Brave Ben

This rather text-heavy debut from a Dutch team stars a boy fearful of expressing his individuality and asserting himself, who seeks a magical solution to becoming brave. Ben is tired of having others cut before him in line and afraid to wear his favorite flowered overalls in public. So he looks up ""Help for Cowards"" in the Yellow Pages and sets up an appointment with Magic Tree, who lives ""in the wild woods with all of the wild, weird creatures."" But the tree tells Ben, ""they are harmless, so don't be afraid."" Many youngsters will see the moral coming: by the end of his quest, Ben has acquired the courage he sought. The text is dense and, at times, hard to read against the background colors. Still, van Hout's illustrations will carry youngsters along. Out of his impressionistic hues of muted sage, dusty blue and autumnal yellow a dragon emerges, twisting out of the forest and across a spread to greet the boy, a spider wraps Ben up in his web, and a slew of skeletons dance across the skies. Yet the boy's cat companion seems unphased, jumping on the witch's back and pawing at the skeleton bones, so readers relax, too. Humorous touches in both text and art offset the seriousness of this tale, which ends with Ben sporting his flowered overalls. Ages 2-6.