cover image Not a Worry in the World

Not a Worry in the World

Marcia Williams. Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, $12.95 (26pp) ISBN 978-0-517-58155-1

What do kids worry about? Don't worry--Williams ( The First Christmas ) knows. Her imaginative text and splendidly cluttered, boldly colored illustrations expose a number of worries that might plague youngsters. ``I worry that when I wake up . . . there will be a burglar under my bed,'' laments the child narrator. He also worries that Santa Claus will be sick this year, that Mom will forget to pick him up from school and that the animals will escape from the zoo. But he learns ``the secret of worries'': when they are talked about they get so mad they run away. And so the child manages to get rid of his worries, which are playfully personified by tiny cloud-like figures with arms and legs. The book's surplus of visual details and textual asides will keep little ones contentedly occupied--and may even help chase away a worry or two. Ages 3-7. (Mar.)