Cocca-Leffler (Thanksgiving at the Tappletons) ladles out equal portions of the sweet and the bland in this well-traveled story line of a scaredy-raccoon. Carlin, whose mask-like eyes play up his emotions, is afraid "of bumps in the night,/ of trying new things,/ of being alone./ He was afraid of his own shadow!" Zack the fox tells his pal that he needs "a bit of bravery" and takes Carlin to the edge of the woods, where Big Bear stirs a large pot of Bravery Soup. The cook sends Carlin on a perilous journey to fetch a crucial ingredient, kept in a box in a cave in Skulk Mountain. The bear reassures the quivering 'coon that "You are braver than you think," and the statement echoes in the hero's mind as he ventures alone into the Forbidden Forest, crosses a raging river and enters the dark cave. The plot loses steam when it reverts to flashback ("Carlin had not been swept away," the author reassures readers when the hero's friends find his raft), taking the oomph out of the pacing. The dense text ends with a clichéd message ("It is not what is inside the box
that makes bravery. It is what is inside of you!"), but the acrylics, applied with thick brushstrokes, convey the suspense as well as the warm friendship between the animal friends. Ages 3-7. (Mar.)
