Walker Silly Billy Anthony Browne

Billy is a bit of a worrier. He worries about hats and shoes. He worries about clouds and rain and giant birds. Most of all he worries about staying at other people's houses. His mum and dad try to help, but still Billy worries ...until a visit to his grandma's shows him how to overcome his fears with the aid of his imagination - and some tiny worry dolls. Editorial Reviews From School Library Journal PreSchool-Grade 2-In bed at night Billy frets about everything, from standard clothing items (shoes) to normal weather phenomena (clouds). His parents do their best to reassure him, but to no avail. Staying over at Grandma's, he is overwhelmed with anxiety until she gives him Guatemalan worry dolls, the perfect antidote for night terrors. This works until he starts to worry that he's overburdening the dolls. The boy's clever way of resolving the problem is sure to bring smiles to readers. The story is bookended by illustrations of Billy, first literally weighed down with apprehension, and finally full of optimistic self-confidence. An opening full-color illustration in watercolor and pencil depicts Billy lying stiffly in his bed. This is followed by a series of his monochromatic fright-filled imaginings layered with background details that add levels of interest for close observers (his pillow reveals a worried profile while his wallpaper is covered with shoe prints). The bright colors of Guatemalan yarns and patterns are echoed throughout. Billy's parents and grandmother are rounded, comforting figures, but in almost every spread it is the boy's small, pale face, pinched with worry, that is given the most visual weight and holds readers' attention. Children will appreciate that Billy's problems are solved both through the efforts of encouraging adults and through his own resourcefulness. A witty way to address the issue of ever-present childhood presentiments.-Kate McClelland, Perrot Memorial Library, Old Greenwich, CT Copyright å¨ 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. From Booklist The always-interesting Browne adds a bit of Central American ambience to his typically British setting. Billy, hair parted, in gray-flannel shorts, is a worrier. In imaginative, almost surrealistic ink drawings, Billy worries about hats, shoes, giant birds. When he worries about rain, the picture shows him in his bedroom, floating on waves of water. His parents try to bolster him, but it's not until he stays at his grandmother's house that help appears--in the form of several brightly colored Guatemalan worry dolls. At first they help Billy sleep, but then he starts worrying that he has given the worry dolls too many worries. His creative solution is to make little dolls for the little dolls. The story is slight, but the pictures are amazing. In counterpoint to the monochromatic worry scenes are pictures so vivid and colorful, they ease concern and spread cheer with each turn of the page. Children will enjoy looking at the multiplying personal dolls and may ask for some of their own. A short note explains their genesis. Ilene Cooper Copyright å© American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.