Captain Starfish

January 15, 2018
Alfie is worried about his starfish costume and the Underwater Dress-Up Parade—he’s “got that feeling.” He’s had it before. Once, fearing he’d come in last, he backed out of a race. Another time, on the way to a friend’s birthday party and anxious about musical chairs, he asked his mother to turn around. Colpoys’s stylish, silkscreen-style illustrations use contrasting shades of sea green, deep blue, and bright pink to represent both the real world and Alfie’s rich interior life—he dreams of menacing sea creatures and talks to the cowboys on his wallpaper. When Alfie decides that he can’t handle the parade, his parents don’t push. A consolatory trip to the aquarium introduces Alfie to a clown fish, whose timidity reflects his own. “Sometimes clown fish need to hide away,” his mother observes. “People, too,” Alfie adds. Stories about childhood fears abound, but first-time author Bell writes about a more unusual situation—a child who shrinks from experiences that other children find pleasurable. With time, she implies, and with the unwavering support of parents, even these anxieties may wane. Ages 4–8.

February 1, 2018

K-Gr 2-Bell and Colpoys convey the turmoil of an introvert maneuvering the social expectations of school. Alfie's public anxiety has caused him to miss a dinosaur party and running races, and he's really dreading dressing up as a starfish for the Underwater Dress-Up Parade. Following his subaquatic nightmares, Mom calmly allows Alfie to skip the parade and instead takes him to the aquarium where he is charmed by a brief encounter with a shy clown fish. On the way home in a bus populated by imaginary ocean creatures, Mom acknowledges that some people are like clown fish and need to hide away, "It's just what they do." Alfie commiserates yet fulfills his pledge to participate in the parade the following year and dresses as a clown fish. Colpoys's retro drawings are colored in neon peach and cobalt blue, with sea-foam green accents. VERDICT The unconditional acceptance of Alfie's parents makes this book unique and may prove assuring to children of similar character. An excellent choice for one-on-one sharing.-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2018
Bell's debut picture book quietly shows a child working through his anxieties.Alfie, a peach-colored child with shaggy brown hair and downcast eyes, is no stranger to "that feeling." He worries about party games, is too afraid about losing races to even run in them, and doesn't think he is "brave enough to be Captain Starfish" in his school's Underwater Dress-Up Parade. The morning after an evocative dream in which "he was carrying the ocean, all on his own," Alfie just can't muster up the courage to go to school. His understanding mother takes him to the aquarium, where he's at first chagrined by a showoff-y starfish but then momentarily comforted by a shy, smiling clown fish. Subdued blue and orange illustrations, with lots of white space, match the emotional pitch of the story. Alfie doesn't make it to the parade that year, but "it doesn't matter"; he decides that next year he will "dress up as a clown fish." Alfie's success, aided by loving and patient parents, provides a model for children struggling with anxiety and assures them of their ultimate worth and capability. This gentle story ably helps fill a need in children's literature and will help comfort small audiences with their own big fears. (Picture book. 4-7)

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