Shrinking Violet

This sensitive story explores friendship and fear while demonstrating strategies to regulate strong emotions.

★— “The sparkling story has touches of classic fairy tale while also feeling fantastically fresh… A remarkable reminder of the courage dwelling in every human, no matter how small.”

Gorgeous and grounding—a gentle guide to outgrowing your fears.

PreS-Gr 3--Violet, with pale skin and dark hair, resides in a stately castle near a forest by the sea with her constant companion, Bird. The quality of Snyder's writing establishes a powerful, intense metaphor for anxiety: when startled (by rustling or a spider), Violet feels "trembly" and begins to shrink, trapped in the loop of getting smaller and smaller, hiding from what or who made her afraid. She attempts to stop this process by thinking soothing thoughts. The illustrations, rendered in gouache, are central to conveying the emotional scale. The artwork effectively contrasts Violet's descent into fear, making her a thimble of a girl in the enormous night, with her emotional turning point in becoming brave to save Bird, growing quick as a lick into the tallest tree in the forest. She eventually calms herself by picturing simple, ordinary things, such as making her bed. The story concludes with a realistic resolution, noting she still shrinks and grows if not always happily, but now strides out brave and careful. The clean, realistic writing and story make it relatable even as it resides inside a fantasy world, with the colors washing out the characters as if to invite readers to focus on and see themselves in Violet. VERDICT This title is a great addition to social-emotional learning collections, offering a dynamic and unique approach to discussing anxiety, inner strength, and resilience with young readers during a fun and compelling read-aloud.--Richard Winters

Copyright 2026 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Seemingly pint-size worries--spiders, night sounds--make a child literally shrink in this polished picture book from Snyder (The Book of Candles), writing in blank verse tercets, and Pham (The Man Who Didn't Like Animals), working in jewel-toned gouache. Young Violet, depicted with pale skin and flowing brown hair, lives a seemingly blissful life in a cliffside castle with golden-headed Bird, who provides emotional constancy. But when Bird's "CHIRRUP, CHIRRUP" awakens her one night, he's nowhere to be seen, and Violet ventures into darkness, her fright rendering her "a thimble of a girl." Finding Bird wounded and in peril triggers a new emotion--"a flash of fire, / a thrumming heart"--and with it a transformation. The book's orientation turns vertical and the artwork goes phosphorescent as, in a fury, "Violet GREW./ Quick as a lick, she was a cat, a bear!/ Violet was the tallest tree in the forest." Danger routed, she self-soothes ("She imagined warm toast/ with a pat of butter/ until she was herself again") and carries Bird home. Violet hasn't banished fear permanently, but she now knows it's all right for it to ebb and flow, vividly assuring readers that being brave doesn't mean eliminating fear. Ages 5-8. Author's agent: Tina Dubois, ICM Partners. Illustrator's agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties. (Mar.)

Copyright 2025 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.