THAT UH-OH FEELING

Claire’s coach makes her feel uncomfortable, and she must figure out whom, if anyone, to tell.

Claire is frustrated at soccer practice. The ball always veers to the side when she kicks it. Her coach helps by moving her foot into the correct position, but he also tells her that she is too pretty to frown. She begins to get a strange feeling inside. What does being pretty have to do with soccer? There are other small touches, such as a hand on her back, but when he tickles her in order to make her smile—and asks her to keep it a secret because she is his star player—that feeling turns into a full-blown uh-oh feeling. What should she do? Her friends Shaun and Nadia and her big sister all counsel her to tell her mother, who is proud, reassuring, and helpfully protective. This is definitely the heaviest of topics tackled in the I’m a Great Little Kid series; simultaneous publications of two others—Sign Up Here and A Tattle-Tell Tale—discuss feeling left out and being bullied. The tone in all three can be fairly didactic; however, the messages are delivered in a well-rounded context. The same diverse cast of characters lends familiarity to all the tales.

A tough but important subject handled with care.