Poetry: Get Me Out of This Book: Rules and Tools for Being Brave

Get Me Out of This Book: Rules and Tools for Being Brave

By Kalli Dakos and Deborah Cholette
Illustrated by Sara Infante

Dakos, Kalli, Deborah Cholette, and Sara Infante. Get Me Out of This Book: Rules & Tools for Being Brave. New York, NY: Holiday House, 2019. 9780823438624

Summary

Max is a bookmark who used to be scared of books. After getting trapped on a page with a king cobra, he decided that he needed to go back to school and earn the Special Bookmark Badge. He wanted to learn to handle the "SCARIEST pictures of the SCARIEST books!" Using the Rules and Tools, Max learns to not be afraid of scary sharks, creepy cockroaches, or haunted houses. He earned his badge and soon found himself in a new scary book with a scary monster all alone in the dark; this time he was prepared! Breathing deeply, he made his plan and thought good thoughts, when suddenly he realized that the monster might be afraid of the dark too. Max told the monster "Don't be afraid!" because the Rules and Tools really work!

Analysis

Get Me Out of This Book is a delightful tale about overcoming your fears, using the Rules and Tools adapted from the Navy Seals' own techniques. Dakos and Cholette use sound and the occasional repeating rhyme to give their story the greatest impact. Many words throughout this book are in all capital letters and a larger font than the rest, giving them a greater emphasis and inviting readers to shout out loud. The use of capital letters and larger font beg this book to be read aloud. Throughout the book Max proclaims, "I couldn't LOOK and I SHOOK and I SCREAMED - GET ME OUT OF THIS BOOK!" Readers will come to expect this proclamation and will enjoy yelling along with Max. 

Max's fear and desire to be tough are experiences that everyone can relate, especially the children that are the intended audience. Infante has created wonderful illustrations that show us his emotions perfectly as he runs from his fears and eventually confronts them. Max can be seen breathing deeply, wiggling along to the song that he wrote, and laughing triumphantly at the pile of bones on the ground. This book gives readers an insight to their own fears and helps them to realize that they too can overcome them, if they follow the Rules and Tools.

Excerpt

And then I knew that I would be okay, too, even in

the SCARIEST pictures in the SCARIEST books

because the RULES AND TOOLS really work!

Connections

After reading this book out loud, encouraging the audience to join in when Max proclaims the repeating rhyme, children should be encouraged to share something that they are afraid of themselves. After this, adults should read the book again, guiding children through the Rules and Tools while they picture their own fears. They may be surprised to find that they aren't so scary after all.

Reviews

One reviewer from Kirkus Reviews stated, "Stylized mixed-media illustrations create an air of whimsy and encouragement in an artistic style reminiscent of Oliver Jeffers': Scribbled lines pop against generous white space and a muted, textured color palette. Repetitive and at times rhyming, the text builds a rhythm that lends itself to read-alouds, especially for educators with students who seem to have difficulty regulating fear-related emotions."

“GET ME OUT OF THIS BOOK: Rules and Tools for Being Brave.” 2019. Kirkus Reviews 87 (7): N.PAG. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezp.twu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brd&AN=135609870&site=ehost-live.

Joan Kindig, writing for School Library Journal, remarked on the illustrations, "The art is just perfect for this story. The "scary" images are not nearly as scary as Max seems to think and the interspersing of darker images with the light takes the fright down a notch. Max, himself, is appealing and his emotions are shown best in the shape of his mouth and arch of his eyebrows."

Kindig, Joan. 2019. “Get Me Out of This Book: Rules and Tools for Being Brave.” School Library Journal 65 (5): 62. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezp.twu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brd&AN=136705927&site=ehost-live.