About This Book:
*Review Contributed By Adrien Carter, Staff Reviewer*
Bravery in Sharing your Fears
Vera the Valiente is brave; she can climb, dive, and defend all of her friends with the bravery of a lion, yet she is scared when she hears that her class is going to Rocking Roller Coasters. Vera tries to convince the teacher that this isn’t a good plan, but Ms. Rodriguez doesn’t change her mind. Will Vera be able to face her fears, or will her classmates discover that she isn’t brave at all?
What I Liked: This book introduces you to Vera and all the things that she does that make her brave, while also letting you know that there is one thing she is afraid of. Rather than talking about these fears, Vera tries her best to go with the plans until she can’t hold in her feelings any longer, and they come rushing out. This moment not only helps Vera, but it also helps her classmates express their feelings and share that they have similar fears to Vera regarding the roller coasters.
The illustrations throughout this book do a great job of advancing the story and effectively highlighting the expressions on each person’s face. The fun, vibrant illustrations keep a younger audience entertained throughout the whole book as they wait to see if Vera will speak up regarding these fears or if she will end up riding the roller coaster since she is too scared to speak. The book includes various words in Spanish that are easy to decipher using context clues, and because any Spanish phrases are then translated into English.
Final Verdict: Vera La Valiente is Brave is a fun book that highlights what it means to be brave by showing children that sharing your feelings and fears is one of the most courageous things you can do. Children ages 4 and up will enjoy listening to this book, and they can learn the importance of sharing their feelings and how our fears don’t make us any less brave. This is a great book for children who are English language learners whose first language is Spanish as they will recognize many of the words and phrases used throughout this book.
