With both words and pictures, Kevin Henkes authentically reflects the emotional life of a child at a range of ages. Take the emotion of "worry," for instance. His Wemberley Worried resonates with a board book audience. In Penny and Her Marble, Penny worries that the marble she discovered on her neighbor's lawn does not belong to her; the story strikes a chord with children just beginning to read and to grapple with ethical dilemmas.
In The Year of Billy Miller, Billy begins second grade "worried that he wouldn't be smart enough for school this year." First, Henkes describes Billy's all-too-plausible rationale: when his new baseball cap flew off during a visit to the Jolly Green Giant statue, Billy instinctively leaned over the guardrail to catch it and wound up in the hospital when he fell and hit his head. Later at home, Billy overhears his mother confide to his father that she's worried that "down the line something will show up. He'll start forgetting things." Although Billy's father dismisses her fear, his mother's concern is contagious; Billy worries.
Henkes respects young people, and his characters always solve their own problems. Billy confides his worry to his teacher, and she tells him he's smart: "That one word said in Ms. Silver's voice made him feel as if he were filled with helium like a balloon and might rise off the floor." In each of four sections, Billy has a conflict or situation to resolve with the most important people in his everyday life: Ms. Silver, his teacher; his father; his three-year-old sister, Sal; and his mother.
Occasional drawings dot the pages, but the real emphasis here is on Henkes's incisive writing, which gets to the heart of a second-grader's thoughts, hopes, worries and dreams. Billy is a thriving member of his family, his classroom and his community. He goes from someone who reacts before he thinks--for instance, to Emma Sparks (a goody two-shoes whose jibes about Billy still calling his father "Papa" motivates the boy to call him "Dad")--to someone who can sit quietly with his emotions. While he works on his diorama for a school project, Billy is "wrapped in a cocoon of concentration," but he also moves outward and observes his father's talent in this area--which leads to a "breakthrough" for his artistic dad.
Henkes's spare language leaves room for children to read between the lines of what Billy says and does (or, as with the case of Emma Sparks, learns not to say or do). They will close this book with renewed confidence that if Billy can steer his way through his life at home and school, so can they. Here's hoping that we will follow Billy through many more adventures. --Jennifer M. Brown
Shelf Talker: Kevin Henkes gets to the heart of second-grader Billy Miller's thoughts, hopes, worries and dreams.