The TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration - Book Twenty-Three

When I was a child, I was very much like the little boy in today's picture book. Just like silly Billy I was a chronic worrier, and I spent many hours lying in bed worrying about all kinds of things. Children who are like Billy and I, will find this book very comforting indeed.

Silly Billy

Anthony Browne

Picture Book

Ages 4 to 6

Candlewick Press, 2006, 0-7636-3124-8

   Billy is a little boy who is a chronic worrier. As he lies in bed he worries about hats, shoes, clouds, rain, and giant birds. He imagines that a huge bird might carry him out of his bedroom window, or that a rainstorm could flood his bedroom. His fertile imagination imagines all kinds of calamities. Not even the reassuring words of his loving parents helps.

   One night Billy spends the night at his grandma’s house, and he lies in bed worrying. He cannot help worrying “about staying at other people’s houses,” even though he knows that his worries are “silly.” Unable to sleep at all, Billy goes to tell his grandma about his problem, and he finds out that she has a solution for his predicament. The most amazing thing of it all is that her solution works, at least for a while.

   In this special picture book, we meet a little boy who really needs some help. Thankfully, someone who loves him knows just what to do. Children will be thrilled to hear that something can be done to alleviate those last-thing-at-night worries, and they will be interested to learn that Grandma’s solution is one that people all over the world really use.