The Bravest of the Brave [Hardcover]

Shutta Crum (Author), Tim Bowers (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Late one day I hurried home,
Stepping through the wood alone.
It was deep and dim; I could barely see.
But I thought brave thoughts to comfort me.
A Young Skunk heads home through the woods—alone. Or maybe not…
Could there be robbers, or pirates, or ghosts, or trappers in the woods? And is our hero brave enough to keep away?
With bouncy rhymes, charming art, a subtle counting theme, and a surprise ending, this story will entertain and reassure any child who’s ever been afraid.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1–Walking quickly and thinking "brave thoughts," a young skunk makes its way home through a dimly lit forest and is startled by different woodland creatures. The rhyming story turns out to be a counting book, starting with "1 masked face" (a raccoon hiding in the shadows) and ending with "10 stars [that] twinkle while I sleep." After being frightened by ghosts (owls), trappers (spiders), witches (porcupines), and pirates (flying squirrels), the skunk sees "6 strong arms" and gets ready to raise its tail in self-defense, but soon realizes that the limbs belong to family members. Now safe, the traveler relates the tale to an appreciative audience of animals. Bowers creates a pleasant-looking protagonist with a fluffy crown of white fur and a lush white tail. The woods are filled with velvet greens and chocolate browns, reassuring colors that show youngsters that the landscape might be dark, but certainly isn't scary. Pair this story with Lauren Thompson's Little Quack's Bedtime (S & S, 2005) for some tranquil sleepy-time fun.–Lisa Gangemi Kropp, Middle Country Public Library, Centereach, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Shutta Crum knows what it’s like to be brave while being really scared. She lives on a farm in Ann Arbor, MI, where she sometimes sees skunks.

Tim Bowers has illustrated numerous children’s books, including the popular Little Whistle series. He lives in Granville, OH.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (January 11, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375826378
• ISBN-13: 978-0375826375
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 0.4 x 11.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #380,960 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't stink, May 6, 2005

By 

Jessica Ferguson "threelittlebirds" (Woodbury, NJ) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bravest of the Brave (Hardcover)

A cute story that follows a little skunk as he bravely counts his way through the deep, dark forest from "1 masked face" to "10 stars" twinkling while he sleeps.

The rhyming text is a bit repetitive but will make it easy for beginning readers and will make a good audience participation book for story times. The title-based plot is lost a little through the second half of the story, but the story still flows nicely.

Accompanying illustrations are cute and the animals are expressive. Even though the skunk is brave in the face of his fears, there are no scary illustrations to turn youngsters off.

Counting and numbers one through ten are covered and often use unusual items.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars CUTE STORY WITH A DOUBLE LESSON., March 11, 2010

By 

D. Blankenship (The Ozarks) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bravest of the Brave (Hardcover)

This is a very cute tale of a small skunk, a very "brave" little skunk who takes a journey through the deep and dim forest during the gloomy evening. Great danger lurks at every twist and turn. We have ghosts (which turn out to be owls), horrible trappers (who turn into spiders), pirates (yup, just a family of flying squirrels and scary witches (porcupines). But through it all, our little hero is "brave."

This rhyming book is also a counting book which is ideal for preschoolers. The rather dark illustrations are not really all that scary especially when we are instantly shown and told just what the scary creatures are that our little guy encounters so there is really no need to fear that the little ones will be scared during the story.

The illustrations in this one are adorable, and the facial expressions on our brave little skunk are bound to bring a smile to your lips. As has been pointed out, the text is rather repetitive and due to the different fonts used throughout the test, it can be a bit difficult to read at times...in particular the first time.

This is a cute story which not only teaches numbers, but more importantly teaches the child that an imagination running amok is much worse that reality. It is easy to "see bears in the woods," or be fearful of things that go bump in the night, but when we see things for what they are, the woods, and indeed life, is not all that bad.

This is one that I would recommend checking from the library. It is a good read, an informative read, but not one that you will probably want to read over and over aging endlessly.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great illustrations, May 27, 2006

By 

Quimbey (Monroe Township, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Bravest of the Brave (Hardcover)

Beginning with the cover, this book is great for pre-schoolers. The lead character is adorable, the story is cute and the illustrations are the best. It's entertaining and with each picture there are things to talk about with the child.