WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A PROBLEM?

In this optimistic look at facing up to the things that scare you the most, problems take on an evocative visual quality. A small child tries everything to avoid the problem hanging overhead, illustrated as a literal dark cloud that just won’t go away. Ignoring it, hiding, and running away just make the cloud grow bigger, and it’s not until the skies have gone completely black and the winds are threatening to blow everything away that the child finally says, “Enough!” Facing the storm head-on with a logical frame of mind allows the child to see the dark, cloudy problem for what it really is—opportunity. Equal parts pep talk and instruction manual, this simple tale shows how a small shift in perspective can make all the difference. The illustrations mirror the narrative nicely, using expressive pencil drawings and saturated watercolor washes to create atmospheric movement that heightens the emotional content of the story, from stormy skies to a clear day with bright golden sun. While not every problem can be so easily dismantled, this is a beautifully illustrated reminder of possibility. –Booklist

A companion to the pair's 2014 collaboration What Do You Do with an Idea?, this picture book is about a young boy with (you guessed it) a problem. What’s unusual about this particular problem is that it takes physical form and follows the protagonist around all day like a looming cloud. He tries ignoring it and shooing it away, but nothing helps. Soon the his concerns about the problem are overwhelming: "What if it swallows me up? What if my problem sneaks up and gets me?" The more the boy worries, the bigger the problem becomes, and the more he attempts to avoid it, the more inescapable it seems.

Finally, the boy gets inventive, drafting a plan to "tackle" his problem. In facing up to it, he discovers the problem has "something beautiful inside": an opportunity. "Every problem has an opportunity for something good. You just have to look for it."

Besom's lovely illustrations complement Yamada's simple, yet effective plot. When the problem first appears, the illustrations are rendered in shades of black, gray, purple, and brown. Despite this ominous controlled palette at book's beginning, the art is so detailed that I was drawn into the world Besom creates. Once the boy starts to solve his problem and turns it into something positive, the color scheme brightens with sunny shades of yellow, gold, and red.

This relatable story will resonate with children who become frustrated or daunted when facing a problem, encouraging them to step back and view it with a new perspective. (It's a good reminder to look on the bright side for the grownups reading with them, too.) –The Horn Book

Yamada and Besom follow What Do You Do with an Idea? with the story of a boy plagued by a problem, which Besom imagines as a violet cloud hanging over the boy’s head: “I didn’t want it. I didn’t ask for it. I really didn’t like having a problem, but it was there.” The boy wanders through a medievalesque town, accompanied by sleek, silvery flying fish that dart about like swallows. Soon the cloud grows into a storm: “The more I avoided my problem, the more I saw it everywhere.” At last the boy has an epiphany: armed with goggles, his hair thrown back by the force of the storm’s energy, he reaches into the heart of the cloud and finds light: “I discovered it had something beautiful inside. My problem held an opportunity!” Though some younger readers may find the story overly vague—it’s easy to imagine questions like “What is his problem?” and “What is he talking about?” popping up—Yamada’s inspirational prose and the romance of Besom’s spreads make an impact. –Publishers Weekly

A child struggles with the worry and anxiety that come with an unexpected problem.

In a wonderful balance of text and pictures, the team responsible for What Do You Do With an Idea (2014) returns with another book inspiring children to feel good about themselves. A child frets about a problem that won’t go away: “I wished it would just disappear. I tried everything I could to hide from it. I even found ways to disguise myself. But it still found me.” The spare, direct narrative is accompanied by soft gray illustrations in pencil and watercolor. The sepia-toned figure of the child is set apart from the background and surrounded by lots of white space, visually isolating the problem, which is depicted as a purple storm cloud looming overhead. Color is added bit by bit as the storm cloud grows and its color becomes more saturated. With a backpack and umbrella, the child tries to escape the problem while the storm swirls, awash with compass points scattered across the pages. The pages brighten into splashes of yellow as the child decides to tackle the problem head-on and finds that it holds promise for unlooked-for opportunity.

A straightforward, effective approach to helping children cope with one of life’s commonplace yet emotionally fraught situations, this belongs on the shelf alongside Molly Bang’s Sophie books. –Kirkus Reviews