Big Boys Cry
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
Let boys cry! This picture book imagines a world in which boys are encouraged to express their full range of emotions.
It's Levi's first day at a new school, and he's scared. His father tries to comfort Levi by telling him "Big boys don't cry." Though the father immediately understands his misstep, he can't find the words to comfort his son, and Levi leaves for school, still in need of reassurance.
Fortunately, along his walk to school, Levi sees instance after instance of grown men openly expressing their sadness and fear. His learned mantra, "Big boys don't cry," slowly weakens, and by the time he's at school he releases a tear. Once he's there, things aren't so bad after all, and on his walk home he sees everyone he's encountered earlier, feeling better now that they expressed their emotions. Upon his arrival home, he finds his father waiting for him on their porch, tears in his eyes. His father is able to admit that he was scared and the two embrace, closer than before.
Jonty Howley's gorgeous debut paints the world we wish existed for our boys, and offers a path there! This story is the truest interpretation of the notion that we should "let boys be boys": let them express the full range of their emotions, vulnerable parts and all!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When Levi, a boy with wavy blonde hair that matches his father's, expresses anxiety about going to school, "Papa didn't know what to do. So he told Levi, Big boys don't cry.' " Levi fights tears as he walks from their seaside home, across a boardwalk, a busy town square, and to school in stylized spreads that show a vast sea and characters resembling charming wooden puppets. But en route, he observes a variety of characters expressing emotions: "a fisherman with tears in his eyes, setting off on a long trip," a weeping harpist, and "passionate poets." As Levi settles into school, he doesn't cry; the day isn't so scary. Back home, though, he finds his father in tears: "It was your first day at a new school... And I was scared." It's okay for anyone to express emotions, Howley hints and parents, too, may need a reminder. Ages 3 7.
