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Reinhardt, Jennifer Black

Playing Possum

32 pp. | Clarion | July, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-1-328-78270-0 $17.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-0-358-33065-3
(2) K-3 Alfred the possum is one anxious fellow. "And when a possum feels nervous, it freezes and plays dead," explains the opening text. Accompanying art shows Alfred hanging from a branch by his tail, rigid and wide-eyed with fear. Ensuing pages depict him sitting frozen in school, unable to begin a quiz, and then mid-stroke while swimming, anxious since he doesn't "excel at sports." His greatest hardship, however, is that his fear of extending himself to others has made him a "very lonely possum." The book's layout reinforces Alfred's isolation: when shy Alfred meets equally anxious armadillo Sofia, who "curls into a ball" when she is nervous, the two are depicted on facing pages, the gutter strategically positioned between their still forms; they are united on a single page after they realize they have "something in common." Now that they feel safe together, they can be close. The new friends' successful, supportive relationship then guides them to befriend other animals who display their own defense mechanisms when nervous or threatened: a chameleon, a fainting goat, a porcupine, a skunk, and others who also need patience and understanding. Throughout, Reinhardt's comical depictions of the fearful animals provoke laughter but are never meanspirited. A closing author's note and a glossary of the depicted creatures separate fact from fiction.
Reviewer: Megan Dowd Lambert | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2020

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