Let boys cry! This picture book imagines a world in which boys are encouraged to express their full range of emotions.
It's Levi's first day at a new school, and he's scared. His father tries to comfort Levi by telling him "Big boys don't cry." Though the father immediately understands his misstep, he can't find the words to comfort his son, and Levi leaves for school, still in need of reassurance.
Fortunately, along his walk to school, Levi sees instance after instance of grown men openly expressing their sadness and fear. His learned mantra, "Big boys don't cry," slowly weakens, and by the time he's at school he releases a tear. Once he's there, things aren't so bad after all, and on his walk home he sees everyone he's encountered earlier, feeling better now that they expressed their emotions. Upon his arrival home, he finds his father waiting for him on their porch, tears in his eyes. His father is able to admit that he was scared and the two embrace, closer than before.
Jonty Howley's gorgeous debut paints the world we wish existed for our boys, and offers a path there! This story is the truest interpretation of the notion that we should "let boys be boys": let them express the full range of their emotions, vulnerable parts and all!
"On his first day of school, a young boy learns it's OK to show his feelings no matter his age...The overall lesson about men showing tears is made all the more effective with its representation of a range of feelings beyond sadness. A compassionate story that encourages openness and honesty about emotions."
-Kirkus
Levi is crying because it’s his first day at a new school. “Big boys don’t cry,” Papa tells him, but Levi’s
journey as he walks proves otherwise. First he sees a fisherman weeping, then a harpist, grandparents, new parents, rich men, poor men, army men, brainy men, and even baker men. “Big boys were crying everywhere!”
Digitally created full-bleed pages highlight the bright pastels of the seashore.Children will have fun seeking out the spurting blue drops on each unique face, as they understand that it’s
OK to cry.—Booklist
