Have you ever been afraid of the dark or what could be lurking in it? Have you ever wanted to face your fears but did not know how to defeat them? What if you had superpowers that could move mountains? Kaleb The Brave is a book about a young boy that struggles to find his courage amongst his fears. Will he be able to conquer them, or will they take over?
Have you ever been afraid of the dark or what could be lurking in it? Have you ever wanted to face your fears but did not know how to defeat them? What if you had superpowers that could move mountains? Kaleb The Brave is a book about a young boy that struggles to find his courage amongst his fears. Will he be able to conquer them, or will they take over?
The battle for Earth raged on as I defended it against the alien civilization named Revicks. Revicks traveled from planet to planet to steal all living things. Imagine two giraffes standing on top of each other with the strength of one thousand men—that would be a Revicks. Revicks could even use the power of the sun to create heat energy blasts. They had destroyed three of my battleships, and it was up to me to save the world from their grasp. With one swing of my hand, I had the power to create winds stronger than the biggest tornado! I was even known to move mountains with my awesome power. As I started to use my power, an energy blast landed behind me, disrupting my motion. I fell to the ground with a loud thump!
When I stood on my feet, two Revicks grabbed me. They were so strong that I could not move! I heard a voice say, “Boys, time to get up!”
I frowned and looked at the Revicks. “Did you say that?”
Then I heard it again. “Boys, time to get up!” A bright dagger of light penetrated my eyelids,
forcing them closed. As I opened my eyes, I could see my dad standing above me.
I looked around and said, “Until next time, Revicks.” Before I could stand up, I thought, Today is the day I conquer my fears. This was my routine every morning when I woke up.
As I walked out of my bedroom, the hallway was dark and reminded me of a long, scary subway tunnel with little creatures ready to gobble me up. I asked, “Dad, will you turn on the hallway light, please?”
I could see his shadow coming closer to the end of the hallway to rescue me from certain destruction, but he replied, “Where is my brave boy?”
I took a deep breath and slowly stepped into the hallway. It felt cold and breezy like the beginning of a snowstorm. The howls of the wind were
so loud that I could not hear myself think. My steps picked up speed as if I were riding a roller coaster. The light at the end of the tunnel got brighter and brighter. I began to lose my breath, then poof! It felt like I was launched out of a cannon.
Dad said, “There is my brave boy. Time for breakfast.”
I sat down to eat my pancakes, but I could not stop looking back toward the darkness of the hallway. From a safe distance, I stood up with my chest out and said, “Today will be the day I conquer my fears.”
“Grab your lunch and backpack. Time for school!” Mom said.
The door opened, and I could hear the cool, fall air whistle into the house. The sun had not
peeked over the horizon, and the moonlight had faded just enough that you could not see your shadow. As we walked across the threshold of the door, I wrapped my arms around one of Mom’s legs, and we walked to the car.
Mom said, “Wait here. I forgot my keys.”
As the distance increased between our bodies, it felt like I was in a boat floating away from the shore. I could hear leaves tumbling down the street, and the morning chirps of the birds sounded like the roars of hungry lions. I closed my eyes in the hope that I could disappear from the dark, but I could not get over this feeling.
Step by step, the sound of Mom’s footsteps became faint the farther she moved away. My fear started to take over. I sprinted toward the door.
She turned around and said, “Where is my brave boy?” At that moment, I knew I needed a plan to conquer my fear.
As the mum of a boy with an overactive imagination who sees monsters everywhere, I can relate to Adam McCoy's motive in writing this book and I think that he has done a very good job of it indeed.
Kaleb is scared of things, things that he imagines and things that are real like dark spaces and insects. When he touches a surprise object in his yard one day that suddenly and magically appears, he becomes more brave and puts it down to the encounter. But did that bravery really come from that object or from somewhere closer to home?
The book is well written as it charts Kaleb's progression, showing the creations of Kaleb's mind as well as describing his day to day fears, and the illustrations are bright and apt according to the story. I think that there is much for children who are uncertain about their fears to relate to here, whether these are made up in their own heads or created by the demands that are placed on them by the expectations of other kids, the dreaded peer pressure. I liked the fact that, in this book, the onus is not on the fear coming from others like bullies - all of the other kids in the book are friendly and not the focus - but that they are caused by the child's perceptions of the situation and so, are capable of being conquered.
It is a story that is simply told and this makes it accessible and easily relatable. I think that any parent who was looking to discuss this issue with their child could use this book as a starting point; a way of opening up the path for them to talk about it. Seeing from Kaleb's example that it is possible may enable them to work towards becoming stronger and more courageous.