ALA Booklist (Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

In this optimistic look at facing up to the things that scare you the most, problems take on an evocative visual quality. A small child tries everything to avoid the problem hanging overhead, illustrated as a literal dark cloud that just won't go away. Ignoring it, hiding, and running away just make the cloud grow bigger, and it's not until the skies have gone completely black and the winds are threatening to blow everything away that the child finally says, "Enough!" Facing the storm head-on with a logical frame of mind allows the child to see the dark, cloudy problem for what it really is portunity. Equal parts pep talk and instruction manual, this simple tale shows how a small shift in perspective can make all the difference. The illustrations mirror the narrative nicely, using expressive pencil drawings and saturated watercolor washes to create atmospheric movement that heightens the emotional content of the story, from stormy skies to a clear day with bright golden sun. While not every problem can be so easily dismantled, this is a beautifully illustrated reminder of possibility.

Kirkus Reviews

A child struggles with the worry and anxiety that come with an unexpected problem.In a wonderful balance of text and pictures, the team responsible for What Do You Do With an Idea (2014) returns with another book inspiring children to feel good about themselves. A child frets about a problem that won't go away: "I wished it would just disappear. I tried everything I could to hide from it. I even found ways to disguise myself. But it still found me." The spare, direct narrative is accompanied by soft gray illustrations in pencil and watercolor. The sepia-toned figure of the child is set apart from the background and surrounded by lots of white space, visually isolating the problem, which is depicted as a purple storm cloud looming overhead. Color is added bit by bit as the storm cloud grows and its color becomes more saturated. With a backpack and umbrella, the child tries to escape the problem while the storm swirls, awash with compass points scattered across the pages. The pages brighten into splashes of yellow as the child decides to tackle the problem head-on and finds that it holds promise for unlooked-for opportunity.A straightforward, effective approach to helping children cope with one of life's commonplace yet emotionally fraught situations, this belongs on the shelf alongside Molly Bang's Sophie books. (Picture book. 4-7)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Yamada and Besom follow What Do You Do with an Idea? with the story of a boy plagued by a problem, which Besom imagines as a violet cloud hanging over the boy-s head: -I didn-t want it. I didn-t ask for it. I really didn-t like having a problem, but it was there.- The boy wanders through a medievalesque town, accompanied by sleek, silvery flying fish that dart about like swallows. Soon the cloud grows into a storm: -The more I avoided my problem, the more I saw it everywhere.- At last the boy has an epiphany: armed with goggles, his hair thrown back by the force of the storm-s energy, he reaches into the heart of the cloud and finds light: -I discovered it had something beautiful inside. My problem held an opportunity!- Though some younger readers may find the story overly vague-it-s easy to imagine questions like -What is his problem?- and -What is he talking about?- popping up-Yamada-s inspirational prose and the romance of Besom-s spreads make an impact. Ages 5-8. (July)