Title: Oh Susannah: Things that Go Bump | Author: Carole P. Roman | Illustrator: Mateya Arkova | Publisher: Chelshire, Inc | Pub. Date: 2017-7-19 | Pages: 50 | ASIN: B0743JL9LY | Genre: Children’s Fiction | Language: English | Triggers: None | Rating: | Source: I received a copy of this book free from the author for review consideration.
Oh Susannah: Things that Go Bump
Susannah Maya Logan is not having a good day. She doesn’t want to go to her best friend, Lola’s sleepover. Susannah thinks the house is big and spooky, not to mention the ghost that is said to live there. Lola’s big brother, Kai, loves to tease Susannah with scary stories.
Throughout her day, she sees people deal with things that scare them. Her sight-impaired friend, Macy, is terrified of unicorns, of all things. She sees a boy at a party who’s frightened of clowns. Her teacher is afraid of getting a cold. Susannah realizes everybody is scared of something. She wishes she was more like Lola, who is not afraid of anything, or so it seems.
Susannah discovers people have different ideas of what is scary and what is not, and only they can determine the difference.
Join Susannah as she learns to confront her fears and not let her imagination prevent her from having fun.
Oh Susannah: Things that Go Bump Review
Oh Susannah: Things that Go Bump is a wonderful effort by Carole P. Roman to write a book that explains fears and how to deal with them to beginning readers. Susannah is a young girl that is trying very hard to be brave and not bother anyone with her fears. Unfortunately, it makes it really hard for her to enjoy herself as events come up. Her parents have been working with her on the important subject of sharing your fears so they don’t overwhelm you. However, she hasn’t quite learned that lesson as well as she could.
Everyone has fears. Most of those fears are of things that they don’t understand. in Oh, Susannah: Things that Go Bump, Susannah is surprised to learn that some people are even scared of things like unicorns. She also learns that some people share her fears of things like clowns. And (this is something I’m still working on learning) she also learns that houses make noise naturally. It’s not a ghost, it’s just a creaky house. It is these little lessons that build up, piece by piece, to helping Susannah in the end. It definitely helps that her friend, Lola, is a seemingly fearless girl.
This fifty page book is small, light, and has an attractive cover. Mateya Arkova did a good job illustrating it. I loved how the colors were all nice and soothing, but when you looked closer, you saw bits of ‘scary’, like the faces in the trees. (And of course, that ‘spooky’ house.) There are a scattering of illustrations inside that are in black and white, as well. My only quibble with the book is that the consistent misunderstanding of ‘afraid’ seems a bit unrealistic. However, if it helps to get kids over the fears, it’s worth it.
Oh Susannah: Things that Go Bump is a sweet little book with a great goal. Definitely a book you should consider picking up if your little munchkin is a bit on the timid side.