Animals Scare Me Stiff

Tom is frightened of animals. He believes that dogs will eat him, snakes may squeeze him to death, and birds will peck off his ears. We can see (but Tom cannot) that the animals following him are docile and lovable, and herein lies the problem with the story. Tom's fears come from within himself, and there is no resolution to this. Instead, he discovers that when he 'moons', the animals become frightened of him: a silly outcome to a very real problem for many children. Cole's wonderfully whacky illustrations cannot make up for the flawed story line.