Captain Snout and the Super Power Questions: Don’t Let the ANTs Steal Your Happiness

A superhero anteater helps three children control their “Automatic Negative Thoughts” (ANTs) when their money-raising car wash hits a hurdle. After Captain Snout swoops in, he introduces them to various types of ANTs (All or Nothing ANTs “don’t use words like ‘sometimes’ or ‘maybe,’ ” and the Mind Reader ANT “knows how others think and feel without even being told!”), which appear as anthropomorphic insects in Kearney’s high-energy cartoons. Amen, a child psychiatrist, emphasizes the power of interrogating negative knee-jerk reactions (“Are you 100% sure it’s true?”), giving readers real-world tools amid the book’s irreverent approach. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)