never leaves it: it’s marvelous, and one of our all-time favorites. 

Based on an old Japanese folktale, this is the gripping story of a town besieged by Japanese oni (a kind of ogre/troll in Japanese folklore), who show up to steal all the babies because an onI’s favorite food is “tasty baby belly buttons.” The townspeople are powerless in the face of this aggression, but Uriko — a special girl, born from a melon her mother found floating down a river — is simply unwilling to accept this fate. She takes off on a journey, meeting a few animal helpers along the way, and with great wit and unmatched bravery, they fight the oni, free the babies, and bring riches back to the village. 

Not only is this heroine a breath of fresh air in a publishing world still saturated with exhaustingly gendered stories, this is a well-told, funny, riveting tale with fast-moving and evocative watercolor illustrations that doesn’t disappoint in any way. 

I dare you to find a child — or an adult — who won’t laugh at the idea of tasty baby belly buttons, or find inspiration in Uriko’s uncommon spirit and mettle.

Grandmother Spider Brings the Sun by Geri Keams, illustrated by James Bernardin (1995)

A long time ago, one side of the world was always dark, and Wolf was tired of everyone bumping into him all the time because of it. At first, he wants to go to the other side and ask for a piece of the sun, but Coyote, in his traditional trickster role, disagrees, and convinces everyone they should steal the sun instead. 

Sure, sounds like a great idea! Possum and Buzzard make valiant tries, but fail. Then Grandmother Spider volunteers. Can she do it? 

Readers aren’t privy to every detail here — Bernardin’s acrylic illustrations are fun to look at, but leave enough to the imagination that the reader does more work in the head and heart than through the eyes. (This is a compliment.) What really stands out in this tale is the focus is on oft-maligned creatures, as well as the reminder that anyone can be strong: even those who, in our modern American culture, are usually not seen as heroes. (When Wolf tells Grandma Spider she is too old and slow to do this job, she retorts, ‘I know I’m old. You don’t have to tell me I’m old. But I want to help my people one more time.’) 

And oh, how she does. Grandmother Spider has the confidence to succeed, and she does so with wisdom and tenacity. It’s a lovely tale.

Do Not Open by Brinton Turkle (1981)

Miss Moody lives “at land’s end” with her cat, Captain Kidd. One of their favorite pastimes is scouring the beach for treasure after a storm — and this is exactly what they are doing when one day, they find an old, corked purple bottle with a message scratched in the glass: DO NOT OPEN. 

Of course they open it — of course they do — and a fearsome creature emerges, one whom gets into people dreams just for fun, and boasts that “children wake up screaming.” The monster grows and grows, trying to frighten Moody with greater and greater displays of power and aggression, but she is an unflappable lady who has long taken care of herself, and she finally says, in the salient point of the whole book: “Getting bigger and uglier doesn’t scare me.” She dispatches the beast in short order, through a clever trick — Captain Kidd helps out, in the way of cats, eating a mouse with glee — and goes back to her steady, serene life of self-sufficiency.

This is a strange, even spooky story to be sure, with strong themes of self-reliance and bravery (and an unsubtle message about how to deal with the things that scare us) that is both instructive and needs no further conversation — it’s complete just as it is.

Super Manny Stands Up! by Kelly DiPucchio (2017) 

“Every day Manny put[s] on a different cape after school.” Pretending to be a superhero is his thing, and he has a different-colored cape for different types of jobs — his blue one is for saving the world “from an ocean of unsavory sea creatures,” his red one for battling “an angry army of zombie bears,” etc. He never runs out of missions because, as we all well know, there’s a lot going on in the world.

There’s a lot going on at school, too. Though he leaves his fabric capes at home during the day, Manny wears an invisible cape to school and continues facing all kinds of imaginary foes there. One day, he hears a loud voice in the lunchroom and sees “Tall One towering over Small One and laughing.” At first, Manny does nothing, but then he remembers his invisible cape, and… he stands up, literally and metaphorically, in all his superhero glory.

He says, “Stop it.”

Tall One, in the way of bullies eternal, doesn’t like this, but then something powerful happens: the lunchroom erupts with messages of solidarity, as all the other (animal) children chime in, saying, “Stop it!,” “Cut it out,” “Quit it!” The takedown of Tall One isn’t dramatic — he scowls and slinks away and is seen in the background being talked to by a teacher — and the focus shifts immediately to Small One, who joins Manny for lunch and then, later, as his trusty super sidekick.

My kids adore this book and it’s easy to see why — Graegin’s bright pencil, ink, and digital illustrations are a visual manifestation of this bright story, which is about bullying, yes, but more strongly emphasizes self-confidence, courage, and standing up for what’s right. This is an important message for kids as well as for adults, and Manny sets an example of true friendship for us all.

Also highly recommended:

I Will Dance by Nancy Bo Flood
Bravery Soup by Maryann Cocca-Leffler 

Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall 

Not Quite Snow White by Ashley Franklin
The Boy and the Whale by Mordicai Gerstein

Sheila Rae, The Brave by Kevin Henkes

The Cats in Krasinski Square by Karen Hesse
Boy Soup by Loris Lesynski 

Tiger, Tiger by Dee Lillegard
Flossie & the Fox by Patricia McKissick
Precious and the Boo Hag by Patricia McKissack and Onawumi Jean Moss
The Tale of Custard the Dragon by Ogden Nash
Thunder Rose by Jerdine Nolen
Truman by Jean Reidy
The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade by Justin Roberts
Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak
Bravo Anjali! by Sheetal Sheth
Brave Irene by William Steig

The Seven Chinese Sisters by Kathy Tucker

The Ying-Yang Sisters and the Dragon Frightful by Nancy Tupper Ling
Suki’s Kimono by Chieri Uegaki
The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson

Guji Guji by Chih Yuan-Chen 

I hope you’ve found some books to inspire bravery and confidence in your kiddos (and perhaps even yourself). As I say to my 8-year-old every day when I drop her off at school: “Be bold, be you!” 

The world needs your brave. 

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Thanks, Sarah! Great reads. That list at the end is suuuuper helpful, too!
I hope this encouraged you all!
Tune in tomorrow for some bean stew meal inspiration 😋

Warmly,

Hope from Family Scripts